"Life without children is a failure", and this "fertility machine theory" caused public anger for a time.
In today's era when the mind has long been liberated, the topic of female fertility can still poke everyone's nerves at any time.
We can't help asking, is the value of this society to women still limited to the stereotype of "having children"?
With the arrival of the triplet policy, in this era of economic progress, the reproductive pressure of women in China is getting heavier and heavier.
A while ago, the documentary "Wonderful Eggs" was released, which set off a discussion around women's problems such as "unable to have children", "afraid to have children" and "unwilling to have children".
Take several protagonists in the first episode as examples:
Xia Wen, a 35-year-old, experienced two IVF failures and was told by her husband to divorce, and was charged 600,000 yuan for assisted reproduction.
Young Xinxin suffers from congenital chromosomal abnormality and cannot conceive her own eggs. While waiting for egg donation, the husband and mother-in-law filed for divorce.
Dandan, who always wanted to repay her husband's love by giving birth to a child, thought that "giving birth to a child is the highest expression of love, which is her responsibility as a woman", but in the later stage of filming, because of too much mental pressure, she entered a mental hospital;
Sister Weng and brother Yu, who lost their independence at an advanced age, came to be test-tube babies, hoping to reincarnate their dead son back to them through assisted reproduction. ...
On the road of seeking children, all beings have different attitudes.
Everyone's story is a history of blood and tears, but in their own epics, some people get their love back as they wish, and some people fail in marriage, but they are helpless and sad.
"When God created man, he gave a woman a uterus, which is both a gift and a shackle."
Too many women, after getting married, should regard giving birth as the primary task in life. If you don't give birth or can't give birth, you will be regarded as a "chicken that can't lay eggs."
Today, there are still many women who flaunt "independent women". Because of their education and environment, although they are the main producers, they have never had their own right to speak on the issue of fertility and have to struggle between themselves and their families.
Under the influence of male-dominated logic, the idea of "carrying on the family line" has become a long-standing "cultural discipline".
We have no intention of attacking these thinking patterns that have been followed for thousands of years. They and their parents may just be unconsciously trapped in this torrent of thoughts.
One episode in the second season of Life also focused on women's reproductive anxiety.
Because the first two children are daughters, Lin Qin, a boy, should be born by all means even if the placenta is in front, in the family atmosphere where the husband's family prefers sons to daughters. However, there was an accident during delivery, and the blood loss was 10000 ml, so the uterus had to be removed.
She sighed in her hospital bed. "It's better to be a man.".
Wu Ying, who suffered from congenital heart disease and severe pulmonary hypertension, insisted that "it seems an incomplete life without children" and had to risk his life to get pregnant and have children. In the end, her gambling failed and she lost her life.
Rao Meiling, a pregnant woman with hydrocephalus, asked her husband, "If I can't have a son, will you divorce me?"
Liu Jie, a fire hero, died in the line of duty, and Ying Xianmei, the mother, succeeded in IVF many times, lamenting "I feel my son is back".
The three heroines in this episode are willing to risk their lives and succumb to the so-called "incomplete woman who has never given birth", "a family with children is complete" and "a boy must be born".
It is this society that turns a blind eye to all the values of a woman and only pays attention to one reproductive function. From all kinds of literary works to ethics, the misunderstood views such as "there are three unfilial, and no heirs are the biggest" and "marriage is the most important career for women, and having children is the most effective means to maintain marriage" have been widely publicized.
The most direct result is that countless Wu Ying advance wave after wave, gambling on a few probabilities with their own lives. They believe that they belong to the statistically lucky part, not the part where it is their turn 100% to die.
Sadly, it is not only countless women in this society, but also this society with rapid economic development but still no progress in thought.
Just like a line in "Don't ask anything":
"You can't die before you want to know how to live in this life."
According to the follow-up study of The Lancet magazine, from 65438 to 0950, every woman gave birth to an average of 4.7 children in her life. By 20 17, after more than half a century, the average fertility rate dropped to 2.4 children.
Of course, this is related to the late childbearing and infertility of the whole society, but we have to admit that people's concept of fertility has begun to change, and different families have more reproductive choices.
In the change of ideas, it is commendable that women's self-awareness is also rising quietly.
A social survey published at the end of 2020, The Present Situation of Women's Fertility Outlook in China, shows that 67.4% of people no longer regard having children as their obligation, and they hope that their children will not carry on the family line or raise children to prevent their old age. On the contrary, many people prefer children to increase family fun.
Just as in the Yang li Ping incident, many female stars also published articles expressing their support.
This is a new social voice. Some people are really thinking about what it means to have children. This idea may not be enough to change society, but it is a good start.
At the end of the article, use the content of a user in Zhihu:
"... in the process of women seeking children, some people are for" carrying on the family line ",some people are for" women's responsibility ",some people just live for their husbands, and some people just live for the continuation of life. In fact, no matter which way they choose, anger or sympathy is the idea of a bystander like me. After all, what kind of life others choose is their right, and we have nothing to say. I only hope that women all over the world, including myself, can be really happy. "