Foot-binding raises an interesting parralel. So does the victorian wearing of corsets which could result in a woman's waist being reduced to mere inches in thickness. Foot-binding was practiced from around 975 AD to the 1900's. We are in a position where we can and should discourage this practice but I hardly think that it makes all the cultures that practice it "Unworthy of continued existence". That would be a lot of cultures, possibly including our own seeing as our culture is known to practice forms of extreme (Albeit medically sound) genital mutilation on hermaphrodites.