Three-inch golden lotuses : achieving beauty through violence -- A brief history of footbinding -- Footbinding and the cult of the exemplary woman -- Edible beauty : food and foot fetishes in China -- Silken slippers : footbinding in Chinese erotica -- Binding, weaving, chatting : female bonding and writing -- From golden lotus to Prime Minister : a woman's tale living from mouth to mouth -- The fabric of masquerade.