"By not putting off household chores like cleaning and doing the dishes, it will help with maintaining your weight even without doing extra exercise," the Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Centre website said.
Apparently, we’re going back to the 50s in South Korea, the patriarchal country is giving official advices to pregnant women to cook, clean and stay attractive. Within the guidelines, one may find ideas like : before giving birth, check that your family has sufficient toilet paper. Prepare ready-made meals for your husband, who surely “is not good at cooking.” Tie up your hair, “so that you don’t look disheveled” even as you go without a bath. And after the baby arrives, keep a “small-size” dress in sight — you’ll need motivation not to take that extra bite.
These supposedly advices given to women by Seoul and its authorities have started a backlash in the country, where the situation is desperate concerning birthrate. South Korea has today the world’s lowest birthrate at 1,05 child per woman in 2017 against 6 in 1960. They were trying to compel women to stay at home in order to reverse the trend showing that Korean women started working facing a double burden with childcare - apparently a woman-only chore.
Experts called the government’s advice a missed opportunity. “I think it is written by someone who never gave birth,” said the chairman of the Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Kim Jae-yean.
Following this publication, a petition was launched online at the end of 2020 asking for public apologies from the officials along with disciplinary action towards the ones in charge of the release. It got more than 21,000 signatures within the following week.
"The objective of the website seems to be to promote singlehood and not motherhood," the petition reads, adding: "Does Seoul city think of women as public goods that give birth?"
Though officially published in 2019 on a government website, the guidelines were finally deleted at the beginning of January 2021.
Article by Juliette Blanca
Comments