Chinese state media ‘humiliating’ women nurses in coronavirus propaganda campaign
- Reports praising heavily pregnant nurse who continued to work and woman who went back to her job early after miscarriage prompt backlash online
- Academics say they are disrespectful and inappropriate, and could put pressure on others
State broadcaster CCTV led the charge last week, describing a nurse who was in her last month of pregnancy as “a great mother and angel in a white gown” because she had continued to work in the emergency ward of a military hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak in central China.
Zhao Yu was due to give birth in 20 days when the report aired, and apparently insisted she should remain on duty at the General Hospital of Central China War Zone, which like other hospitals in the city was overwhelmed with virus patients. Although her colleagues had tried to talk her out of it, she said she wanted to share the burden.
But the report hailing the nurse’s devotion to her job did not get the intended response online.
After many social media users raised concern about a heavily pregnant nurse working in a highly contagious and difficult environment, the video clip was withdrawn from CCTV’s website.
“I’m not touched at all – on the contrary, I’m angry,” read one of many similar comments on Weibo, China’s Twitter. “Shouldn’t a woman who’s nine months’ pregnant be at home? She’s in such thick protective clothes and it’s hard for her to even move around. Can that be good for her baby?”