" (J. Batchelor, _The Ainu and their
Folklore_, p. 162.)
A great many theories have been put forward to explain the
Chinese fashion of compressing and deforming the foot. The
Chinese are great admirers of the feminine foot, and show
extreme sexual sensitiveness in regard to it. Chinese women
naturally possess very small feet, and the main reason for
binding them is probably to be found in the desire to make them
still smaller. (See, e.g., Stratz, _Die Frauenkleidung_, 1904, p.
101.)
An interesting question, which in part finds its explanation here and is
of considerable significance from the point of view of sexual selection,
concerns the relative admiration bestowed on blondes and brunettes. The
question is not, indeed, one which is entirely settled by racial
characteristics. There is something to be said on the matter from the
objective standpoint of aesthetic considerations. Stratz, in a chapter on
beauty of coloring in woman, points out that fair hair is more beautiful
because it harmonizes better with the soft outlines of woman, and, one may
add, it is more brilliantly conspicuous; a golden object looks larger than
a black object.
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