Not taking shower for a full month?

Women in some parts of Asia do not take a shower for a full month
after childbirth. In fact, they are discouraged from washing
themselves at all. Not even with wet towels, or anything. Usually,
they stay home indoors for that entire month to keep themselves clean
during the entire non-showering month.

Isn't this a little strange? I've never even heard of this custom
until my friend told me about it. She didn't shower for a full month
after the birth of her first child. I think it's not a tradition as
much as it is some kind of Chinese medicine mumbo-jumbo. Taking a
shower in the month after pregnancy is supposed to weaken the mother's
immune system. Or something like that.

And it's not like she's from a backwater village in China. She's a
computer science major at the local university. She regularly reads
Vogue magazine and religiously watches "The Sopranos". And she
doesn't take a shower for a full month after pregnancy.

Weird. Anybody else know about this tradition?

It all seems real *fishy* to me.

(sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Carla

On 11 Jan 2004 03:23:23 -0800, (woodyboyd2002)
wrote:

Women in some parts of Asia do not take a shower for a full month
after childbirth. In fact, they are discouraged from washing
themselves at all. Not even with wet towels, or anything. Usually,
they stay home indoors for that entire month to keep themselves clean
during the entire non-showering month.

Isn't this a little strange? I've never even heard of this custom
until my friend told me about it. She didn't shower for a full month
after the birth of her first child. I think it's not a tradition as
much as it is some kind of Chinese medicine mumbo-jumbo. Taking a
shower in the month after pregnancy is supposed to weaken the mother's
immune system. Or something like that.

And it's not like she's from a backwater village in China. She's a
computer science major at the local university. She regularly reads
Vogue magazine and religiously watches "The Sopranos". And she
doesn't take a shower for a full month after pregnancy.

Weird. Anybody else know about this tradition?

Just because you aren't aware of the practices and beliefs of other
cultures doesn't make them strange and wierd - just different.
Like...tell me you really believe all the stuff main stream North
American's do is rational and based on strict science? Think of all
the pro athletes who have superstitious pregame rituals or lucky
objects (ie.. they have to be wearing their special green undies
before the play off game).

What bothers me about the way you have expressed your question is that
you are disrepectful and dismissive to the point of contempt what may
be to her a very important practice.

Here is a site that descibes a few Asian practices and includes a
description of a similar post partum tradition.
http://www.culturediversity.org/asia.htm

And what does reading Vogue or watching Sopranos have to do with it? I
had a college roommate who was a WASP with a Master's degree in
science who believed that pinning a wool sock around her neck helped
her get over a cold and sore throat (and it had to be pure wool, since
her neck and the germs could apparently detect other fibres and the
cure wouldn't work if there was any cotton or nylon or spandex in the
magic sock). Even she knew it wasn't rational and laughed about it
(while we desperately went through every sock in the house looking for
one with no nasty synthetic in it) but she learned it from her mother
who probably learned it from HER mother, and she found it very
comforting.

Every culture AND religion has practices that are more based in
tradition than anything rational - but to those involved, they are
hugely important and make people feel comforted and protected and
connected to family and those who have gone before.

Mary G.

woodyboyd2002 wrote:
Women in some parts of Asia do not take a shower for a full month
after childbirth. [...]
Weird. Anybody else know about this tradition?

A lot of traditions are rooted in common sense. In
"the old days" in Asia (and most other countries, I
might add), sanitation was incredibly bad in general.
You had bad water, holes in the walls allowing wind
to come in, mosquitoes, outhouses, whatever... Under
those circumstances, it is actually more sanitary to
NOT bathe (and thus expose oneself to whatever germs
are in the water or air waiting to attack skin).
Also, keep in mind that there's lochia to deal with.
In the old days, there were no showers to keep things
clean.

(Wasn't it in Europe that the custom of wearing
perfume came about because people so rarely bathed
that they stank?)

Like a lot of old traditions, they die hard. This
one no longer makes sense, but some people adhere
to it without understanding it. But, that doesn't
make it "weird". All cultures have their customs
that don't "make sense" to other cultures. (Chinese
people hate the number "4" because it sounds like
"death", so you never give anyone 4 things, 4 cakes,
etc. Americans don't have 13th floors in buildings...)

-- Anita --

Anita,

I don't know if your idea about bad water was correct. During the mid
1800's, the Chinese immigrants were well known for not suffering from
collera or amebic dysentary because they always boiled their water first.
'49ers were dropping like flies, meanwhile the Chinese workers/golddiggers
are healthy as horses.

What amazed me was when I found out about elimination communication and its
use in Africa. A friend of mine who is studying to be a midwife had an
African friend who told her you are considered a bad mother if you do not
know when your child has to go!

Sk

(Mary Gordon) wrote in message . com...

What bothers me about the way you have expressed your question is that
you are disrepectful and dismissive to the point of contempt what may
be to her a very important practice.


Hey, don't get worked up about it. The reason I thought it was weird
was because she and I grew up together, went to the same school, go to
the same church, and we have lived very similar lives. But I was
floored when she told me about not showering for an entire month after
pregnancy. I had never heard of that before. If it was such a
popular custom, you would think that I would've heard about this
practice long before.

As an 30something 1.5 generation Asian-American, the first thing I did after
I recovered from childbirth was take a nice hot shower. Both times But
seriously, I'm off-the-wall nontraditional but I can understand the value
Chinese place on this tradition.

From the little I know about Asian health and Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM), it's not superstition or mumbo-jumbo, it's deep spiritual attitude
towards one's body as well as the need of keeping the mother's body warm and
protected that overrides the desire for showers. Drafts, or cold showers
will bring on ailments, aches and pains down the road for the new mother if
her immune system is low (I think this has more to do with physical
exhaustion postpartum than the imbalance of hormones).

The mother is to be in confinement and eat only certain foods that are not
too "hot" or "cold". Too much of a certain food will not be tolerated well
in the body. For instance, fried foods are considered "too heated"
(yeet-hay). After childbirth, the woman's immune system is weakened, and
they are to eat only "clear" (jing) foods and soup tonics (like Dong Quai)
that restore their blood so that their bodies are in fit condition once
their menstrual cycle restarts. Things like drinking cold water, or juice,
soda would weaken the blood. So going outside (even the act of a long walk)
or taking a shower would be taking a risk that the woman's health will be
attacked.

Really hard to condense the essence of thousands of years' of Chinese
thought, culture and traditional medicine regarding these views of the body.

Here is a first person account written with humor

NO BATHING, NO VISITING AND NO DRINKING WATER: THE CONFINEMENT OF CHINESE
MOTHERS
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/3321/win14c.htm



"woodyboyd2002" wrote in message
m...
Women in some parts of Asia do not take a shower for a full month
after childbirth. In fact, they are discouraged from washing
themselves at all. Not even with wet towels, or anything. Usually,
they stay home indoors for that entire month to keep themselves clean
during the entire non-showering month.

Isn't this a little strange? I've never even heard of this custom
until my friend told me about it. She didn't shower for a full month
after the birth of her first child. I think it's not a tradition as
much as it is some kind of Chinese medicine mumbo-jumbo. Taking a
shower in the month after pregnancy is supposed to weaken the mother's
immune system. Or something like that.

And it's not like she's from a backwater village in China. She's a
computer science major at the local university. She regularly reads
Vogue magazine and religiously watches "The Sopranos". And she
doesn't take a shower for a full month after pregnancy.

Weird. Anybody else know about this tradition?

"Susanne Koenig" wrote in message

During the mid
1800's, the Chinese immigrants were well known for not suffering from
collera or amebic dysentary because they always boiled their water first.
'49ers were dropping like flies, meanwhile the Chinese workers/golddiggers
are healthy as horses.


Growing up in a Chinese household in NYC, I remember my grandparents (as
well as my parents) never drinking from the tap. The water was always boiled
in a glass kettle first thing every morning, and to be sipped during the day
(not with meals tho but it was OK for granddad to have his one Budweiser
with his meals LOL). Nowadays, hot pots (like the Zojirushi brands) are very
popular in most Asian homes. They keep the water 208degrees at all times
after boiling.

RLK wrote:
[...] Things like drinking cold water, or juice,
soda would weaken the blood.

My mother made me PROMISE that I would not drink anything
cold. No cold water, milk, anything... Of course, first
thing the hospital does after the c-section is offer me
ice chips. I think my mom's philosophy became: whatever
the hospital offered, I could have (grape juice, apple
juice, ice water), but at home, I was to have only mother-
sanctioned food items (hot ginger tea, hot water, soup,
etc.)! And, many was the time that she made me wear an
extra shirt or sweater (this was June) because she thought
I was cold.

-- Anita --
(A generation 0.5 American of Chinese descent)

":: Women in some parts of Asia do not take a shower for a full month
:: after childbirth. In fact, they are discouraged from washing
:: themselves at all. Not even with wet towels, or anything. Usually,
:: they stay home indoors for that entire month to keep themselves clean
:: during the entire non-showering month.
::
:: Isn't this a little strange? I've never even heard of this custom
:: until my friend told me about it. She didn't shower for a full month
:: after the birth of her first child. I think it's not a tradition as
:: much as it is some kind of Chinese medicine mumbo-jumbo. Taking a
:: shower in the month after pregnancy is supposed to weaken the mother's
:: immune system. Or something like that.
::
:: And it's not like she's from a backwater village in China. She's a
:: computer science major at the local university. She regularly reads
:: Vogue magazine and religiously watches "The Sopranos". And she
:: doesn't take a shower for a full month after pregnancy.
::
:: Weird. Anybody else know about this tradition?

I'm Korean and have NEVER heard of such a thing!

~Carol Ann