My great-grandmother

could have worn one of these cruel things, had she been royalty.
My grandmother didn't, as her feet were unbound after a while (maybe when she was 8 or 10). Her feet were nonetheless very small.
Despite all that, she was very wise despite being less educated and her children prospered because of her good investments (yes, she played the stock market) and many friends and allies, after decades of being one to go to for sage advice, in 1920s-1960s Hong Kong.