We didn't go that in depth -- it was only a survey course. Iirc, I mentioned that China got conquered right after foot binding became prevalent, and asked if the professor thought those things were related, and she said "yep", and the class started talking about how if the women at home can't run things, the army isn't going to do well at all, both because more men will avoid becoming soldiers and because there won't be enough to eat, and the professor said "yep".