At what time period? According to the book Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet by Dorothy Ko, aristocrat women tend to have the smallest feet (the same way aristocrat ladies in the west wore the tightest corsets). Poor women did not have the "luxury" of foot binding, particularly in rice-growing regions in the south. Even if they do bind their feet they would not be nearly as tight as wealthy women. Manchu women never adopted the practice, the Qing government attempted to ban foot binding but the effort ultimately failed, the Han population insisted on maintaining the practice out of spite. Manchu women weren't allowed to bind their feet, so they wore these platform shoes (bottom pair) instead to mimic the sway of Han women.

Foot binding was basically non-existent in China before the Song Dynasty (960–1279), when it was popularized. One story for foot binding's origin dates the practice to the state of Southern Tang (937–976). However, the first archaeological evidence for foot binding dates to the Song Dynasty. The practice increased over time. Foot binding was a matter connected to class and ethnicity. It was initially restricted to the wealthy, but grew from there. Some ethnic minorities, not just Manchus, rejected the practice completely. But the practice was popular. While the "rural farmer's wife" might not have her feet bound, she might very well have wished that were the case. It probably wouldn't have been "a very odd cultural fetish" to her, but rather as a symbol of status and luxury.