Helen: How, mother?
“All the toes doubled under.”
Mother: They say Christian women and girls squeeze the waist so tight it gives no room for some of the most important parts of the body-house. I think you said, Helen, that God knew how big to make our feet. Do you think He knew how big to make the waist?
Helen: I suppose so, but a small waist looks so much better than a large one.
Mother: And the Chinese lady thinks her little feet are so much prettier than large ones, and she would rather suffer the pain, and hobble around all her life leaning on a servant, than be out of fashion. The Christian woman thinks a small waist is pretty, so she makes her clothes tight, and suffers all kinds of aches, rather than let the body remain as God made it. What is the difference? Here is a picture of the ribs as God made them, and here is one after the waist has been bound around with tight dresses.
“Here is a picture of the ribs as God made them, and here is one after the waist has been bound around with tight dresses.”
If we saw a man putting iron bands around his house we would think the one who built it had made some mistake or it would not need anything to hold it together. If people feel as though they would “fall to pieces,” or if they have the backache, when their clothes are loose, it shows they have abused the muscles of the body and made weak that which God made strong.
Amy: Is it wrong to wear tight clothing, mother?