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Motherhood

Woman gives tour of "postpartum hotel" in China where new moms get pampered for 30 days

It's not exactly cheap, but it goes to show what's possible with better maternity leave.

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Maternity leave or maternity miracle?

Much has been written about maternity leave in the United States and how it compares to other parts of the world. Unsurprisingly, it usually doesn't compare well. An analysis done by Yahoo! Finance does not have the US cracking the top 25 countries with the best maternity leave policies. The only thing new moms are guaranteed nationwide here is 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Awesome.

We know that many countries have it a lot better than us, but it's sometimes hard to visualize what that looks like. More paid time off sounds great, but how does that really impact those crucial first days after baby is born?

A recent video showcasing what maternity leave looks like for some women in China is blowing people's minds.

gif of a woman getting a facialCould maternity leave be a spa experience? For some women in China, the answer is yes.Giphy

Aileen Wang took viewers along with her as she went to visit a coworker who had just had a baby. The woman was staying at a postpartum center, described as part hospital, part luxury hotel.

"In China we have six months of paid maternity leave and have a tradition called ... kind of like a cozy VIP jail for new moms," she writes in the video caption.

Wang is referring to a a tradition called "zuo yue zi," or "sitting the month." Traditionally, new moms in China are under strict watch by family members not to leave the house or over-exert themselves, to stay warm and eat certain foods in order to recover while family members pitch in with care and help with the baby.

"For the first month after birth, moms can't go out, they are forced to stay at home or in postpartum centers. No cold food and drink, staying warm, and eating nutritious food."

Wang adds that at her friend's cushy recovery center, she gets round-the-clock care for the baby and herself, meals delivered to the room, yoga sessions, massages, and more. For 30-40 days mom has to worry about very little except recuperating her physical, mental, and emotional strength. In the video you even see a staff member at the center bringing in an extraordinary-looking meal on a tray for the new mom!

"In China, there's a say. It basically means: Don't mess with a woman during her first month after giving birth—she won't forget it for whole life!"

Watch the fascinating tour here:


@aileenw1113

In China, we get six months of paid maternity leave and have a tradition called "sitting the month"—kind of like a cozy VIP jail for new moms. #china #maternityleave#givebirth #baby #postpartum

The facility looks and sounds incredible. So does the idea of giving new moms several weeks of pampering to get back on their feet after the trauma of delivery.

Of course, this luxury doesn't come free, or even cheap in China. A month-long stay can cost families somewhere around the equivalent of $10,000 or more. But over the last decade, the number of centers like this one has grown from 550 to well over 4000, showing that the idea is gaining popularity and accessibility.

"The million-plus people who watched Wang's video on TikTok were stunned:6 MONTHS PAID AND 24/7 CARE?!? Please someone tell me why we're brainwashed into thinking the USA is the greatest country ever? Women's health is trash here!"

"America: oh you’ll be fine in 6 weeks."

"This must help a lot with post partum depression. All women need this kind of support"

"And they sent me home alone in a blizzard 4 days after a c section. It was literally 37 degrees below zero."

Even if moms can't afford to stay in a fancy postpartum center like the one shown above, many still observe "sitting the month" at home. With six months of paid leave, new mothers have plenty of time to recover and bond with their baby while other members of the family pitch in with all the heavy lifting. It's an attractive idea that really calls into question what could be possible in the US with better support for moms.


gif of woman wearing two breast pumps saying, "Welcome to motherhood."Imagine how much better of women would be if motherhood started off like this. Giphy

Six weeks of unpaid time off doesn't give families a lot of money or flexibility to work with during maternity leave. Some companies will offer a small amount of paid leave on their own, and some states have mandatory paid leave, but it's not required everywhere. Postpartum centers are becoming more popular in the United States, too, but the concept doesn't align well with the realities of being a working parent. Not yet, anyways. It's fun to envision a future where new families have more time and money to make sure mom's OK before sending her back into the rigors of daily life.

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Wellness

Anti-Asian hate crimes are skyrocketing in the U.S. Here's what we can all do to help.

Amanda Nguyễn/Instagram

In countries throughout Asia, people ring in the Lunar New Year with cultural traditions as diverse as Asian people themselves. From China to Vietnam to Malaysia to South Korea—and in communities of people of Asian descent around the world—families gather to celebrate, pay homage to ancestors, and welcome in the blessings of a new year.

This year, however, such celebrations in the U.S. are impacted not only by the upheaval of the ongoing pandemic, but by fear in the wake of skyrocketing violence against people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Hate crimes against Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders (AAPI) have been highlighted by advocacy groups since early in the pandemic, but have not received the broad media coverage they deserve. Unfortunately, it's taken vicious attacks on elders in the AAPI community to get the nation's attention.

Last week, the death of an 84-year-old Thai man who was violently tackled in his driveway shone a spotlight on the issue in the Bay Area, where a spate of attacks has erupted in recent months. A video of a 91-year-old man being violently shoved to the ground in Oakland prompted actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu to offer a reward of $25,000 to anyone who could help identify the attacker. (It turned out police already had him in custody as a suspect for other similar attacks.) A 64-year-old Vietnamese grandmother was assaulted and robbed of $1000 while walking to her car in San Jose last week as well, and Chinatown businesses have been hit by an alarming increase in robberies.

Amanda Nguyễn, CEO and founder of the civil rights organization Rise, shared a plea on Instagram for people to raise awareness about the increase in anti-AAPI violence.

The heinous attacks in the Bay Area are making headlines, but violence and harassment are not just happening there, not just happening to the elderly, and not just happening now.

According to NYPD data reported in the Queens Chronicle in September, anti-Asain hate crimes had already increased 1900% from 2019 to 2020 before fall even hit. (In the same time period, anti-Jewish and anti-Black hate crimes in New York had decreased.) The Anti-Defamation League reported in June that there had been a "significant" number of reports of harassment and attacks against people in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, and the United Nations stated in October that hate crimes against Asian-Americans were happening at "alarming levels," citing 1800 incidents just from March to May of 2020.

Reading people's individual stories, it's clear that the vast majority of incidents include references to the COVID-19 pandemic. People blame Asian-Americans for the coronavirus—a xenophobic idea that has been inflamed by politicians who insist on calling it the "China virus" or "Kung flu." (That's not merely conjecture; Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council said that their data showed that the increase in racist and xenophobic attacks was "catalyzed by rhetoric from the president and other government leadership.")

The AAPI community needs every American of goodwill to step up, speak up, and act to put an end to these attacks. Here are some things everyone can do to help:

- Personally: If you see or hear someone using anti-AAPI language, say something. Don't let phrases like "China virus" or comments blaming AAPI for the pandemic go unchallenged. Commit to not being a passive bystander, but rather an active disrupter, of harassment when you see it. If you witness an incident, report it at stopaapihate.org.

- Socially: Get to know AAPI members of your community and listen to their concerns. Raise awareness by following and sharing the hashtag #StopAAPIHate on social media. Speak out about AAPI hate crimes and share positive stories about people from the AAPI community as well.

- Educationally: Seek out information about the kinds of discrimination people in the AAPI community face. Click on the links from this article or simply Google terms like "Anti-Asian" and "AAPI hate crimes." If you're a parent, teach your kids how to recognize when their peers are engaging in anti-Asian jokes or behavior and how to be an ally.

- Organizationally: Make sure your workplace and organizations you're a part of are committed to protecting AAPI members of your community from harassment. This PDF from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance put together has specific action items employers and organizations can use as a guide.

- Monetarily: Buy from AAPI-owned businesses, many of which have suffered during the pandemic both from economic loss and discriminatory attacks. Support AAPI advocacy and anti-discrimination organizations such as iHollaback! (an anti-harassment organization that provides free bystander intervention training) or the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (a coalition of more than 100 organizations advocating for AAPI communities). Keep an eye out for crowdfunding efforts for individual victims of hate crimes.

- Democratically: Reach out to your local, state, and national government representatives to voice your support for the AAPI community and ask them to denounce xenophobic rhetoric in politics. Learn about the president's plan for the AAPI community and push him to take action on those commitments. Elevate the voices of elected officials from the AAPI community and those who speak up against anti-AAPI discrimination.

Let's all commit to creating a society in which everyone is uplifted and where all people can feel safe no matter who we are or where we come from.

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Equality

Video of school kids in China bouncing balls in unison is like a cultural Rorschach test

ShanghaiPanda/Twitter, @offsidepuppy/Twitter

It's been nearly 100 years since Hermann Rorschach introduced the well-known inkblot test used by psychologists to analyze personality characteristics and emotional processing. Where one person sees a bat, another may see a butterfly. One person might find an inkblot shape soothing while another finds it unnerving.

Whether the test truly tells psychologists anything definitive, there's no doubt that our perceptions are colored by our thoughts, emotions, and experiences. And that's quite clear in people's reactions to this video from a school in China.

The video, shared by ShanghaiPanda on Twitter, shows a large circle of children bouncing dozens of balls in unison and moving around the circle in a rhythmic pattern. "China's kindergarten game: Cooperation," the post reads.

Responses to the post reveal a wide range of perceptions of the purpose and value of the activity. As a former teacher, I see kids learning and practicing excellent hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. I also see them working together, cooperating to keep the balls moving in unison. To me, it's a really cool example of using the whole body to perform a task and focusing one's attention on what's in front of them while preparing for what's to come. It also builds trust, as you have to trust that your neighbor is going to perform their task of bouncing the ball at the right time, and your other neighbor has to trust that you will do the same. (A far better lesson than, say, the cut-through terror and individual dominance most of us remember from playing dodgeball in school.)

From my perspective, this is a valuable group activity for young kids that teaches multiple skills at the same time.

But for others, it's a creepy example of group-think indoctrination, molding kids to accept uniformity and train them into obedience.

Huh.

If the first thing you think of when you think of Chinese culture is communist indoctrination, then I can see why this video would elicit that response. But that doesn't make it correct or okay.

Thankfully, most of those responses were met with rebuttals that showed the hypocrisy and xenophobia inherent in them.

Considering how we have kids recite the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag every morning in unison, the "indoctrination" argument falls a bit flat.

It's not hard to imagine very different responses if this were a group of American kids coordinating to do the same thing. They would be hailed as impressive kids who worked toward a goal, not communists.

Not to mention, nearly anything can be twisted into something dark or sinister simply by describing it that way, as evidenced by this description of "musical chairs."

The video also ignited some interesting conversations about competition vs. coordination.

Ultimately, the idea that working together in unison to build skills and create a cool effect is somehow "communist indoctrination" is purely a product of people's perceptions about China and its people. After all, our marching bands and cheer squads do the same thing.

If our first impression or reaction to a video of kids doing something educational in another country is "that's creepy" or "ew, communism" we may want to check ourselves. Replace those kids faces with ones who look American to you and be honest about what your reaction would be to see it. Our prejudices can color our perceptions, and it's important for all of us to acknowledge and challenge our own thoughts.

Especially when we're looking at children bouncing balls, for goodness sake.

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Nature

Zoo worker just wanted to rake her leaves but these baby pandas had other ideas

No one likes to rake leaves. When something gets in the way of you accomplishing such a task, it is even more annoying. Unless it is this video of baby pandas trying to prevent a caretaker from tackling the yard work in their panda sanctuary. In the cutest viral video this week, we can see the adorable fluffball troublemakers rolling and tumbling, trying to "help" the zookeeper in Sichuan, China.

Some of you might have read the piece about Tuscan, the stray dog who had the persistence to hang around a car dealership until he got a job greeting customers. Now he's positioned to star in a national car commercial. But these are baby pandas just trying to rake a yard—or look cute while doing it.

It could very well be the caretaker does not realize that the pandas think she's been working too hard and deserves a break. Or they actually want to be the next stars of their own commercial. Either way, they are certainly getting all the attention lately.


Cute！What did panda do when zookeeper cleaning the leaveswww.youtube.com

Perhaps people should recognize that pandas do not rake the yard the same way as we do. Look no further than the viral video called The Honor of the Opportunity where a father talks about how his son mows the lawn in his own way.

It kind of feels like the pandas had the rake taken away from them before they had sufficient time to start a task— one they don't know they are supposed to be doing with a tool they have never used before.

Of course, I jest. But perhaps instead of focusing on the pandas' tenacious work ethic (or lack thereof), the zookeeper should trade in the bright pink broom for an actual rake.

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