坐月子 Zuo Yue Zi SITTING THE MONTH IN TAIWAN: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS

By

S. SANNA CHEN

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Charlotte Ikels

Department of Anthropology CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

January, 2011

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of Shiuan Sanna Chen ______________________________________________________ Doctor of Philosophy candidate for the __________________________________degree *.

Dr. Charlotte Ikels (signed)_______________________________________________ (chair of the committee) Dr. Jill Korbin ________________________________________________ Dr. Atwood Gaines ________________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Damato ________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

April 21, 2010 (date) _______________________

*We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein.

Copyright © 2010 by Shiuan Sanna Chen All rights reserved ii

Table of Contents List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... viii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 THEORY ...................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 4 Cross Cultural Literature of Postpartum................................................................... 4 The Chinese Family ................................................................................................... 8 Women’s Status ........................................................................................................ 20 CHAPTER 2 TAIWAN: AN OVERVIEW ...................................................................... 32 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................. 32 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................... 34 CHANGES IN EDUCATION, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY ..................................... 38 RESEARCH SITE: PINGTUNG CITY ....................................................................... 47 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 51 HISTORY OF PROJECT ............................................................................................. 51 SAMPLE SELECTION AND CRITERIA ................................................................... 53 iii

DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................. 55 DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 4 坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH ............................................................... 59 坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH................................................................................. 59 Sitting the Month at Home ....................................................................................... 72 Sitting the Month Centers ........................................................................................ 77 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 84 CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 86 INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................... 88 GENERAL DECISION-MAKING .............................................................................. 93 坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH................................................................................ 102 Ideal Place to Sit the Month................................................................................... 120 Sitting the Month and Income ................................................................................ 127 Sitting the Month and Education ........................................................................... 130 Sitting the Month and Marriage Patterns .............................................................. 131 Sitting the Month and Residence Patterns ............................................................. 134 EXAMPLE CASE STUDIES ..................................................................................... 140 Case Study #1......................................................................................................... 141 Case Study #2......................................................................................................... 142

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Case Study #3......................................................................................................... 144 Case Study #4......................................................................................................... 148 Case Study #5......................................................................................................... 151 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 154 CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................... 156 SITTING THE MONTH IN TAIWAN ...................................................................... 156 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS VERSUS OTHER VARIABLES ................................ 163 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 170 FUTURE STUDY ....................................................................................................... 171 APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORMS .............................................................................. 176 APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................. 184 APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................. 185 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 186

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List of Tables

Table 1 Decision-Making within the Family By Employment and Residence Patterns .............. 101

Table 2 Group OW's Sitting the Month in Taiwan ...................................................................... 112

Table 3 Determination of Income Levels .................................................................................... 128

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Residence Pattern and General Decision-Making When Newly Married ........................ 97

Figure 2 Residence Pattern and General Decision-Making When Newly Married in Percents...... 98

Figure 3 Residence Patterns and Realization of Ideal Sitting the Month ..................................... 135

Figure 4 Residence Patterns and Realization of Ideal Sitting the Month, Group YW .................. 139

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost I must thank the army of 阿姨 of Pingtung City and the surrounding area. Only through their help, their endless patience in answering my seemingly childish and naive questions, and their willingness to open their homes and their lives, was the research possible. Thank you so very much for teaching me how to cook, how to deal with future family conflicts, and for treating me like a daughter. 我很 感谢大家. To all the young women who opened their lives in a very hectic and stressful time of their lives, I want to extend my warmest thanks and gratitude. It cannot have been easy to have a stranger come poking into your life and your beliefs at a time of great change, and I am deeply grateful that these women were so forthcoming and so open with their time and their honesty. There are some individuals that must be thanked especially, this being 小 阿姨 and her family for taking me in and providing me with numerous assistance in all area, treating me like another member of the family without question, and 大娘 and her warm family who welcomed, lectured, and fed me continuously. I would also like to thank all the Pingtung City, Taipei and Kaohsiung area hospitals, clinics and sitting the month centers who opened their doors to me and my endless questions regarding their business and their clients. My continual nosiness no doubt annoyed them but the staff bore it with good humor and grace. Thank you all very much. I would like to thank my committee members for their seemingly limitless quantity of patience to wait for me to finish my dissertation. Their wonderful editing and viii

insightful comments as well as continued support made it possible for this dissertation to be finished. Thank you Doctors Korbin, Gaines and Damato. A special thank you for Dr. Ikels for her endless efforts and for continually encouraging me over the years and her always insightful pointers for my research and for my writing. I am in awe in how you have read this complete dissertation over and over again yet still was able to read it fresh and point out changes and revisions. Thank you very much for everything you have done. I am deeply, deeply grateful to have you as my committee chair. This dissertation would not have been half as good without your continued support and comments throughout this long process. A heartfelt thank you and bow to my family in Buffalo: 嘉祥, 吴睇, 小姨, 小姨夫, 大舅, 大舅妈, Susan, Allan, and all the others who helped support this dissertation in so many ways: thank you for watching the kids, for the free babysitting, for being my sounding board even though you did not understand what I was talking about, for giving support whenever needed without question, and for always having an encouraging word, for continually cheering me on. Your absolute acceptance and unquestioning assistance throughout the years have made an enormous difference. I thank you for being always willing to listen, for helping with everything that needed to be done, and to simply being there for me and for my family. A big thank you to my husband Ron and for my children Angelica and Nicholas. 小晖 and 暐暐, you both have been very patient in waiting for this dissertation to be finished and written. I thank you both for being there and being part of my life. As for Ron, I want to thank you also for being so patient and for providing me with assistance in whatever manner I needed. Whether it be some quiet hours to write or whether it be a ix

deadline or pushing me to forge ahead, you are an enormous part of my life. Thank you for being there and for being with me in my life. And lastly I want to dedicate a special heartfelt thank you to my parents, without whom this dissertation would not have been possible; a deep and most grateful thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without your strong unwavering support and providing me with a strong foundation in my life, this dissertation would not have even been attempted much less finished. This doctorate belongs as much to you both as it does me. Thank you Drs. 陳殿光 and 孫承珊 .

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坐月子 Zuo Yue Zi Sitting the Month in Taiwan: Implications for Intergenerational Relations

Abstract by

S. SANNA CHEN

This dissertation attempts to find what factors play a key role in women‟s ability to control their own lives by studying women‟s postpartum practices, specifically women‟s intergenerational relations as these are played out during traditional postpartum practices of 坐月子, Sitting the Month, in Taiwan using the strength of anthropological methods. Using semi-structures questionnaires and participant observation, three key questions are to be answered by this dissertation: 1) Where and how are women sitting the month currently in Taiwan? How is this different or the same from 15-20 years ago? 2) What are some of the factors enabling or hindering their stated ideals/goals in how they sat the month? 3) How have intergenerational relations between Chinese women in the family changed or remained the same in Taiwan? If there are changes, can they be attributed to economic variables, or are there other factors to be considered? This study found that sitting the month in Taiwan has becoming increasingly commercialized, extending the business of Chinese women‟s postpartum globally into mainland China and in the US. The conclusions from this study seem to point to social relationships and not economics as being key factors in women‟s ability to control their own lives. Women sitting the month currently seem to enjoy an increased autonomy if xi

they are separated from their mothers-in-law. Living with their mothers-in-law translates to lesser freedom of choice, regardless of their income or education. Young women‟s status has increased so that they are able to make their own decisions regarding their family, their bodies and their lives, but this change in their autonomy is not absolute and varies depending on family circumstances. Variables such as income and education had little to do with women‟s satisfaction and decision-making in their day to day lives, but residence patterns were significant in the young women‟s power and authority over their own lives. The findings of this study do not attribute this increased women‟s autonomy to changes in income or education. The important variable for consideration is social relationships.

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CHAPTER 1 THEORY

INTRODUCTION One of the strengths of anthropological studies has always been the ability to look into inter-personal stories, the relationships between people. With the emphasis on participant observation, anthropologists are able to live immersed in the community and discover all the nuances of people‟s everyday lives. Although economics have been continually cited as a major impetus of changes in the status of women within the family and changes in the family and kinship (Chen 2005, Diamond 1973, Handwerker 1990, Mukhopadyay and Higgins 1988, Ogbu 1978, Sacks 1974, Thornton et al. 1984, Whyte 1978), others have cited the importance of studying relationships between various members of the family (Baker 1979, Brown et al. 1998, Kabeer 2005, Wolf 1972, Yan 2003). This dissertation attempts to shed more insight into this process by studying women‟s postpartum practices, specifically women‟s intergenerational relations as these are played out during traditional postpartum practices of 坐月子, Sitting the Month, in Taiwan using the strength of anthropological methods. In examining women‟s postpartum practice, this dissertation seeks to find if economics or relationships play a key role in women‟s ability to control their own lives.

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A traditional period of postpartum confinement, 坐月子1, zuoyuezi, translated literally to “Sitting the Month”, is a Chinese practice characterized by a plethora of behavioral and dietary proscriptions and prescriptions. The practice is currently undergoing a strong resurgence in popularity in Taiwan, as well as on the Mainland and overseas, e.g., the US. Thirty years ago, zuoyuezi was still firmly under the authority of the mother-in-law, the most senior female member of the family (Interview Data). The mother-in-law was the main authority who could dictate how her daughter-in-law would spend the first month after childbirth; in what manner if any, the daughter-in-law would zuoyuezi. Currently there are more choices of how to sit the month, and younger women do not always spend the month of their confinement with their mother-in-law (Interview Data). What are the factors supporting their decision not to sit the month with their mother-in-law? What do these choices in sitting the month practice inform us about the current state of intergenerational relations between women in Taiwan, especially those relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law? Studies of the changing status of women within the family, the Chinese family itself and kin relations cite economy and its myriad of components as a major factor in increasing the authority of younger women and increasing their power within the family, most often at the expense of the older women (Goode 1963, Hampshire et al. 2008, Judd 1994, Sacks 1974, Whyte 2005). With this increase in agency, women become active managers with the ability to control their own lives. An increase in the ability to control

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Certain researchers and writers use 做月子, zuoyuezi, translated to mean Doing the month. For the purposes of this dissertation, the Chinese 坐月子, zuoyuezi, translated to mean Sitting the month will be utilized. For English, sitting or doing will be used interchangeably, but 坐 will be used instead of 做 in Chinese.

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their own persons and their activities, autonomy, translates to an increase in their status within the family. And yet still others stress the importance of social relationships, cultural obligations, and dynamics within the family as an important aspect to study, not merely economics (Chen 2005, Foner 1984, Lee et al. 1994, Wu 2005, Yan 1997 and 2003). This dissertation examines the achievement of women‟s stated ideals and goals in how they sat the month as an indicator of their increasing or decreasing autonomy within the Chinese family. If young women‟s power within the Chinese family has increased this would mean they have achieved a certain measure of autonomy, and therefore women would be able to achieve their desired manner of sitting the month, a practice traditionally controlled by mothers-in-law throughout Chinese history and as recently as 20-30 years ago. There are three key questions to be answered by this dissertation: 1. Where and how are women sitting the month currently in Taiwan? How is this different or the same from 15-20 years ago? 2. What are some of the factors enabling or hindering their stated ideals/goals in how they sat the month? 3. How have intergenerational relations between Chinese women in the family changed or remained the same in Taiwan? If there are changes, can they be attributed to economic variables, or are there other factors to be considered?

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter begins with a brief review of the cross-cultural literature of postpartum practice before delving into a background of the Chinese family and women‟s status. The cross-cultural literature review of postpartum details different societies and how women have historically and presently practiced a resting period after childbirth. Literature regarding the Chinese family and women‟s status focuses specifically on what elements have been found to influence change. The main focus of this review is on what other researchers have theorized alters women‟s status in general and also within the family. For this purpose we start with studies on the Chinese family specifically and broaden to studies on women‟s status as appropriate, keeping in mind the key question: what and how have researchers proposed to predict women‟s status in general and specifically women‟s position within the family?

Cross Cultural Literature of Postpartum The cross-cultural review of the postpartum period reveals an extensive ethnographic literature, describing various beliefs, behaviors and practices (Brody 1998, Chu 1993, Hart et al. 1965, Kitzinger 1994, Morse 1989, Oakley 1977, Pillsbury 1982, Sargent 1989, Sargent and Bascope 1997). The literature covering postpartum also includes issues involving the health of the mother, infant, and the family and how women‟s physical and mental health impacts upon the health of those under her care, e.g. older children, spouse, other family members, etc. This section will provide a brief introduction to the cross cultural literature on postpartum practices.

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Childbirth in the Southeast and Eastern Asia seem to share a common practice of lying by the fire or “mother roasting” as it has been called (Hart et al. 1965, Laderman 1983). Based upon the humoral system, women are considered to be in a very cold state after childbirth. Therefore, this would require warming her inside and out. Vietnamese midwives light a small stove and place this under the mother‟s bed. Variations on this theme are warm bricks or salt placed on the abdomen. Malaysian women lie upon a makeshift bed the men have put together with a stove burning below it. Korean rooms are warmed from beneath the floor with charcoal bricks, and women lie close to the warmest part of the room if not right on top of the area where the bricks are warming the floor (Kendall 1987). In direct contrast to women in Southeast Asia, Mayan women in the Yucatan are considered to be very hot after childbirth (Fuller and Jordan 1981). But instead of treating the hot with cold to reach a state of equilibrium, women must be protected from cold elements including blocking out all the cold air that may drift into the house and avoiding all foods that are considered to be cold. The new mother‟s activities are also limited, and she does not have to do household chores, cook, or take care of children (Fuller and Jordan 1981). Women in Vietnam and Malaysia are not only warmed physically by manipulation of their environment but are also warmed from the inside the body through diet. In Vietnam, foods that are considered hot like pork, meats, and fish are eaten, while cabbage, green fruit, carp, turtle, fruits and vegetables are avoided as these foods are considered to be cooling (Hart et al. 1965). Filipino women are restricted to meals of chicken and green papaya boiled in coconut milk said to produce a regular flow of breast milk (Hart et al. 1965). Malaysian women on the other hand have a severely restricted 5

diet to the point where women are confined to rice, salt, pepper and sometimes salted fish and chilies (Laderman 1983). In Egypt, women are considered to be polluting and weak after childbirth (Morsy 1982), making her and the baby more susceptible to the evil eye. The confinement of 40 days is thought to be ideal, although peasant families rarely practiced to the fullest extent. Postpartum in Sudan is also 40 days, and the woman is pampered and freed from her chores even if her baby is stillborn (Brody 1998). Bedouin Arab women also rest for 40 days after childbirth. During this period a woman is considered to be vulnerable in health, so she stays in seclusion (Forman et al. 1990). Bedouin women are relieved of their household chores, including cooking and taking care of the children as well as the infant, and are given special foods to eat. Visitors are welcome during this time, and they come with gifts of money to celebrate the occasion. Her husband‟s female relatives help her during this time by taking care of the household and guests (Forman et al. 1990). Unfortunately, not every woman is able to afford the opportunity to rest after childbirth, and there are vast differences between belief and actual behavior. In Egypt, whether the full confinement period of 40 days is followed or not depends upon the woman‟s socioeconomic status within the family and whether she gave birth to a girl or a boy (Morsy 1982). If the woman‟s socioeconomic status is fairly high, the family may be able to spare her from daily demands of labor and work. Boys are more valued than girls, therefore, the birth of a son would make the family look more favorably upon the woman and allow her increased time off from her normal duties. Women in Guatemala are also limited in their period of confinement by socioeconomic status, the availability of female friends and relatives to help her, and her physical condition (Cosminsky 1994). 6

Vietnamese women practice mother warming and a strict diet during postpartum, but not every women is given or wants this opportunity (Hart et al. 1965). Peasant women must return to work as soon as possible, so they are unable to keep to the cultural practice. Women in urban areas have voluntarily discontinued this practice. As to why they have, no reason was given. Speculations point to modernization and an effort to distance oneself from traditional practices that may be seen as backward. Non-western countries are not the only ones to practice specific postpartum behaviors. Historically, during medieval times in England, women were considered to be polluted and vulnerable, therefore they would rest for 40 days. During this time she was not allowed to cook or work, so her “gods-sibs” helped her by cooking and taking over household responsibilities (Kitzinger 1997). During the colonial period, in the US, women had a lying-in or “lie-in” after childbirth (Wertz and Wertz 1989). It consisted of a three to four week period which could be extended during which the woman was expected to stay in bed. Her network of female friends and relatives would take care of the household, cooking, and child care when necessary. Oakley found in her study during the 1970s that the Netherlands had a policy of offering some type of state assisted support to the new mother after childbirth (Oakley 1977). The rationale is not the usual confinement due to polluting factors of childbirth as practiced in Asia, and no strict number of days is prescribed. But it is much more formalized than in any other western nation. There are “maternity aides” who are trained for two years in housekeeping, maternal and infant care. These aides assist the midwife during the delivery (childbirth may take place in the home) and then remain in the

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household to provide domestic and medical help to the new mother and her family. The aide stays for 10 days and then moves on to the next family. Many diverse cultures have practiced certain behavioral or dietary rules for women during postpartum, either in the past or even presently. Some of these practices have changed in meaning and the manner in which they are conducted. The reasons why women still follow these cultural rules are because many societies believe that the woman and child are especially prone to evil forces after childbirth, therefore, all these rules regarding behaviors are merely to protect them during this time (Newton and Newton 1972). If these guidelines are not followed then it may result in mortality or at the very least, ill health and disease of the mother. Other cultures believe that not following these guidelines will result in health problems later on in life (Chu 1993, Sargent and Bascope 1997). This brief review of the ethnographic literature shows many different cultures practice specific postpartum rules of behavior and diet for a variety of reasons.

The Chinese Family Studies in the Chinese family began with research regarding kinship and structure, and eventually turned to one of the key questions that still fascinate social scientists today, why Chinese families are unable to sustain the ideal form of the joint family and what factors caused the family to change (Baker 1979, Cohen 1976, Pasternak 1972, Watson 1975, Yang 1959). The answers often were reduced to economic causes, regarding control of the family economic unit, and how there was no economic benefit to being in a joint family form, therefore causing significant changes to the family (Cohen 1976, Pasternak 1972, Yanagisako 1979). Although economic reasons were one of the 8

leading causes of family division others point to social relationships between members of the family, and to marriage and women as some of the other factors causing division. Below is a brief introduction to the Chinese family in general, continuing into the specifics of relationships within the Chinese family, focusing specifically on women. The ideal Chinese family that many strove to achieve, seldom with success, consists of five generations living beneath one roof, sharing all their resources and wealth, eating and living together under the authority of the oldest male member of the family, usually the father (Baker 1979, Cohen 1976). This was the ideal; for several generations to stay together was a sign of family cohesion, and of sound management by the family head who resisted efforts to divide the family property, particularly land. Family members staying together would share the wealth and resources. When there are enough family members to work the land, other members are free to work elsewhere (e.g. open a shop, market, sell their labor to other families with a labor shortage) and increase the overall income and wealth of the family. Yet although considered to be the most advantageous, the joint family was not common, even amongst the wealthy who had the resources to sustain such a family. Therefore the question most often studied by anthropologists is why this ideal family was so uncommon, and what factors would lead to family division. Baker (1979) in his study of the Chinese family argues that the division of the joint family comes about because there are conflicts of interest or personality clashes between family members. People just cannot get along with each other. Perhaps there is an argument over family authority, of who does what, who does more and receives less,

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etc. Family members have differing opinions on how the family should be run and therefore, division occurs. Cohen (1976) is much more explicit in his research of a village in Taiwan. Here he finds the major divisive force to be the equal rights that the brothers have on the family estate. The Chinese give equal rights of inheritance to the sons of the family. Unlike the Europeans, who historically have practiced primogeniture where the eldest son would inherit all the family property and title, each Chinese son would expect an equal share of the family property. Therefore, if the land was divided between consecutive generations, eventually the shares would be insufficient in size to support a family‟s living. Furthermore, in the division of land, there is always the question of land that is high yield versus low yield, therefore the land becomes further divided into smaller parcels so as to equalize each son‟s share. For this reason, economic forces could also act as a unifying force, keeping the family together to maintain their standard of living, since division would reduce the income and standard of living for all members. A divisive force for Cohen is the tension between the brothers. This tension may be the result of growing discontent amongst the various family members. Questions of authority, or arguments over how the family purse is used, all may work to increase tensions between family members and eventually divide the family into smaller segments. And here, women play a major role. As argued by Cohen, women are a major force in family division. Single brothers working for the family economic unit often do not suffer from tensions in their relationship, but the tension increases and becomes more readily apparent when brothers marry and bring in a wife. These tensions build and eventually may lead to family division. 10

In another study of the family division, this time in rural China, Cohen (1992) found a village characterized by increasing demands from the younger members of the family for independence and setting up of their own household, apart from the parents. Often division of the family occurred while the parents were still alive. This significantly changes parent-child dynamics. The father no longer held the position of the family head; instead he depended upon his son or sons to support him and his wife. Chinese families are traditionally stratified vertically and horizontally along gender and age lines. The older an individual, the more authority he or she has within the family, and men have higher status than women. Following this guideline, the oldest male has the most authority in the family, and the youngest woman, often the newly married in daughter-in-law for example, has the lowest status and authority within the family. The new daughter-in-law often had the lowest status in the family, at times lower than the children of the household since she was young, female and considered a stranger to the family. Although she married into the family, she was still considered a stranger and her status in her new family would not improve until she gave birth to children, or another, newer, daughter-in-law married in, elevating her status. Lives for newly married women within the Chinese family could be so harsh and intolerable according to Wolf (1975), they were driven to suicide more than any other age groups. The parents were entitled to the most respect and the most authority. They controlled the family economy and property, and they dictated whom their children would marry since marriage was for the sake of the family, not the individual (Cohen 1976, Harrell 1982, Wolf 1975 and 1985). The parents expected the children to obey,

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and for the most part in this family structure, children did. As the economic structure changed however, so did family dynamics, especially the parent-child relationship. A child‟s economic independence greatly enhanced his or her role in the family at the expense of the parents (Gallin 1998, Jankowiak 1993, Watson 1975, Yan 1997). James Watson‟s 1975 study of the Hong Kong village San Tin and its high rate of migration overseas is a good example. Although previously the village was agriculturally based, by the 1960s farming had ceased and the family‟s subsistence was based on remittances sent by the migrant workers who were employed in restaurants and laundries in London. This income generating power which was independent of the family‟s land or property, transformed inter-generational relations. Parents no longer had the ability to arrange marriages for their children; the men chose their own marriage partners as they wished. Perhaps the most significant alteration to the traditional Chinese family came from where the income was sent. The wages earned by the son were sent back to his wife, not to his parents. This meant a significant departure from the traditional Chinese dynamics since the wife in essence controlled economic resources and made decisions on household expenditures, not the parents. Some men sent back a small portion of their earnings to their parents, perhaps once a year so that they might have some individual spending money, but the majority of the earnings were sent to the wife. This changed the inter-generational relationship between parent and children considerably. Jankowiak‟s (1993) study presents findings similar to those of Watson. In his study, the parents no longer controlled the “resources of power” (Jankowiak 1993:226) and therefore they lost their authority over their children. The “resource” stated here was most often the family property which in the past was owned and controlled by the 12

parents. With this loss of family land or property, and children earning a wage income independent of their parents, the social dynamics had changed. Jankowiak found that parents often complained about the lack of respect from their children. In a study by Cornman et al. (2003), regarding attitudes toward intergenerational relations, 78% of Taiwanese elderly believed that maintaining some type of property is important to ensure respect from one‟s children; without the existence of such an economic resource, respect may correspondingly decrease. Those parents with no family economic wealth to pass onto their children can and often did provide other forms of support to ensure good relations with their children (Goransson 2009, Hermalin et al. 2003, Whyte 2005). Goransson (2009) found that without a strong economic power base, parents often find their authority over their children decreasing. But she also found that parents were actively providing support and services to their children with the implicit understanding, if not hope, that their children would then reciprocate and provide similar support for them in the future. Hermalin et al. (2003) in a survey of aging in 1996 conducted in Taiwan, found that 30% of their sample population age 50 years or more with at least one grandchild were providing childcare for one or more grandchildren. Fifty-nine percent of this sample provided indirect care by assistance with household work. Whyte (2005) also drew similar conclusions in his comparison study of intergenerational relations between mainland China and Taiwan. Whyte concluded that in parent child relations, exchange does not flow only in one direction from children to parents. Parents provided children with various support, from financial, to childcare, to assistance in shopping or household chores, or in providing social contacts to solve particular problems. The findings here 13

point to a noticeable change in parent-child relations within the Chinese family. Parental authority over their children is no longer absolute. Parents must have some sort of bargaining power (whether it be the existence of family wealth or the ability and willingness to provide physical, social or network support) in which to retain good relations and some measure of respect from their children. Although these previous studies emphasize control over economic resources and power as primary mechanisms by which relations within the Chinese family change, other studies have found that economic independence does not readily translate to freedom from traditional family norms. Janet Salaff in her study of working daughters in Hong Kong in the 1970s found that although women, especially young unmarried women, were working outside the home and earning a tangible wage, these monies were still controlled and utilized by the patrilineal family, with little regard to the women who actually earned the money (Salaff 1995). These young women, although they were employed outside the family enterprise, had little authority over their own lives much less the lives of other family members. This is similar to findings in Taiwan. Kung‟s study of young female factory worker in Taiwan also conducted in the 1970s, found that within the Chinese family, parental authority over their children did not alter drastically due to independent employment outside the family enterprise (Kung 1994). Although young women dressed better and they had a little spending money to play with, the majority of their income was given to parents or to the family financial pool of resources. They were not allowed to keep their earnings for their own use, and certainly had little say in how their earnings would be utilized by the family. These women were still largely dependent upon the family, and factory work in some cases replicated traditional Chinese family 14

roles and expectations. Women still felt they owed their parents for their upbringing and therefore they needed to work and earn money to pay their parents back before they left the family at marriage. However, both Salaff‟s (1995) and Kung‟s (1994) studies did find that life for these young working women was slightly better. Kung found that young factory workers were able to meet with other peer groups, go shopping and, generally, were able to widen their social network independent of the family. Salaff found these wage earning women were accorded more freedom when compared to women previously. For example, they were able to have more voice in the choice of marriage partners, they retained a small monetary allowance for their own use, and they were able to socialize more with their peers. For these women, their monetary contributions to the family income also resulted in increased voice within the family regarding small decisions. They were able to actively take part in decisions regarding siblings‟ educational choices for example and to represent the family in certain ceremonial gatherings. They were still unable to take part in major decisions, but they were allowed a certain measure of authority within the family, something that the previous generation of young women would not have dared to imagine. In this sense, economic power did have some small impact upon women‟s status within the family, although not to the extent suggested by other studies previously cited. The parent-child relation is not the only social relationship within the Chinese family to change. Changing relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have also been studied and are especially pertinent to the present study. The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is naturally fraught with tension within the 15

Chinese family. Goransson (2009) in her study of intergenerational relations in the Chinese family in Singapore attributes this tension to the differences between expectations of what a daughter-in-law should be and the reality.

“Without question, the worse trouble spot is the relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. The tensions in this relationship are very much tied to the changing position of women in contemporary Singapore, and the ways in which young women deviate from the traditional daughter-in-law role… The practice of patrilocality meant that the daughter-in-law was physically estranged from her natal family, and as an outsider she could expect little or no sympathy from her new family. Women today shun the very prospect of ending up in this situation, and while they may no longer accept bullying by their mother-in-law, they also have a strong desire to be the woman of the house.” (Goransson 2009:135)

Wolf (1972) in a much earlier study attributes this tension between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to a tug-of-war between these two generations of women regarding their son or husband respectively. Wolf (1972) outlines how a woman in Taiwan enters married life with little or no status and slowly builds her value to the family through her fertility, especially by giving birth to sons. She then proceeds to bind her sons to her, building a “uterine family” where her sons will be most obligated to her so that she can be secure in her old age. The stronger the relationship between her son and herself, the greater her son‟s loyalty to her leaving her secure in the knowledge that her son will support her in her last years. The introduction of a daughter-in-law into the family changes the social dynamics. The daughter-in-law lightens the mother-in-law‟s household work considerably, but at the same time threatens to fracture the loyalty of son to mother that the older woman has painstakingly built up since her own marriage into 16

the family. Any sign of a close relationship developing between husband and wife agitates the mother-in-law‟s security. The daughter-in-law‟s interest in building her own “uterine family” can be one of the factors that eventually cause family division. Rita Gallin (1998) in her study of the relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in Taiwan contends that the difference in the intergenerational relationship lies in the political economy of Taiwan itself. Gallin found that mothers-inlaw who depend on their children for support had no power or control over the family. These powerless mothers-in-law had daughters-in-law who worked outside the home and were independent of them. If the wages earned by the daughters-in-law were unrelated to the family farm or business, the mothers-in-law had less ability to dictate and control their daughters-in-law‟s lives. The mothers-in-law who had power, had respect, and controlled her daughter-in-law‟s life had economic resources of her own from a family business or industry. Therefore, women who had and could control some type of economic resource, could control their own lives and dictate what would happen to themselves, to their family, and to their family members as well. Judd (1989) also found that a mother-in-law‟s control over daughters-in-law had decreased somewhat when compared to traditional Chinese family norms.

“…the mother-in-law‟s permission was then required for visiting (niangjia) and might not be given. I was told that the mother-in-law no longer has this degree of control, although such an erosion of authority seems to be recent and perhaps not complete, despite the marked increase in relative status and independence of daughters-in-law who now have incomes of their own and the power to force a household division unwelcome to her parents-in-law.” (Judd 1989:533)

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Brown et al. (1998) in their cross-cultural study of 30 societies (with a wide variety of subsistence, geography and complexity) found that three factors were statistically significant in measuring the influence of older women onto younger women‟s lives; that is the authority of older women. These were rules of post-marital residence, how descent is organized, and the extent of the younger women‟s contribution to subsistence. These three factors can most certainly be applied to a study of the Chinese family in measuring mother-in-law‟s influence onto their daughter-in-law‟s lives. Wolf (1975) in her study of suicide in Chinese women found that as suicide rates for younger women decreased, suicide rates for older women, over age 45, increased. This shift could be attributed to changing relations between parent and child (e.g. between mother and son, between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law) as well as between spouses. Wolf views the increase in suicidal rates for older women as the result of changes within the family, where the increasing strength of the conjugal relationship threatens the parent child relationship, thereby decreasing the mother‟s sense of security. Another aspect of this changing inter-generational relationship is the result of an increasing importance of the husband and wife relationship versus the parent child relationship, in what Yan (1997) calls the “Triumph of conjugality”. Previously, the relationship between parent and child was paramount with its emphasis on filial piety, respect and obedience. Recently the emphasis has changed to the conjugal tie between man and wife. Whereas in the past, sons would have supported their parents over their wives, currently husbands are more likely to support their wives in a dispute between his wife and his parents. The son‟s loyalty has changed from that to his parents to his wife and his own nuclear family. 18

Yan (1997 and 2003) in his studies found that the family head who had previously held authority in the family no longer held this role. Power and authority were spread and shared between family members. The power parents once wielded over their children has gradually decreased. Consequently, parents in China try to hold onto some form of property so they can have a say in the decision-making within the family. Williams et al. (1999) in their study found similar circumstances in Chinese families in Taiwan and Singapore where parents‟ roles in decisions making had noticeable decreased. If parents do not have some form of property or economic control, they may not be consulted and their opinions would not have much weight (Williams et al. 1999). Yan (2003) attributes this loss of parental power to changes in social organization. The family previously provided its members with all aspects of life; from education to production, and access to networks. Currently, the family provides less and less of these functions. Education is offered on a nation-wide scale and the materials taught are out of the control of the family. Individuals seek employment outside the home and no longer work for the family economic unit. Although traditional Chinese families expected children to live with their parents after marriage, Yan in his studies found that couples often lived independently immediately after marriage. And here Yan‟s findings are different from other studies. Yan found that couples were living independently of their families and in essence had separated from their parents, but the family estate had not been divided. In other studies, household division (setting up of independent household) occurred when the family property or land was divided, yet Yan found that family estate division was often delayed.

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Another interesting finding of Yan (2003) is that both the older and younger generation advocate for living independently. It is not only the younger generation pushing for division but the parents also. Both generations cite that living independently of each other provides happiness and a level of convenience which cannot be replaced by monetary gains. One parent liked walking around in his home in his undershirt, which would be impossible with a daughter-in-law in residence. With everyone living together, a certain measure of circumspection and “watching of others‟ eyes” would be required. Living independently negated those elements of everyday life. Yan‟s (2003) study also differed from other studies in that he advocates for research examining beyond the mere economic reasons why Chinese families changed. Explaining changes in family structure as a result of economic pursuits is too simplistic and inadequate. The social dynamics within the family, and each member‟s individual pursuits and ideals are equally important if not more so than the economic reasons when explaining how families have changed. Yanagisako (1979) in her analysis of family and household also advocates for looking beyond property to examine societal relationships attached to the property (e.g. social obligations, rights, rules and expectations).

Women’s Status Chinese women‟s status traditionally was lower than that of any man in Chinese society (Gallin 1998). Sons were introduced first, while women were tacked on like an afterthought in social situations. Many sons in a family were celebrated while many daughters were a source of commiseration (Croll 2000). Daughters were considered to be costly, consuming family‟s financial resources (educating, clothing and feeding them), 20

while contributing little to the family‟s overall financial income. Daughters were children you raised for the benefit of some other family, since they married out and took their income generating abilities with them. A woman was to be governed by a man throughout her life as evidenced by the three obediences, which every individual from peasant to lord knew in traditional times. These three obediences dictated that an unmarried girl obey her father and her brothers, a married woman obey her husband, and a widow to obey her adult sons (Gallin 1989, Gates 1987, Wolf 1985). By the late 20th century researchers found that the status of Taiwanese women overall was better than that experienced by their mothers and grandmothers (Greenhalgh 1985). Increases in educational and employment opportunities, and changes in family structures have improved women‟s positions in Taiwan (Gallin 1989, Thornton et al. 1984, Tsai et al. 1994, Williams et al. 1999). However, many authors argue that women are still in a subordinate position and at a disadvantage in Chinese society (Croll 2000, Gallin 1989, Greenhalgh 1985). Although educational opportunities have increased for women, this is a consequence of increased educational requirements for waged labor. Increased years of education for women are not due to increased status of women (Greenhalgh 1985). Families are more willing to send and pay for their daughter‟s schooling when employers seek laborers with high educational backgrounds. Furthermore, although there has been an increase in employment opportunities for women, these positions are usually low in status and pay compared to those positions given to men (Greenhalgh 1985, Gallin 1989). Whether women‟s status in Taiwan has improved or not is still highly contested.

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Economics has been continually emphasized as a primary variable affecting female status (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988). Engels, for example, theorized that women‟s status decreased as private property increased (Sacks 1974). Societies formerly had an egalitarian orientation, where everyone was equal and productive members and there was no single ownership. As societies changed to a more institutional oriented society in which women become reliant on men as wives and dependents, in which property (i.e. land) becomes owned and often controlled through the family institution by men, women‟s status decreases (Sacks 1974). Ortner (1974) addresses gender inequality in another manner, through the nature versus culture dichotomy. Here everything associated with culture is more valued, everything to do with nature is devalued. Women are by their very natures and biology (reproduction, child caring, domestic activities, etc.) more closely associated with nature, therefore, women are devalued. Men are more aligned with culture, and consequently valued more in society. Others have taken on this nature versus culture dichotomy and expanded it to domestic versus public; where women‟s roles are primarily in the domestic sphere and within the home; therefore her role is devalued and given no weight. Men are public figures, actively involved in the political arena, valued by society overall for their contributions, and therefore, men are given more recognition and higher status (Rosaldo 1974). There have been several critiques of these nature versus culture or domestic versus public theories, especially on their universality and their ability to predict women‟s status (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988). Several cross-cultural studies for example, show that valuation of nature or culture differs significantly in different 22

societies (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988, Whyte 1978). Other studies show how women have taken what has typically been devalued and utilized it to their own advantage, transforming the supposed biological barriers, the same nature that is devalued, to something of increased value, and insist on recognition of their contribution. Several studies covered subsequently in this chapter will provide adequate examples of this (Buckley 1982 and Lawrence 1982 on menstrual taboos). Underlying these theories is the basic concept of incompatibility between women‟s roles as mothers, as domestic workers tied to the home, women‟s reproduction, and control of economic production (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988). Women due to their biology, responsibility to the home, child care, pregnancy, lactation, and birth, are unable to make significant contributions to economic subsistence and so they are unable to achieve a status similar to that of men, who have no such responsibilities and can focus their efforts towards economic goals. Many studies have disproved these conclusions (Brown 1970, Ember 1983, Handwerker 1990). Women actively strategize and make decisions regarding work versus their domestic responsibilities, and at times economic demands triumph over the demands of family and home. Handwerker (1990), for example, finds that fertility increases when children are contributors to the family economy, but fertility decreases when children are consumers. When children‟s labors contribute to the family subsistence either through their work at home or through their work for individuals outside the home, the number of children a couple has increases. When children can no longer provide economic assistance to the family, but instead are active consumers (i.e. need to be educated) the number of children

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in a family noticeably decreases. Here reproduction does not constrain women‟s economic roles, instead fertility is actively controlled by a cost benefit analysis. Carol Ember (1983) noted that as agriculture intensified, women‟s contribution to family subsistence decreased. Her viewpoint is slightly different from other researchers who assume that women are pushed out of intensive agriculture as men take control of the technologies and heavy labor involved with intensive agriculture (i.e. the plow, irrigation, etc.). She looks at their withdrawal from agriculture as being “pulled into” domestic work due to the increasing labor requirements which are related to this intensive agriculture (Ember 1983:286). Intensive agriculture usually involves cereal crops which take more time to process and make fit for consumption. Women‟s domestic work increases as they process, prepare and store these cereals. Intensive agriculturalists also seem to have more children, which in turn increases child care work for the woman, and ultimately binds the woman more to the home, leaving her little time to work outside. In Ember‟s view, women are not being isolated to home and hearth, but their time is increasingly needed at home and this, therefore, reduces the time they can help their husbands. Husbands in turn, also have increased labor requirements with intensification of agriculture; they spend much more time working when compared to simple agriculturalists. This supports Handwerker‟s point that with increased labor requirements, which intensive agriculture requires, fertility increases, which has been noted by Ember to be the case in intensive agriculture. Brown (1970) makes an interesting point that women‟s subsistence activities do not end because of their responsibilities to the home (i.e. child care). Merely, their subsistence activities change to accommodate their domestic responsibilities. Gender 24

division of labor occurs due to a woman‟s domestic responsibilities, which require her to be close and accessible to the home. Therefore her labor is limited in scope. Other studies have shown that child rearing and domestic activities are not incompatible with certain subsistence activities, and for Brown, it is clear that women make economic choices in consideration of their reproductive roles. A host of single key variables have been studied in depth to show how they change women‟s status. Most of these are economically oriented, concentrating on women‟s economic roles, production, control of production, distribution and exchange, as well as variables like aggression, violence, strength, reproduction, etc. (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988). But these key determinants models have been deemed too simplistic, and are often based on an European model. As some of the studies below show, factors that may seem to devalue women at first glance may not necessarily do so. Many factors that were once considered to decrease a woman‟s status have also been shown to increase a woman‟s status. Menstrual taboos are one such example (Buckley 1982, Lawrence 1982). All if not most of ethnographic accounts of menstruation treats the process as polluting, where women need to be confined away from public space, and in the Yurok case studied by Buckley, the women are secluded in a small private room away from everyday foods and items for fear that they will contaminate everything they touch during their menstrual cycle (Buckley 1982). Although anthropologists considered menstruation to be polluting, the Yurok women themselves considered menstruation a time when women‟s powers were most concentrated, therefore women were to separate themselves from mundane everyday tasks and concentrate on spiritual meditation, to discover one‟s purpose in life. For 25

Yurok women, the blood during menstruation is not polluting; it purifies the woman in preparation for spiritual tasks. Lawrence‟s study (1982) of menstrual taboos in Portugal also agrees with Buckley that women‟s menstruation may not have the negative connotation often given by social scientists. In Portugal during the annual ritual of pig slaughter and subsequent processing of the meat into sausages, women who menstruate are prohibited from coming into contact with the meat because it is believed that menstruating women will cause the meat to spoil. Since the household‟s social status is measured by what the family earns from slaughtering the pig and fulfilling the ritual distribution of the meat as gifts, the spoiling of the meat will cause a large financial strain on the family (since a grown adult pig will need to be bought as replacement for the slaughter). Other components of this society at first glance also seem to point to the devaluation of women‟s status. For example, there is a high degree of separation between the sexes; interaction between men and women outside the home is rare. Women stayed home as housewives and the home was their primary domain. Meanwhile, men worked and socialized outside the home, going home only to sleep and eat. The initial assumption upon looking at these factors is that women‟s value in this society is low, yet upon closer detailed examination of the process and the interaction between and amongst women, and between husband and wives, a different story emerges. Women in this village are the primary recruiters for labor during the slaughter. Men cannot recruit laborers because they cannot know which woman is menstruating and cannot ask to find out. Women not only arrange for other women to work at their home during the slaughter, they also ask the women to bring their husbands with them. When 26

the day for the slaughter arrives, the women act as gate keepers; they decide who can ultimately enter their domain and who cannot. A close examination of the social dynamics in this process makes it clear that the menstruation taboo is not an issue that decreases women‟s status. In this case, similar to the case presented by Buckley previously, the women are not constrained by the menstrual taboo. Instead women are clearly acting as agents, transforming a practice that would seem to devalue them, into something that increases their value and worth within the family and society.

“The line of argument developed here focuses on women as actors in their own right. Women actively choose among cultural alternatives in pursuing their own ends as well as manipulate cultural realities for their own purposes. In most societies men monopolize decision-making powers and positions of authority so that women must either work through or around them to achieve their goals.” (Lawrence 1982:85)

John Ogbu‟s (1978) paper examined the function of bridewealth in Africa and the relation between bridewealth and women‟s status. Most studies regarding African societies and bridewealth accord women low status since in essence they consider the woman purchased by the man in this transaction. Anthropologists studying the same practice did not necessarily agree with the idea of purchase, but they saw the women as “commodities of exchange”, and also accorded low status to women in bridewealth cultures. Words like sale, lease, and hiring the services and so forth were applied to marriage in African cultures due to the exchange of bridewealth. None of the studies mention how women might benefit from bridewealth. Ogbu studied 60 societies in Africa who practiced bridewealth, and he concluded that bridewealth worked to 27

legitimize the marriage so that each spouse has some legal recourse if circumstances in the marriage become intolerable. For those marriages that did not have bridewealth, the union between man and woman is not recognized and individuals have no support and no ability to claim damages. In the case of marriages with bridewealth, the union is legitimized and as such the participants can claim certain rights in cases of adultery or other circumstances where the conjugal rights have been violated. In conclusion, bridewealth does not decrease women‟s status, it increases their value legally, giving them certain rights that enable them to legitimately seek public authority over their conjugal rights. From these previous examples, it is clear that to merely look at individual variables and how they may define women‟s status is inadequate and can cause erroneous conclusions to be drawn. Whyte in 1978 analyzed a multitude of cross-cultural studies regarding women‟s status, specifically to answer why women‟s status varies across cultures. Various categories were examined, including religion, politics, economics, sexual and family life, and so forth for a total of 52 separate variables. Weak associations were found amongst the 52 dependent variables examined, and in conclusion, no one variable was able to predict the status of women. Given that no single variable was a viable predictor of status, Whyte doubts the very idea that a general definition of women‟s status exists; it seems too complex, and varies widely cross culturally to be easily defined by one key determinant.

“Our findings lead us to conclude that we can find no evidence for the existence of any general „status of women‟ complex that varies consistently from culture to culture. Rather, with tenuous exceptions…the status of women tend 28

to vary independently from culture to culture.” (Whyte 1978:116)

The very definition of “status” therefore is questioned. Status is not a one dimensional element that can be defined or measured easily. Status changes and fluctuates depending upon the life course or kinship role for example (Mukhopadhyay and Higgins 1988). Younger Chinese women are accorded less status than older women, daughters-in-law with children have more status than newly married in daughters-in-law with no children. As Whyte found in his study, definitions of low or high status are often subjective, with no clear differentiation between cause, determinants and indicators (1978). For the purpose of this dissertation, criteria laid out by Ernestine Friedl (1975) in her earlier studies will be utilized to assess status. Friedl suggests three criteria to measure “overt power”: 1. Control over production 2. Right to participate and fill leadership roles in political or religious life 3. Degree of autonomy in regards to decisions regarding sex, reproduction, marriage and children The third criteria especially will be utilized to define “status” in this dissertation. Kabeer (2005) in her analysis of women‟s empowerment also agrees that to measure women‟s power means the ability to make decisions given the existence and knowledge of alternative choices. How successful women are in their ability to fulfill their wants and desires in decisions regarding sex, marriage, and reproduction will be an indication of the strength of their autonomy, and ultimately an indicator of their status.

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In addition to reflecting upon key indicators of changing relationships within the family, it is also important to look at how individual women view themselves and their own assessments of their circumstances. Assessment of an individual‟s status often involves determination of what is good and what is valued. Here it is necessary to keep in mind cultural specificity when it comes to determinants of what is desirable and valuable to an individual.

"In contrast to the past, when a woman was expected to ensure domestic harmony by being subservient and obedient, she was now required to assume a much more active role as a skilled emotional manager. It was incumbent upon her to resolve in a sensitive manner the conflicts that inevitably rose between her mother-in-law and herself. She also had to acquire expertise in handling the practical, emotional and sexual aspects of the relationship with her husband. Only by developing these skills could she effectively fulfill her responsibility to manage family relations." (Honig and Hershatter 1988:168)

In conclusion, the study of women‟s status within the Chinese family needs to move beyond key variables, like economics. As Kabeer (2005) in her analysis of gender equality and women‟s empowerment goals state:

“… each of the three 'resources' implied by these indicators - education, employment, and political participation - is considered essential to the achievement of gender equality and women's empowerment. Each of these resources certainly has the potential to bring about positive changes in women's lives, but, in each case, it is the social relationships that govern access to the resource in question that will determine the extent to which this potential is realised. Thus, in each case, there is both positive and negative evidence about the impact of women's access to these resources on their lives.” (Kabeer 2005:13) 30

What Kabeer in her final analysis advocates is to study not only key indicators but also the social relations, relationships between individuals in the family and in society, in order to understand women‟s empowerment or lack thereof. Especially relevant for the purposes of this dissertation is the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-inlaw and to a lesser extent the relationship between husband and wife. A woman‟s status within the family, especially the young newly married woman‟s status may largely depend upon the relationship forged between her and her mother-inlaw, and to a lesser extent between her and her natal mother. Studies in Chinese family have also advocated for research beyond mere economic factors, to focus upon the social dynamics within families. The social obligations, rights, rules and expectations, as well as the reality of how an individual woman manipulates these social relationships may very well be a critical factor in determining a woman‟s status.

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CHAPTER 2 TAIWAN: AN OVERVIEW

This chapter provides a brief background to Taiwan; its historical, economic and social development with special attention to economic growth, changes in education, marriage and family life, specifically as it applies to Taiwanese women.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Taiwan is a mountainous island located 90 miles off the mainland China coast in the South China Sea (Government Information Office 2008). It occupies 13,885 square miles including many of the smaller islands. Aborigines were the first inhabitants of Taiwan. The Chinese from the mainland came in waves, first in the 1500s, with major settlements beginning around the 1600s. The first westerners to “discover” Taiwan were Portuguese sailors in 1590, who named the island Ilha Formosa meaning beautiful island. In 1895 as a result of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan gained control of Taiwan. Japanese occupation of Taiwan continued until the end of WWII in 1945. In 1951, Japan signed a peace treaty giving up all claim to Taiwan and its smaller islands. But the Nationalist party (Kuomintang or KMT) and its government led by General Chiang Kai-shek, who were defeated by the Communists on the mainland, fled to Taiwan in 1949 and took control of the island on December 8, 1949. The Nationalist party set up the capital in Taipei, in northern Taiwan in 1949. A great majority, 98 percent of the population in Taiwan, are Han Chinese from the mainland, primarily from two provinces, Fujian and Guangdong. People from Fujian 32

are usually called Hokkien or Min-nan people, and those from Guangdong are the Hakka. The aboriginal people, of which there are 13 groups: the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pinuyumayan, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Thao, Truku, Tsou, and Yami make up the remaining 2 percent (Government Information Office 2008). Although the official language in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese, 73% of the people speak Taiwanese (Government Information Office 2008). It was originally banned by the Nationalists, and only Mandarin Chinese was allowed in schools, media, and popular culture (songs, television, etc.). But it has gained in popularity and mainstream acceptance in the last 15 years so that school children are no longer punished for speaking Taiwanese in school (interview participant accounts). Currently, there are specific television channels featuring Taiwanese only. It is common to hear both Taiwanese and Mandarin in the same sentence in variety shows. Popular music is also being sung in Taiwanese. News reports are still mostly in Mandarin Chinese, but interviews of people can be in Taiwanese with subtitles. For this study, there were several older women who did not speak any Mandarin and a translator was needed. Many older women were also at a loss for words at times when speaking in Mandarin; they were much more comfortable in Taiwanese. With the younger women, no such problems were encountered. Younger women were much more likely to be better educated than older women, and since education is still taught in Mandarin Chinese, the younger women were correspondingly more fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Taiwan was a country involved mainly in agricultural production until 1958 (Gates 1987). Before the Japanese colonization and before the Nationalist government, Chinese peasants migrated to Taiwan and increased arable land in Taiwan through rice cultivation, sugar plantation and refinement, as well as processing of grains such as millet and wheat (Isett 1995). Early settlements were subsistence based, with a very thin state structure (Cheng 2001). During the 1600s and early 1700s millet and wheat were common crops on the island. Taxes to the Qing government on the mainland in 1684 were made in millet. After the mid-1700s, rice became the major crop. Even though the Fujian migrants were familiar with double cropping of rice in their ancestral home, they did not do so in Taiwan, probably due to its labor intensive nature. It was not until after the 1730s that double cropping of rice began to appear in small pockets on the island; mainly in high population density areas. There were no technological innovations to increase production during this period. Rice production increased as a result of increase in the population, which increased farming of arable land and increased the likelihood of double cropping of rice in one field. Most of these farmers had sideline occupations such as sugar production, which increased the farmer‟s overall income. It was not until the early 1700s that Taiwan was able to export its surplus rice to the mainland (Islett 1995). During the Japanese occupation, this emphasis on agricultural production did not change. The Japanese were also interested in agricultural resources like rice and sugar. During the Japanese occupation from 1895-1945, the Japanese built the infrastructure upon which the economy and agricultural production flourished. “Under Japanese rule, 34

Taiwan was turned into an essentially open economy and an agrarian base of the Japanese Empire…” (Cheng 2001:19). The Japanese utilized a “high cost and high yield approach” which meant a high initial investment in programs to promote economic growth, which would result in a much higher return in proceeds in the future. Therefore, during the Japanese occupation, major works were carried out in building transportation infrastructure, irrigation and electrical power systems, education and sanitation (Cheng 2001). Besides building the basic infrastructure to ensure a high yield of production, the Japanese also introduced banks and credit co-operative to the island. All efforts, programs, and policies were for the purpose of commercializing the agrarian economy of Taiwan. Within 10 years after the Japanese occupation began, rice and sugar replaced tea and camphor oil as Taiwan‟s leading exports. Rice and sugar made up 70% of all total exports until WWII. Nearly all exports were to Japan, while Taiwan imported some major items, i.e. fertilizer, textiles, and consumer goods from Japan (Cheng 2001). Gates (1996) considers Taiwan a disaster in the first 10-20 years after the Nationalist Party took over from the Japanese. From 1945-1949, Taiwan became similar to a tributary state. All the resources of the island were used to fight the war against the Communists on the mainland, since the Nationalist planned to win and eventually reclaim the mainland from the Communists. During these years, there was a continual extraction of resources from the island to the mainland with the result that the infrastructure the Japanese had built in the last 50 years became severely neglected and was left in total disrepair. The Nationalist regime inherited directly from the Japanese an already stable and built state structure. The Nationalists merely had to continue the existing education, public health, agriculture, market and financial structures (Cheng 2001). But after their 35

initial interest in reclaiming the mainland, their focus and interest were not on the island itself, but in extracting resources for their struggle against the Communists. It was not until the late 1950s that the resources were placed back into the local economy and people in Taiwan regained some of their earning power close to the level enjoyed during the Japanese occupation (Gates 1996). Once the Nationalist government restored many of the original institutions, agriculture once again produced a surplus. Initially, rice and sugar were the main crops to be replaced later by other commercial crops which became the main export items until the mid-1960s when the focus turned from agriculture to industry. The industrial development of Taiwan was initially fueled by agricultural surpluses. Through taxes and other government policies, farmers were forced to support the development of the industrial sector (Cheng 2001). For example, 50% of the rice that left the villages went to the government in tax payments. Of the amount that the government received, 60% went to feed members of the military and civil service and their dependents. The rest was sold either in domestic or export markets. This rice collection by the government worked to reduce the actual amount of wages needed, since the rice distribution to workers supplemented their wage income, and with the capital earned in the markets and savings from wage distribution, the government was able to make substantial investments in the industrial sector. The importance of agriculture to the economy of Taiwan remained until the 1960s when it reached a peak after which, agriculture‟s role in Taiwan‟s economy steadily declined. While earlier, agriculture had financed the development and growth of the industrial sector, by the 1970s, the government was no longer taxing farms but 36

subsidizing them, abolishing systems that burdened farmers while increasing funds to stabilize prices, and giving other incentives to rice farmers (Huang 1993). The nature of agriculture changed in Taiwan, and agriculture as a sector saw a decrease in importance in the country‟s economy, mainly due to decrease in demand and increase in competition (Huang 1993). Rice for example, was a major export to Japan, but due to that nation‟s own increase in production, the necessity to import rice from Taiwan decreased. Processed fruits and vegetables were initially important in Taiwan‟s economy, but due to competition from China (in mushroom and tomato production and processing) and Thailand (in pineapple production and processing), their importance also steadily declined. The proportion of incomes that were dependent upon agricultural pursuits gradually decreased from 59.3% in 1965-69 to only 37.2% in 1985-89. Nonagricultural incomes on the other hand increased from 40.7% in 1965-69 to 62.8% in 1985-89 (Huang 1993). Incomes in Taiwan were rarely derived only from agricultural pursuits. Even in the early 1600s during the Qing period, farmers had sidelines of sugar production to supplement their farm incomes. Gradually the sidelines became more important in generating income than the farm itself. The number of farm households decreased from 811,000 to 754,000 between 1965-69 to 1985-89. But although the number of full-time farmers decreased dramatically from 49.3% to 11.4% in the same time period, the percentage of part-time farmers increased from 50.7% to 88.6% (Huang 1993). Even though the majority of their income was not farm based, individuals were not willing to completely give up their land; they wanted to maintain their land holding as an asset.

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The prosperity and the economic growth that is associated so much with Taiwan could not have occurred without the aid of foreign capital, new state spending on Taiwan‟s infrastructure, and the formation of an export-processing zone (Gates 1996). Foreign investments came primarily from the US. Large companies opened factories on the island increasing demand for cheap, low skilled labor. This began the economic growth and prosperity that ultimately brought women more into the waged labor market, increasing employment opportunities for women in the manufacturing and industrial sectors (Levenson 2000).

CHANGES IN EDUCATION, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY Japanese occupation in the early 1900s had a tremendous impact upon the education of Taiwan‟s inhabitants. In the past before the Japanese occupation, some boys had the opportunity to attend school, while girls were most likely to stay home and help the family with household work. The Japanese were the first to initiate and build a formal education system on the island, changing educational prospects for everyone, boys and girls alike. Although there was segregation with Japanese children attending Japanese schools, Taiwanese children attending Taiwanese schools, and inter-mingling being prohibited, Taiwanese children‟s overall education opportunities increased. In 1908, only 8.2% of boys were attending school but by 1943, 80.7% were receiving some sort of education. Girls experienced a similar increase; only 1.02% of girls were enrolled in schools in 1908, but by 1943 this number had increased to 61% (Tsai et al. 1994). This number did not decrease once the Nationalists took over the rule of the island; in 1951, the rate of women enrolled in schools increased to 68.6%. The differential rate of 38

enrollment by gender in Taiwan‟s education system continued to persist, only becoming more equalized in 1989 (Tsai et al 1994). National Statistics in year 2000 of educational attainment of individuals aged 15 and over show an illiteracy rate of 4.04%. Around twenty one percent (20.56%) have attained elementary school level, 50.37% secondary education (including junior and senior high), and 24.38% have attained higher education (including junior college, college and university, master‟s programs, and doctorate programs). Differences in gender increase in the higher levels of education. At the elementary level, 45.48% of the students enrolled were boys and 54.52% were girls; in secondary education, 53.44% are boys compared to 46.56% of girls. The gender gap widens in higher education: 55.07% males compared to 44.93% females, and in the doctorate programs, 79.67% are male compared to only 20.33% female. Studies in Taiwan found that families invest less in their daughter‟s education because of the decreased return (Wolf 1985, Parish and Willis 1993). Families are more likely to invest their scarce resources towards their son/sons who will in return support them in their old age. Daughters are raised for other people, since they will marry out and become members of other families. A daughter‟s earning power will benefit her married family, not her natal family. Therefore, upon calculating the cost and benefit, daughters are less likely to be educated. Tsai et al. (1994) proposed many reasons as to why this gender inequality in education persists in Taiwan. One of their ideas was that too much education may be harmful for women because it may decrease their marriageability. The cultural ideal still calls for women to be less educated than men. In seeking to increase her educational 39

attainment, a woman may also decrease her pool of potential marriage partners. Yet marriage is also a primary reason why daughters are able to receive increasing educational opportunities. In Chinese matchmaking and finding potential marriage partners, families and individuals look for like partners, “matching door to door”. Therefore in order to find a future son-in-law who is well educated and well situated in employment, the potential daughter-in-law also requires a certain amount of education. The likelihood of matching a college graduate with a high school graduate is very small. Therefore daughters are able to continue their education for longer periods than previously since parents are more likely to expend the effort and economic resources to educate their daughters so they can find “good” and like educated partners in the future. Statistics do support this point somewhat. In a survey conducted in 2002, the majority of all adult married couples in Taiwan were equally educated, 51.34%. Husband were better educated in 35.99% of the married couples, and only in 12.68% were the wives better educated (Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007). Overall, families still appear unconcerned about educating their daughters. Some women see factory wages as the primary means to finish their education by working in the factory during the day to earn money for their tuition and continuing school during the night (Gates 1987). Conversely, young women often end their education earlier to work in factories and bring in money for the family. Obtaining employment is easy since many recruiting managers have connections with junior high school principals. New graduates, especially from rural areas, are immediately funneled into employment in industrial areas (Arrigo 40

1984). The state seems to be in support of this for the Ministry of Education allows for “work study” programs for students who have not yet graduated (Arrigo 1984). The fact that this occurs during times of intensive labor need seems to indicate that the state also is in favor of young women working in factories versus finishing their education. Perhaps they realize that the tremendous economic growth that was possible in the country was due to the availability of a large population of a cheap, low-skilled labor that could easily be exploited without any negative consequences. Although women are earning wages for themselves independent of the household economy, their connection to the family has not lessened; if anything they last longer and are stronger than previously when women worked in family enterprises. Young women in Taiwan most often turn some if not all their wages over to the family. Parents expect children to contribute to the family‟s income and this holds especially true for young women. Some women feel it is necessary for them to contribute their earnings for they feel that they owe the family for raising them (Kung 1984). They also feel obligated; notions of filial piety are strong and a way to show such is to give the earnings to the family. The women work to increase a family‟s income and if that is not achieved, at least they are not a drain on the family‟s resources. Women themselves see factory work as being temporary, a means to increase resources for the family but the work will eventually end at childbirth or marriage (Kung 1984). Age at marriage has increased with the full support of the parents. Historically women past the age of 30 were considered to be old maids and increasingly unmarriageable, resulting in increased anxiety by the parents. Kung (1984) found in her study during the 1980s that parents may delay the marriage of their daughters as long as 41

possible, because if the daughter marries, then the family loses a valuable wage earner since all her earnings thereafter will go to the husband‟s family. The longer the daughter stays within the natal family, the longer the family can depend upon her income earning abilities to increase the family‟s overall financial resources. This increasing wage earning capability of women has also probably increased the compensation to the bride‟s family for their loss (Taplin 1989). Marriage overall has become delayed for both men and women, most probably due to increase in educational years and later entrance into employment. More and more individuals are attending high school and universities, which prolongs the time period needed for education, delaying the beginning of work. Of those individuals surveyed in 2005, only 10.46% of 15-19 year olds worked, 53.33% of 20-24 year olds worked, and 83.38% of 30-34 year olds worked. The low number of 15-19 year olds working is due to the fact that the majority of them are still in school, studying and taking college entrance exams. Teenagers in Taiwan rarely work part-time jobs, unlike the US. There is no time. Due to intense preparatory and additional lessons after school, teenagers have extremely limited time for extra-curricular activities much less part-time employment. Women‟s role in work has changed in Taiwan, as they became increasingly involved in waged labor outside the family enterprise. Factories often recruit young women from the countryside, providing inexpensive housing to them, some medical services, and a cafeteria (Kung 1984). Employers prefer young women because they work more docilely than men and, more importantly, for less money (Arrigo 1984). For young unmarried women it is not necessary to provide any long term security or opportunities for advancement in their employment, and they are more industrious, 42

producing more for less. Young, unmarried women are also preferred since they have no family responsibilities to interfere with their work and provision for maternity benefits are unnecessary. Some employers even require physical exams at which a urine sample is taken for a pregnancy test to make sure no such costs will be entailed (Arrigo 1984). Factory work does have positive effects in that it has increased social contacts for women. Previously, women did not have much contact outside their immediate family and their village. With work at factories however, women come into contact with a much diverse group of other women and friendships develop. The wide circle of social contacts also allows women to meet with men and other potential marriage partners directly, negating the need for a go-between and match-makers (Kung 1984). The most current literature shows that women have increasingly become more involved in managerial positions and in high technology professions (Wu and Minor 1997, Huang 1999). Huang for example found that women in Taiwan had equal access to company training in high tech firms. Yet the wage gap between women and men still persists and in Taiwan the difference is much higher than it is in the Western countries. Tony Tam (1996) in his study of the gender gap in Taiwan, found the difference was not due to gender differences in work experience (i.e. number of years worked, previous positions held, and so forth). He attributes some of the gender wage gap to gender differences in family role constraints and the rest of the difference remains unexplained. Women are perceived as secondary workers; they are mothers first and workers last. One study found that women in managerial positions saw their gender role to be the most important role, more important than the work role and the family role (Wu and Minor 1997). These women in professional managerial positions, obviously well 43

educated (some trained in the US or Japan) still emphasized the traditional women‟s roles as being most important. (Indicators used to define gender role in this study included ideals of “women need men‟s care and support”, “wife is obligated to be loyal to her husband”, and “it is essential for women to groom to please others.”) Another study found Taiwanese women to identify more strongly with traditional Chinese symbols (Tai and Tam 1997). Women may have changed their work role to accommodate changes in the economy, but traditional perceptions still persist and influence women‟s lives. Women receive less education than their male counterparts, and girls at school are geared towards gender appropriate occupational roles like nursing, clerical and factory labor. They are expected by the family to repay some of their economic obligations to the family and therefore seek work much sooner and abandon their education at an earlier age. Women with high educational achievement lose some of their marriageability (due to expectations that women should be less educated than men), resulting in the chance of not marrying at all which is unacceptable in Chinese society. It is assumed that everyone will marry, unless you are a nun or a monk. Women who do work receive less pay for equal work simply because they are female (Tam 1996). They have household responsibilities which can constrain their work roles, limiting the hours they can work and resulting in employer discrimination against them. In a government survey in 2002, economic issues were the major reason cited for preventing marriage of individuals (Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007). In 2002, 56.49% of the adult men were unmarried, compared to 43.51% of women. Of these individuals, 34.86% cited the absence of a 44

solid financial base as to why they were not married. This reason changed from the previous survey conducted in 1999, which cited inability to find an ideal spouse as the greatest obstacle to marriage. Laws of marriage and family in Taiwan seem archaic and surprisingly have changed little. The Book of Family was written in 1942 (Holton 1995) and this book of civil code still regulates much of the marriage and divorce in Taiwan in present day. The Book of Family provides for the father to gain custody of the children, unless he agrees otherwise. This rule has resulted in some women paying their husbands (sometimes a large sum of cash) to gain custody of the children. There is no concept of alimony or child support. The civil codes do not outline any such monetary remittance to be paid. Both partners can seek divorce however. And the grounds of divorce for men and women are the same: adultery, cruelty, desertion, attempted murder, incurable disease, bigamy, abusive spouse or in-laws, drug addiction, and imprisonment for more than 3 years (Diamond 1973, Holton 1995). Currently the nuclear family represents the majority of family types found in Taiwan. In a survey in 2002, 63.34% families were the nuclear family type, while only 18.47% were stem families (Directorate General Budget of Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007). Of those surveyed in 2002, 21.76% of couples live with their husband‟s parents, 76.87% live with none of their parents, and only 1.35% live with the wife‟s parents. Household division of labor and decision-making within the family have also changed significantly from when Cohen, Pasternak and Wolf did their ethnographies in Taiwan in the 1970s. In a recent survey regarding decision-making in household 45

expenditures, 16.7% of the respondents said the husband made these decisions, 28.2% said the wife made these decisions, and the majority 53.1% said these decisions were made together by the husband and wife (Directorate General Budget of Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007). This trend was regardless of education and family types. Most decision-making was by the couple together. Even for decision-making regarding savings and financial management, the husband and wife together was the primary decision-making body, not just the wife or the husband by themselves. During the earlier ethnographies, decision-making regarding household expenditure would have been made by the family head, the oldest male member and patriarch of the family. However, when it came to division of labor of household chores, the majority of these responsibilities whether it be cooking, shopping for groceries, cleaning the home, or doing the laundry, fell primarily to women (Directorate General Budget of Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007). Some men did these chores, but the vast majority of this work fell on women‟s shoulders. For example, when it comes to cooking of meals, only 7.7% of men cook meals while 87.6% of women did the cooking. For cleaning and housework, 15.7% of the men did cleaning, while 81.7% of women cleaned. It was only when it came to maintenance of the house, water, electricity and utilization of other simple equipment that these numbers were reversed so that men did the majority of maintenance jobs around the home while women did not; 8.1% of the individuals surveyed cited women as being responsible for maintenance jobs, while 83.7% cited men as being responsible for this work (Directorate General Budget of Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan 2007).

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Gender differences in the family and within the marriage have equalized somewhat, with the importance now placed on the husband and wife as a unit as evidenced by their joint decision-making regarding family finances. Other areas of family life however, still show a considerable gap between men and women, especially when it comes to household work responsibilities.

RESEARCH SITE: PINGTUNG CITY Pingtung City is the capital of Pingtung County, the most southern county in Taiwan. This county capital is about 30-45 minutes by car from Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan, and the largest city in the southern part of Taiwan. Pingtung City is small in comparison to other cities in Taiwan, only encompassing about 65 square kilometers in total. The population for the city itself is also modest; only 216,777 in 2004 when this research took place with 68,462 households in total (Pingtung City Household Registration Office 2009). (The most current population figures for the year 2008 are 214,987, a general decrease in total number of individuals living in Pingtung City. What is interesting in these figures is that although overall population has decreased, the number of households for this period has increased, from 68,462 in 2004 to 71,517 in 2008.) A great majority of Pingtung County is still agriculturally based, primarily in farming and fishing. Mangoes, coconuts, betel nuts, bananas and bamboo shoots are just some of the most familiar and famous agricultural products from the region. Mangoes from Pingtung County, for example, are famous and consistently win awards every year. There are biotechnology districts in Pingtung County and agricultural research centers 47

developing new species and experimenting with hybrids. Industrial developments are primarily focused on transportation, and technological developments with the current expansion of second generation manufacturing districts. There is a large military presence in Pingtung County. Close to Pingtung City itself are several military schools, training centers, and the Air Force and military airport. Pingtung City itself consists mainly of an administrative center, businesses, and industry. But a mere 15 minutes from the city center, farms of betel nuts and banana trees, and fisheries begin to dot the landscape. Pingtung City was chosen for this research for several reasons. A critical factor to be considered was that the city offered services from several sitting the month centers. Outside the major cities in Taiwan, relatively few small scale cities have sitting the month centers available. Even for Pingtung City, although there are several sitting the month centers, both the traditional Chinese medical type and western hospital type, the city still lacks services from a Take Out Delivery Service (these various types of sitting the month service providers will be expanded more in detail in Chapter Four). The nearest company offering Take Out Delivery Services for sitting the month is in Kaohsiung, a half hour away, and it does not provide delivery services to Pingtung City. Another reason for this research to be based in Pingtung City is the particular composition of medical utilization in Pingtung. Medical services in Pingtung City are utilized not only by local city dwellers, but also by individuals in the surrounding rural areas. Some women have been known to travel up to two hours to seek medical services in Pingtung City, even during their pregnancy. These women seek OBGYN services in Pingtung, coming in from surrounding rural areas for their prenatal care in the city with 48

expectations to eventually give birth in Pingtung. When asked how they would manage labor and delivery from such a distance, the women replied they planned to stay in the city with family or friends a week or two before the actual due date for the eventual delivery and hospitalization. Situating the research in Pingtung City would therefore provided access to a diverse population sample, both rural and urban. Perhaps the most critical reason for situating the study in Pingtung City is the ease of access to sitting the month centers and medical providers. Sitting the month centers do not have an open door policy and approaching them as an individual researcher would guarantee rejection (Many businesses are afraid of competition and leaking of business connections and trade secrets. More details will be discussed in Chapter Four). Without connections, or what Chinese call guanxi, many of these service providers would not have been so open regarding their business, the services they provide, and access to their clients and patient lists. Through previous trips, many of these connections had been put in place, enabling the researcher ease of access to these service providers, their place of business and their clientele.

SUMMARY Taiwan has experienced many changes in its history. Beginning as a frontier settlement, moving to a tributary state barely governed and recognized by mainland China, to being a colony with Japanese occupation, and eventually becoming a democratic state. Its economy has changed from subsistence agriculture, to extensive agricultural trade in imports and exports, only to see a decline in the importance of agriculture and the rise of the industrial sector. The current population of Taiwan enjoys 49

better health, education, diet, and income when compared to just 100 years ago in its short history. Certain elements of family life have changed, with later age of marriage, smaller family sizes, and freedom of choice in marriage partners. In 100 years, the island has achieved tremendous growth and development in socioeconomic indicators. This dissertation will also show development and changes in the traditional practice of 坐月子, Sitting the Month, in Taiwan.

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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides an overview on methods used in this dissertation; how the project developed, initial research trips, sampling and the criteria utilized to determine the sample population, as well as how the data were collected and analyzed will all be discussed.

HISTORY OF PROJECT The majority of the research for this dissertation was conducted from August of 2003 to January of 2004 in Taiwan. In addition there were two previous field trips to gather preliminary data, a longer trip from May to August of 1999 and a shorter trip in 2000. In these preliminary field trips, introductions were made to the community in Pingtung City with the aim of getting to know the physicians and care takers of sitting the month centers, as well as introducing the researcher to older women in the community. Younger women were not contacted until the actual research date in 2003, since younger women needed to be in the childbirth stage of their lives (in the last trimester of pregnancy, ready to give birth, or already having given birth within the last month) to participate in the dissertation research. However, some younger women in the community who were married and between the ages of 20-30, were contacted in these initial trips, to discuss their lives, the topic of childbirth, and to facilitate the design of the interview schedule as well as interview questionnaires.

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These initial field trips were necessary to gain access to physicians, hospitals, and care takers responsible for sitting the month centers. They were informed about the eventual research, what would be involved, and what their role in the research would be should they be willing to participate. Later these contacts identified and introduced their patients and clients to the researcher. These initial trips were also fact gathering missions, to locate academic and other sources regarding sitting the month practices in Taiwan and in Chinese culture in general. Very little information is written and published in English regarding this practice. Therefore, the library at the National University of Taiwan in Taipei was accessed for articles and books on the topic. Also accessed was the Medical library at the Medical School of the National University. Another valuable source of data was popular print media. Local book stores and magazine stands from the corner store for example were visited to gather popular information regarding sitting the month. Women in Taiwan are unlikely to access academic sources for information. Their most likely resource is the local book store or magazine stands at the corner 7 Eleven. As found later during actual interviews, this approach was most effective. Many of the books and magazines mentioned by the women in the study (that they were reading or had read during their pregnancy for information) were already familiar to the researcher due to these earlier forays to local book and corner stores.

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SAMPLE SELECTION AND CRITERIA A snowball sampling technique was used to obtain participants. Some of the older women contacted in previous field trips were again solicited, either to participate in the study if they fit the criteria, or to introduce the researcher to individuals they knew of in the community who might fit the criteria. Physicians and sitting the month center operators were also contacted for introductions to their clients who might be interested in participating in the study. Physicians were provided with a handout (Appendix A) to use when approaching their patients. The physicians had the choice to read from the handout or not when talking to their patients. The handout provided some background information regarding the study, with a local contact number to call if a woman was interested in participating. The handout made it clear that the study involved no medical procedures and that participation/non-participation would have no bearing upon their treatment received from their physician. Once a woman expressed interest in participating, the researcher contacted her directly and explained the full nature of the study, as well as her role in it. Women who introduced other women to the study had no such handout. Rather they would explain to other women in the community that the researcher was interested in studying sitting the month in Taiwan, and ask if they would be interested in participating in the study. If they consented, the researcher would then contact the individual and explain in full detail the nature of the study, and what their participation would require. Once she understood and was still willing to participate, an interview time was set. Participation was fully voluntary and consent forms were gathered from all participants. 53

The criteria used for this study was that the women had to be between the ages of 20-65. This sample was further separated into two groups, Group Older Women (OW), and Group Younger Women (YW). Individuals in Group OW needed to fit the following criteria: 1. Be between the ages of 35-65 2. Have left behind their child-bearing years (Have a child at least 10 years old without any plans to have any more children) 3. Have at least one live birth, and one child still living

Women in Group YW had a different set of criteria: 1. Be between the ages of 20-35 2. Be in the third trimester of pregnancy, or no more than one month postpartum 3. Have at least one live birth, or have at least one birth survive past two months All women recruited for the study fit into these criteria. One woman was not included in the study because her age was beyond the criteria set, and one was refused participation for not fitting the criteria (the woman had given birth to her third child and was 43 years old. Her older children were in college and the last year of high school. She therefore did not fit in either sample category).

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DATA COLLECTION For the purposes of this study, interviews were conducted with women who fit the above criteria. For women in their last stages of pregnancy, an initial interview was conducted, as well as a follow up interview while the women were sitting the month. For women who were already sitting the month, only one interview could be collected from them while they were sitting the month. For all these women, whenever possible, participant observation was conducted in their home environment; with a focus on their interaction with other family members, their husbands and their mothers-in-law in particular. Women in Group OW were interviewed once and participant observation was also conducted in their home environment whenever possible. The researcher became closer to this group of women and was often included in their various activities and outings. These women also functioned as key informants who could provide in depth explanations of local matters. Older women were also able to further interpret information regarding the situations of other participants. For example, due to the Chinese sense of “face” and shame certain misleading information might be presented in the interviews. Family situations and relationships were often glossed over and not expanded upon. It was only through participant observation that some of these issues came to light. In casual chats with each other, women may mention certain things that do not coincide with what they told the researcher in their interview.

In these situations,

other women were asked to clarify, and some of them were quite illuminating, providing a fuller picture of family relationships and interactions, than could be learned from mere observations or interviews. These casual chats were often in informal settings, cooking, 55

washing, or in get-togethers at the local tea shop, and so forth. The researcher simply tagged along whenever possible during these normal everyday activities. Observations were later noted in a day-to-day journal, to be analyzed later. In addition to the women who were the primary informants and sample population for this study, interviews were also conducted with physicians, both of western and Chinese medical orientation. These physicians were interviewed about sitting the month in Taiwan, its historical precedents, as well as their respective medical knowledge and explanation (of women‟s health and specifically women‟s health postpartum) in their field of expertise. Interviews and participant observation were also conducted with individuals associated with sitting the month centers, both traditional and western oriented. In addition to sitting the month centers, sitting the month service providers were interviewed and observed. These interviews of sitting the month service providers were conducted through introductions by friends. Approaching these centers and service providers as a graduate student researcher proved unsuccessful early on in the study. No one was willing to open their doors and talk to the researcher; they were very distrustful of outsiders. Only through letters of introductions as well as introductions through friends, family and other connections, and with continued assurances were these proprietors willing to talk to the researcher regarding their business. Reasons for this reluctance will be elucidated in Chapter Four. Both a western type sitting the month center (based upon a western hospital setting) and a TCM sitting the month center (offering services with concentration on traditional Chinese medicine, TCM), were visited and observed in their everyday 56

activities. Information regarding their services, as well as interaction between service provider and their clients, and between the new mother and their infants and guests, were observed and recorded by the researcher. Although most individuals who participated in this study spoke Mandarin Chinese, there were several individuals who conversed only or more comfortably in Taiwanese. In these situations, and whenever possible, a translator accompanied the researcher to help with the linguistic difficulties. Some participants found it easier to speak in certain contexts in Taiwanese; they were unable to provide an adequate explanation in Mandarin, grasping at words. In these instances, the translator stepped in, conducted the interview and provided a quick summary of the conversation to the researcher. The conversation was then translated word by word after the interview was over. All interviews were recorded and conducted by the researcher accompanied by a translator whenever possible. Participants knew before the interviews that conversations would be recorded, and often they had no objections to this method of data collection. If participants voiced objections, thorough notes would be taken during the interview and immediately afterwards. None of the participants objected to the use of a recording device. Most often the recording devices were forgotten altogether.

DATA ANALYSIS Data were analyzed to answer the three primary questions laid out in Chapter One. First, all data regarding how women currently sit the month were compiled, from interviews of women and service providers, participant observations, and from print 57

materials, both popular and academic journals. Differences in time periods were noted and compared for analysis. The introduction of sitting the month service providers in Taiwan, and how sitting the month changed before and after this commercialization was given special attention. For this dissertation, women were asked how they sat the month, how satisfied they were with their sitting the month practice, and what their ideal sitting the month situation would have been (given perfect conditions in time and money) in order to determine what they valued and what they saw as desirable. Their stated ideal is compared to the reality of how they conducted their postpartum, as well as their relatedness to income, education, work, marriage and residence patterns to discern which variables enabled or hindered women‟s autonomy in Taiwan. This analysis in turn provided data on the state of women‟s status in Taiwan. Interviews were all recorded and transcribed by the researcher. First they were transcribed in Chinese, and then translated into English. When necessary, a translator was sought for those sections in Taiwanese. The data from these transcriptions, as well as statistical data were coded before inputting into Excel spreadsheets for analysis. The codebook developed included both groups of women. Descriptive data, as well as means, medians, percentages, graphs and charts were formulated using Excel. All names mentioned in this dissertation are pseudonyms to protect the actual identity of the participants. Names were changed and in certain cases, a number ID is used for identification purposes. Pingtung City is fairly small and all participants were assured of their anonymity and confidentiality of their information at the beginning of the research. 58

CHAPTER 4 坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH

The research for this dissertation is based on Chinese postpartum practices, 坐月 子, Zuo Yue Zi, or Sitting the Month, in Taiwan. Chinese postpartum involves rules for diet and behavior for 30-40 days after childbirth. Some of these rules are based upon traditional Chinese medicine, some are family secrets or mi fan, which have become commercialized in books, products and services, while others are old Chinese sayings that the elderly indoctrinate into the younger women when they are pregnant. The current generation of women look to books, magazines, and friends for advice on how best to do their month, while half heartedly listening to the older women‟s comments on what they should do. This chapter will introduce the Chinese women‟s postpartum practice of 坐月子, Zuo Yue Zi, Sitting the Month, in Taiwan, traditionally and currently.

坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH The first mention of Chinese postpartum practice is in medical texts during the West Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 25 A. D.). Although nothing is mentioned specifically to the extent that is currently written in popular books, the 禮記內則 (Li Ji Nei Ze) a collection of records from the early Qin Dynasty (221 B. C. to 206 B. C.) over 2000 years ago specifically mentions rules regarding a woman‟s seclusion after childbirth and the ceremony for after the postpartum period (Wen 1994). During the Song Dynasty (9601279), seclusion after childbirth due to pollution is also mentioned in the records with the 59

addition of numerous rituals and medical advice (Furth 1999). But even here there is still no in-depth mention of how to sit the month. Not until the 20th century do popular books and print media detail how to sit the month. Before this, sitting the month was a local custom, with vast regional village variations, and mostly passed down orally from one generation to the next. Even now, there are differences between regions and small cultural enclaves. But there are certain similarities in theme and ideology that are found in all of the varied discourses regarding sitting the month. One of the most important commonalities is the confinement itself. As early as the Han Dynasty medical texts indicate that due to her state of uncleanliness, women should be secluded during the first month after childbirth. Concern with pollution remains a factor into the present. During this first month postpartum, the woman is considered to be full of the light of blood all over her body, therefore, she cannot go outside which would chance a meeting with the spirits. If she does venture outside, she must be covered from head to toe, so that nothing is visible to the sun, and the spirits cannot see anything. But to reduce any such chances which may anger spirits and the gods resulting in misfortune, women are told to stay indoors in seclusion until the month is over, when the light of blood has faded from their bodies. Even within the home, old medical texts specify that postpartum women should be separated from the rest of the household and live in a different room of the house. Specific instructions on how to build this confinement room including the dimensions and directions, are contained in these medical texts (Furth 1999). While in seclusion, away from the rest of the household, the new mother is also effectively separated from

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her husband who cannot visit her during the first several days after childbirth (Wen 1994). In addition to the seclusion, Chinese women sitting the month also have specific dietary rules to follow. The dietary rules vary by region and by ethnicity throughout China. Even within Taiwan itself, dietary rules regarding the month vary between the different regions, different villages, and different ethnicities. As one woman from this study stated, with young people meeting their spouses from different areas, families often clash with what rules they are going to follow. In the past when people married each other from the same village or from the neighboring villages, they would have a tacit agreement about what to do during the month. Nowadays there are no such easy understandings. Sitting together at one table, discussions regarding sitting the month diet can be as diverse as the clothes that people choose to wear. Individuals pitch in with what they were told or how they did the month, all of which can be very different from others in the group. It is up to the young woman herself to determine how she will do the month or in some cases, the ultimate decision resides with whoever is helping her. There are three basic ingredients that everyone in Taiwan seems to agree are necessary for the month. These major staples for sitting the month are old ginger, sesame oil, and rice wine. All foods cooked during the month have these three ingredients as their base. For example, various meats like chicken, pork liver, pork kidneys and fresh fish are recommended for consumption during the month. To cook these meats, the ginger is first placed in the pot, stir-fried with sesame oil, than the meat is added in and covered with rice wine to stew. One of the most famous dishes that everyone in Taiwan, men and women, know to eat during the month is 麻油雞, mayouji, Sesame Oil Chicken. 61

It is eaten during the month, and most often the first dish cited when mentioning sitting the month. Sesame Oil Chicken in Taiwan has become synonymous with sitting the month. Many pregnant women are scared of the dish since it is very oily; the dish is made up of chicken, ginger and covered with half sesame oil and half rice wine. No water is added. The resulting dish looks like chicken swimming in oil, which often scare postpartum women who want to lose the pregnancy weight as soon as possible. The recommendation is to eat the meat, but most important to drink the soup which is supposed to nourish the body by warming it, and to increase breast milk production. There are many stories of how women would pick out the meat to eat, drinking only a token amount of the soup, while the husbands helped consume the rest, thereby gaining 15 pounds by the end of the month. Most of the foods served during the month are soups and stew based. They are easily digestible and lighter in condiments (little to no salt in used, spicy peppers are prohibited), though not necessarily lighter in oils (since most of the soups and stews have sesame oil at its base). The diet during postpartum consist primarily of heating foods, foods that are considered to be “hot” which will help rebalance the yin and yang of the body since it has become imbalanced due to the birth, leaning towards the cold state of the humoral spectrum. The woman, after ten months of pregnancy and the birth itself, has expended a tremendous amount of energy (qi), and blood. Therefore, she is considered to be in a “cold” state, and the body requires nourishment to rebalance itself. This replenishment, or bu (補) as the Chinese call it, comes in the form of rest, diet, medicines and herbal tonics. Resting is also a requirement. Unlike the American birth model that encourages 62

woman to walk around after giving birth (more so in C-section cases), the Chinese traditional model encourages lying down to help with the rest and with the passing of blood and tissue after the birth. The strong emphasis on ginger, and sesame oil for consumption during the month is primarily because these foods are considered to be “hot” and nourishing for the body. Since “hot” foods are recommended for the month, the opposite “cold” foods are prohibited for the month. “Cold” foods are cold both in nature and in actual temperature. Cold water for example is strongly prohibited. The mere mention of cold water for the month would send people into shock. Many women commented on how Western women were allowed ice cubes and ice water during their childbirth and immediately afterwards, which is completely in opposition to what is acceptable for Chinese women. Even though the weather in Taiwan is hot for most of the year, for a woman during her month, cold water would be prohibited. Several older Chinese women in the US have commented and shaken their heads on how western hospitals continually push ice cubes and cold water to the birthing women. When asked why women could not have cold water, the reply was that in a “cold” state, having cold water would just compound the problems for your body. And also, having cold foods during the month would ensure that the teeth would fall out that much faster as one becomes older. Other than cold water, other “cold” in nature foods are to be avoided. Most vegetables and fruits are considered to be “cold” and therefore they are prohibited. Milk, beer, and ice cream are also considered to be cold and to be avoided during the month. Besides cold food, also prohibited are foods with strong flavors. Salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and all other foods with strong flavors are to be avoided during the month. 63

Foods for the month are to be light, easily digestible, and blander than the normal foods served. There is also a strong emphasis on freshness for ingredients like vegetables, meats and fish used in preparation for sitting the month foods (although this varies by region). There is also a medicinal tonic that is associated with postpartum women in Taiwan. 生化湯 , shenghuatang, is a herbal medicine that all postpartum women take at some point during the month. Some popular books recommend having shenghuatang as soon as the woman gives birth, everyday for the entire month, while others recommend having the herbal tonic frequently during the month, the more the better. Although how much shenghuatang individual women have is different, all women are served this tonic at least once during their month. The recipes for shenghuatang vary, but the basic ingredients for all varieties are listed below: 當歸, dang gui, Chinese Angelica 川芎, chuan xiong, rhizome of Szechuan lovage 甘草, gan cao, licorice root (glycyrrhica uralensis) 桃仁, tao ren, peach seed 老薑, lao jiang, old ginger

Other medicinal herbs can be added into the mix to make it more appropriate for each individual woman. These prescriptions for shenghuatang would be written out by a traditional Chinese medical doctor, but sometimes Chinese herbalists can also recommend and include certain ingredients that they consider effective for postpartum. For women sitting the month at home who have not consulted a specialist, the basic 64

recipe would be considered adequate and can be acquired at any herbalist shop. Most herbalist shops are well versed on shenghuatang and can make up a basic recipe without a written prescription from a doctor. The purpose of this medicinal tonic, shenghuatang, is to help the postpartum women flush out all the blood and tissue after the birth and also to help the uterus contract back to its original size. This is not the only purpose of shenghuatang, but it is the primary purpose of its use during sitting the month. Most of the foods and herbal medicines recommended during the month are to help with the elimination of blood and other pollutants from the body, to help the uterus contract, to help nourish the body, and increase breast milk supply. When young women balk and hesitate at drinking the soup, the most often recited comment is if you do not drink the soup, there will be no breast milk for the baby. In addition to dietary regulations, there are also rules regarding behavior during the month. Women are to rest whenever possible, preferably lying down. They are also to avoid having direct “wind” blown at them. This means that in 100 degree plus weather in Taiwan, a woman could sit in an air conditioned room or a room with a fan, but they could not stand in front of it and have the wind blow directly at them. Windows are not recommended since the wind coming in cannot be controlled and therefore a woman could accidentally be blown upon directly. Many of the older women took the most conservative approach and advised against air conditioning, a fan, or open windows. In most cases in this study, younger women were not prepared to sit at home in 100 degree plus weather without some sort of cooling device. The general consensus was that as long as there is no direct blowing of the wind, the woman would be fine. 65

Having no air conditioning would make it especially hard on the woman and also the individuals living with her since bathing and washing the hair are also prohibited during the month, for the entirety of the month. Many women found it impossible to follow this dictate, and although the traditional rules dictate no bathing or washing of the hair, currently women do both within a couple of weeks after the birth, if not a couple of days. Very few women go the entire month without washing their hair, and no woman interviewed in this study could wait the entire month to bathe. Bathing usually occurs within a week or two after the birth. Not washing the hair is easier for the women to follow. They simply tie a handkerchief around their head and try not to scratch. Many women commented on how they had to wash their hair several times to get it clean, when they did finally wash it. But many women also commented that washing the hair is more acceptable now since there are blow dryers available. The hair can be washed and blow dried before stepping out of the bathroom, therefore preventing any possibility to get “cold” or wind. With all of these rules regarding diet and behavior during the month, sitting the month can become very complicated, too complex for an individual young woman to handle. The new mother not only has to be responsible for the newborn baby, something the woman may be completely inexperienced in, but she will also be responsible for the regular household chores (e.g., preparing meals for the household) as well as cooking special foods for herself (foods which are not part of the normal everyday diet), and she also has to rest. These rules often directly contradict each other and are impossible to follow without help. To sit the month properly in the prescribed manner, support from

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family or friends is an absolute necessity, unless the woman chooses a sitting the month center in which to do her month. Currently in Taiwan, there are two main methods of sitting the month. Women can sit the month at home with support from family in the traditional method or utilize a professional service provider. There are variations within each category. Sitting the month at home with the help of the mother-in-law is the most traditional method, but some women may choose to do the month at home with hired help, with supplemental foods and medicines purchased from various companies or with a Take Out Delivery Service (TODS) which provides all the meals, snacks and drinks for the postpartum woman for the entire month (or for the period of time purchased). Choosing to sit the month at a professional center gives women multiple choices in what type of services they are provided with and how much money the women are willing to spend. There are TCM sitting the month centers which follow traditional Chinese medicine with herbal tonics and medicinal stews. There are sitting the month centers which are attached to large hospitals, or luxurious centers rivaling five star hotels, each providing its own type of services to their clients. Most of these centers, if not all, provide 24 hour professional baby care, laundry services, meals, and snacks along with promises of a healthier, slimmer, and more beautiful body at the end of the month; a body which will physically be better, healthier than the one before the pregnancy. Before continuing with how women sit the month at home or at the professional center, some little bit of history and introduction to a particular individual is in order. This individual is Dr. Zhuang Shu Qin. A woman born in Taipei in 1920, who later was educated in Japan and received her doctorate in medicine, she practiced for some years 67

and currently is a cancer researcher in Japan. She seems to have been the most influential person for expanding sitting the month in popular thought in Taiwan. Every man and woman in Taiwan knows about sitting the month, but it was Dr. Zhuang and her family who can be credited with the expansion of sitting the month into a commercial industry, one which is currently reaching international status, as these same Taiwanese companies open branches in mainland China and the US. After some years in Japan both attending the university and working, Dr. Zhuang returned to Taiwan and felt the need to write about how women should sit the month. Her book began a family empire that spawned countless other businesses all related to sitting the month. Her daughters and her granddaughters all have written books, and they now operate professional sitting the month centers in Taiwan as well as the US (i.e. in Los Angeles), as well as an expanded Take Out Delivery Service (TODS) that provides meals for women at home (to be expanded upon later on in the chapter), and a mail order catalogue service providing countless medicinal herbs and powders for sitting the month as well as black sesame oil and rice wine water for cooking used during the month. (It should be noted that rice wine water, mijiushui (米酒水) is different from rice wine mijiu (米酒). Rice wine water is what sitting the month centers name the water used during the month for drinking and cooking. Currently it can be mail ordered from the sitting the month companies. The researcher has also seen it occasionally at large grocery stores in Taiwan, but it is not a common item to be stocked.) Dr. Zhuang‟s method of sitting the month is similar to the traditional method, including the use of shenghuatang, sesame oil chicken, pig‟s liver, pig‟s kidneys, and prohibitions against “cold” foods, but there are also significant differences. For one, she 68

has a definite order of when to eat certain foods that is not mentioned anywhere in traditional sitting the month methods and is not practiced by the average individual sitting the month at home. Dr. Zhuang‟s method states that for the first week after postpartum only pig‟s liver is to be served. Pig‟s kidneys are served for the second week, and sesame oil chicken is served later in the third week. The method of cooking is the same: ginger stir-fried in black sesame oil, then the addition of the meat and rice wine water. Most of the older women interviewed for this study did not have such a specific timeline in regards to diet. Many did not understand why such a specific order would be necessary; they recommended eating sesame oil chicken from the first day after childbirth. Another significant difference between Dr. Zhuang‟s and traditional methods is also the prohibition against water. Dr. Zhuang does not allow for one drop of water to be consumed by the woman during her month of 30-40 days. Even the meats and vegetables eaten during the month are to be washed by rice wine water and cooked in rice wine water. All the rice and porridge is also washed and cooked in rice wine water. Rice wine water is rice wine that has been boiled until most of the alcohol content is burned off. The remaining liquid, mijiushui (米酒水), rice wine water, is then bottled and sold through catalogues as well as used in her sitting the month centers and sent out with the TODS. Her explanation of why women are not allowed to have water is her own experience of sitting the month when she was 19. Her father-in-law, a traditional Chinese doctor told her that a woman who drank one drop of water during her month will have a large abdomen that no amount of exercise would diminish for the rest of her life. (Most of her methods for sitting the month were learned from what her father-in-law and mother-in-law taught her during her own postpartum.) Any further explanation was not 69

forthcoming, neither from her father-in-law or from herself. But so it is written and is currently followed by many women in Taiwan. Nowhere else in China is prohibition of water during sitting the month practiced, certainly not on the mainland. Even in present Taiwan, some women do not follow this rule. But it has become more popular and more accepted, as Dr. Zhuang and her family‟s influence expands in Taiwan and internationally. Another part of this increased acceptance may be due to word of mouth as women utilizing her methods attribute their weight loss and success to her particular methods. Dr. Zhuang states that with her methods, there is no need to fear sesame oil chicken. Many women fear eating and especially drinking the soup from sesame oil chicken due to its fatty nature. Most women want to lose their pregnancy weight during their month and not gain additional pounds due to diet during postpartum. Following Dr. Zhuang‟s methods, a woman can and will lose all the weight gained during the pregnancy before the month is over, so that the body will be slimmer than the pre-pregnancy weight. Not only will the weight come off during the month, doing the month well following Dr. Zhuang‟s methods will ensure the weight will stay off, increasing the body‟s natural metabolism and balancing hormonal levels within the body for better skin and bodily health. This is what is advertised in all of the sitting the month service providers as well as in popular books and media. Although not actually measured for the purposes of this study, the general experience is that following the prescribed diet did result in considerable weight loss. Older women are quick to disregard issues of weight. For these women the important issues are body health, nutrition, and sufficient breast milk; weight loss is not something to be considered during the month. But Dr. Zhuang and 70

many other sitting the month service providers guarantee weight loss by the end of the month. Some companies even offer a money back guarantee. Many of the professional sitting the month centers follow Dr. Zhuang‟s methods, ordering their meats to be served at specific times postpartum and also serving rice wine water. But from the comments of the owners of the sitting the month centers it is clear that they are not too sure of this idea, but follow it because their clients expect it. That this is specific to Dr. Zhuang is clearly seen since many of the older women, who have not heard of her or her methods, do not place food in any specific order for the month. Older women‟s understanding state that sesame oil chicken needs to be eaten after birth, but there is no necessity to wait until the third week specifically to eat chicken. Older women were perfectly fine with serving sesame oil chicken at the first or second week, even the first day after childbirth. As for not drinking water, older women were not familiar with this idea at all. Older women were concerned that not drinking any fluids (i.e. water, milk, etc.) may cause insufficient breast milk supply. The thought of not having any water can be a little problematic, since the new mother is expected to breastfeed. But following Dr. Zhuang‟s methods, enough liquids are consumed, since most of the food served is in stew and soup form. Even the rice is served as porridge. And for those times when the woman becomes thirsty, she is allowed to sip rice wine water. Overall Dr. Zhuang states that the fluid intake is adequate even though no water or milk is allowed during the month, following her methods. Most of the sitting the month centers in Taiwan and the TODS have either copied Dr. Zhuang‟s methods or they are previous employees (and sometimes relatives) of Dr. Zhuang‟s who have left and opened their own businesses. It is becoming a highly 71

competitive market, with several companies spread out over the major cities of Taiwan as well as spreading internationally to mainland China and the US. Often these companies are afraid of their own employees leaving to become another competitor. Interviews with some of these companies were hard to come by and many refused admittance to me as a researcher while as a prospective client the welcome mat was happily extended.

Sitting the Month at Home Sitting the month at home with a mother-in-law to help is the most traditional method of postpartum in Taiwan and historically in mainland China. This was partly due to the fact that married couples traditionally lived with the husband‟s family, and also because postpartum care, which involved cooking specific foods, medicines, and helping with baby care, was primarily women‟s work. Therefore, the mother-in-law, as the oldest woman in the family with the most authority, would take care of the new mother and her needs. The only task that she, the mother-in-law, did not do was the laundry for the postpartum woman. The clothes for the postpartum woman were considered to be especially polluting due to the discharge after the birth, so these clothes were often sent out to be laundered by women whose job was specifically to launder postpartum clothes. Often, pregnant women walking on the streets would be approached by complete strangers who would ask if they had found someone to do their postpartum laundry. If the answer was no, they would ask for the address, an approximate due date, and somehow or other they would know that the woman had given birth, and come knocking on the door to do the postpartum laundry. Many of the older women interviewed for this dissertation were at a 72

loss as to how these women knew they had given birth. The clothes for the month would then be sent out to be laundered, and after the month, an appropriate red envelope would be given to the laundress. But this practice has changed in the current times. Some women in the family, often a sister-in-law, or another female member can take on the responsibility of doing the postpartum laundry, but this is not common practice. In each case, a red envelope would be presented at the end of the month, partly as payment and partly to erase the polluting factors associated with the task. There are no longer any postpartum laundresses to be found in Taiwan. The primary reason is most likely due to the introduction of laundry machines. Every household has one, and with this convenience within the home, the prohibition against mothers-in-law doing the postpartum laundry seems to have become more relaxed. Those women who did the month at home with their mothers-in-law also had their mothers-in-law do the laundry. During the postpartum month, not only do women not do the laundry, they are not responsible for any other household work, except to breastfeed the newborn. All the household tasks are to be handled by the substitute care taker. This person can be a mother-in-law, a mother, a sister-in-law, a sister, or a hired helper. Most likely to be a married woman, the substitute care taker would come into the home, to cook, clean, and help with all the household chores during the month. Traditionally, the most likely person to help would be the mother-in-law, but in recent times this has changed. At times the woman‟s mother or another member of the family may come to help. This job is usually not given to younger women due to the complexity involved. Not only is the person responsible for helping the postpartum woman, they must also help with the baby care whenever possible, there are specific dietary rules to be followed, specific foods that 73

are not part of the everyday diet to be prepared, and younger women may not be familiar with these foods, herbs, medicines or methods of preparation to provide adequate assistance during the postpartum. Young women are also discouraged from some of these activities due to their unmarried state; unmarried women are often excluded from certain activities and conversations regarding sex, family planning, marital relationships, and so forth. Although the traditional ideal would be to have an older woman help at home during the month, this is not always possible. In modern times, a mother or mother-inlaw is not always available, and therefore the woman does the postpartum at home alone or with her husband to help. In these cases, the husband is most likely to help with the cooking, preparing the meals when he is at home and then going to work while the new mother would reheat foods to eat during the day. Sometimes an older woman may drop by to cook something or to drop off meals, help a little with the cleanup, and then leave. Older women may still be working, be responsible for other family members, or live far away from the postpartum woman, and not be able to spare the time for the new mother, leaving her to do her month alone. This situation is a rare occurrence, but not unheard of. Since childbirth is something women can plan for months ahead, most often families make appropriate preparations, putting in place a system of support for the new mother. For women sitting the month at home, there are modern services available to help with their month. One is the health and medicinal supplement available through mail order. From various different companies, these supplemental health products are usually in pill form or powders to be mixed with water or rice wine water, specifically tailored for the sitting the month woman, to help her nutritionally (to bu) or to help medicinally. 74

The cost of these supplements, depending on the product, runs from about $1000-4000 NT ($30-125 US) for one month‟s supply. These products are very affordable and easy to use for the average household, no specific preparations are necessary and so they are very popular in Taiwan. Another popular option is the TODS (Take Out Delivery Service) for sitting the month. This service provides all of the day‟s meals for the woman from the day she gives birth at the hospital until the end of the 30-40 day month, depending on how many days the family wishes to follow sitting the month or how many days they can afford. Some women choose to pay week to week, considering that they might not utilize the service for the full month, others may choose to sit their entire month with one TODS. Once a woman has decided on this type of service, she will give the service a call, and set up the delivery. When the woman enters the hospital to give birth, she or a family member, or sometimes even the hospital itself, will give a call to the business and let them know that she has given birth at which hospital. The service then begins delivery of the food and medicinal tonics from that day to the hospital. When the family moves home, the delivery service will continue delivery to the home. Some hospitals during the admission process will ask if any sitting the month services have been planned. Hospitals ask these questions since meals may or may not be provided in-house. Certain hospitals and clinics have no food services available on the premises, and they order patients‟ meals out, having a food service prepare and deliver all the meals. Patients may choose the hospital to provide meals for them which is not covered in everyday hospital fees, or they may have family or friends provide meals for them.

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These TODS are usually available in large cities, and have a limited delivery area. In Pingtung City for example, where the research for this dissertation took place, no such TODS were available. In Kaohsiung, the nearest large city, 30-40 minutes away, these TODS were available, but they were not willing to deliver to the Pingtung City area. When approached for their services, they stated that Pingtung City was too far away to be part of their delivery area and suggested mail order supplements instead. TODS do deliver to the outskirts, to the area between Pingtung City and Kaohsiung. Some women living in these areas were able to utilize these services, but the expense was fairly high for the average income earner in Pingtung City. Delivery of all the food eaten for that day occurs once a day. In the morning a refrigerator truck delivers the food in a box or plastic container depending upon the company, all individually packaged with three meals, and two snacks. (This will obviously vary with each individual TODS but on average, three meals and two snacks are the standard for most sitting the month service providers, TODS and sitting the month centers alike.) The rice is packaged separately. The meals are then ready to be reheated and eaten. Every morning or the previous evening, the company will call and ask how much rice is required. Sometimes the food provided is excessive for one person, and often extra rice can be ordered so that the husband can eat dinner with the mother and not have to cook a separate meal. These TODS usually follow along the lines of Dr. Zhuang‟s methods; having pork liver for the first week, pork kidneys on the second week and sesame oil chicken on the third week. The vegetables and fruits offered can be different, since Dr. Zhuang‟s method severely limits the kinds of vegetable and fruits that can be eaten for the month. 76

Most vegetables and fruits, high in water content, are prohibited. TODS also provide the fluids drunk during the month, in the form of rice wine water or in sweet medicinal/herbal soups similar to dessert soups. Most of the foods are in the form of soups and stews cooked in slow cookers. One TODS kitchen that was toured had multiple slow cookers bubbling away for the next day‟s service. The cost of these services varies, but usually there are two different pricing scales, one that calculates per day and the other for the month. Per day is much more expensive, but some women feel that they may need the help for the first two weeks, but not thereafter. So they may only sign up for two weeks or for 10 days or whatever number of days they deem sufficient to rest and regain their strength. Cost varies, but on average they are pretty similar, with no big differences in price since the business has become so competitive. One company in Taipei offered their services for $2400 NT per day ($75 US) and $65,000 NT for the month (a little over $2000 US)2. Another company in Kaohsiung offered their TODS for $2200 NT per day (around $69 US) and $58,000 NT for the month (around $1810 US).

Sitting the Month Centers Sitting the month centers in Taiwan are professional service providers that range from those that are like boarding houses to five star hotels. They function in much the same manner; the woman is admitted to the center after being discharged from the hospital and stays however many days she desires or can afford. The center sets no

2

Exchange rate used is about 30 Taiwanese dollars to 1 US dollar, which was the average exchange rate during the research period.

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minimum requirements on the number of days a woman must stay. Everything is provided for, from laundry service, to baby care, to all the meals. These commercial businesses often are attached to specific, often famous, hospitals or clinics, but stand alone centers also exist that are not affiliated with other institutions. Nonetheless every center will have on staff a doctor of western or traditional Chinese medicine for consultation purposes. These professional consultants function to help advertise as well as to legitimize the center‟s enterprise. Patients may not necessarily see a physician during their stay, but the unspoken understanding is that their care is supervised and recommended by professional medical staff. All of the centers have on-site 24 hour nurseries where babies are cared for if the mother chooses not to provide the baby‟s care herself. These are often staffed with nurses trained in western medicine, although in rare instance they may be staffed with “experienced” older women. The two types of sitting the month centers in Taiwan are the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the western hospital oriented type. The TCM sitting the month centers focus on traditional Chinese medicine, practice and ideals. TCM sitting the month centers often have a traditional herbalist on staff to prescribe herbal tonics to individual women. The foods served are similar to what is found sitting the month at home, with the addition of more herbal tonics. The TCM sitting the month centers observed in this research also prohibited drinking water and only served one thermos of rice wine water per woman per day. The western oriented sitting the month centers vary vastly depending on the hospital or clinic. Some of these centers rival five star hotels and offer all the amenities of one. Some of these high-end centers will send their private vehicle to the hospital and help transport the woman from the hospital to their private 78

center. They also offer spa services, massage services, beauty salon services, and other resort like amenities in addition to the requisite nursery and meal services. The only amenities that they lack compared to a five star hotel would be a swimming pool and exercise room, since these activities are traditionally prohibited during the month. The traditional rules of not coming into contact with cold water and blowing “wind” are still sometimes followed even in these luxurious sitting the month centers. Although the environment is that of a sophisticated hotel, the meals served are still similar to what is served in other centers, albeit on more expensive dinnerware. The usual sitting the month diet of sesame oil chicken, pork‟s liver and pork‟s kidney and rice wine water still prevail in most of these sitting the month centers. (There are those that follow none of the traditional sitting the month rules but these are not common.) Of these two different types of sitting the month centers, the traditional versus the hospital, the western hospital model is certainly more popular. But there are individuals who specifically seek out the TCM sitting the month centers exactly because they are more traditional, and Chinese medicine based. Their reasoning here is that the entire sitting the month is a traditional Chinese cultural practice, therefore following the traditional Chinese medical method should be more effective. This belief could be based in the fact that western medicine says nothing about sitting the month and has no prescribed practice for women postpartum. As stated previously, many of these sitting the month centers are affiliated with hospitals or clinics. For example, the sitting the month center observed for several months for the purpose of this dissertation was just such a center. It was located within a hospital in Pingtung City well known for its pediatrics and OB/GYN departments. The 79

birthing center was located on the fourth floor and the sitting the month center was located on the sixth and seventh floors. The women would give birth, and when discharged from the hospital proper, they would move into one of these sitting the month center private rooms. The rooms are private, single occupancy, and equipped with a bed, chairs, table, TV, and air conditioning with a private bathroom and shower. Many women brought books and a radio into the room (although traditionally reading and watching TV during the month is prohibited). All of the women who participated in the research were using air conditioning in their room (even in the fall and winter when this research took place, southern Taiwan can be quite warm). Some had the temperature setting very low while others did not. But since they were not sitting in front of the air conditioning with the wind blowing directly at them, this was acceptable. Visitors to the centers are allowed during visiting hours, typically between 1-5 during the afternoon. Access to these rooms was secured by the front desk. Husbands were welcome to stay overnight if they wished. Some husbands stayed over the weekends whenever possible. Staying during the week was not always possible due to demands of work and or other obligations (i.e. family commitments, childcare of other children at home). Women who had older children at home needed help to take care of them while staying at the center. This help was usually provided by the natal mother or mother-in-law. Women did not always stay the entire month at the center. Some women chose to stay at the center for the first two weeks, the time they considered most critical, and then continued the rest of their confinement at home.

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The reason for this shortened stay was primarily due to financial constraints. Sitting the month centers are quite expensive. In Pingtung City and Kaohsiung, where the prices were supposedly more reasonable, the cost still ranged from $3000-3600 NT ($ 93-112US) per day, and for those that decided on the entire month, it would range from $72,000-86,000 NT ($ 2250-2687 US). For those that decide on the entire month, a 20% discount is applied to the normal everyday rates. These prices are much less than what would normally be found in Taipei, not counting the five star hotel-like sitting the month centers, which are very high end. An average family would find it difficult to pay for the month without some family savings or resorting to borrowing. Some sitting the month centers also offer nursery services for individuals who do not sit the month with them. In other words, a family who does not sit the month at the center may choose to have their newborn taken care of at the hospital. In this case, they may choose to drop off their babies at the nursery and pick them up later; a sort of last minute, no appointment necessary babysitting service. The cost is around $1000 NT per day, depending upon the facility itself. During this research project, this service was never seen to be utilized by women, but the service is offered and women do know about its existence. For women sitting the month at the center, this cost is already calculated into their daily/monthly rates. Although sitting the month rules dictate that women should stay confined to rest for the entire month and not venture outdoors, this is not always possible. The old traditional reason for why women should stay secluded is due to her unclean state, but currently the explanation has changed. Currently women are told to stay home and rest, not to go outside because having “wind” blown at them would cause irreparable physical 81

harm. Also the physical activity of going out, walking and running around negates the entire purpose of sitting the month, which is to rest and for the body to recuperate. Women sitting the month at the centers are free to leave; there is no one at the door to monitor their activities. And women do leave to come back later. Those at the hospital sitting the month center may not have to leave the building to take their infants to the pediatrician for checkups, since their pediatricians may be located in the same building where they are sitting the month. But for women who are sitting the month at home or elsewhere, they often need to leave to take their infants for pediatric checkups, especially if their husbands are working and unavailable. Even women sitting the month at professional centers leave their rooms to venture outside occasionally. Some women go out to take care of work related issues, or they may simply feel the urge to fetch something from the corner 7 Eleven.

You can go out. When you are staying in the hospital, you were in the sick hospital room for about a week, then after that week you were moved over here, sitting the month here is like you’ve checked out of the hospital, you just haven’t physically returned home yet, you can go out. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t come back here to sleep, but you still have to pay, that’s the key point. (Young Woman # 9) Once I went out to buy fruit, the proprietor there said aren’t you suppose to be sitting the month? You can’t come out at night, his face, he said it like it was horrifying. He meant that sitting the month, going out at night, it could result in all those something, something, all those bad things. My husband and I were so embarrassed. I told my husband that actually, it’s because the temperature at night is lower. It is not because your body during sitting the month is weaker, so it is more likely to catch cold, it must be something like this. 82

(Young Woman #7)

Each center has common living areas where the women can entertain their visitors or merely to sit and chat with other women sitting the month. However women usually stay in their rooms. Every 3-4 hours they are expected to breastfeed their infants. Usually the nurse will give the mother a call and remind her that it is time to breastfeed, and she would go down to the nursery to feed her infant. Women oftentimes had the infant stay in the nursery and not with them. Seldom did I see an infant in the same room as the mother, even at those times when the visit was unexpected. Sometimes the women brought the baby over to their room to stay with them, but at night the infant would most definitely stay in the nursery. The reason is for women to rest as much as possible. The women stated that when the infant is with them, they are busy caring for the infant at night and therefore cannot rest properly. At least while they are sitting the month at the center, they want to take advantage of every opportunity to rest and learn, since soon enough they will have to go home and face their babies 24/7.

My mother-in-law cooked delicious food, it’s just that, there is no way to completely rest if you do it at home, because the baby is next to you, every little while you have to change a diaper. The reason why we are here (sitting the month center) is that in one month we have to go back and face the baby. It is very tiring, it really is very exhausting. As for the rest part, you have to assume that yourself, because mother-in-law can’t, because it would be rude to ask her to come over and help us take care of the baby (at night when everyone is sleeping). (Young Woman #15)

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There is very little concern regarding mother and infant bonding within the first month after birth. Breastfeeding is highly encouraged by everyone, because it is healthy for the infant, making the child smarter. There are various recipes for increasing breast milk during the month. All women who participated in this research were breastfeeding during the first month and planned on breastfeeding for the immediate future. Many women were proud of how long they had breastfed their older children. But very little to nothing is mentioned about bonding in various books, magazines and conversation regarding sitting the month. It does not seem to be a very big concern. It seems to be taken as natural that of course mother and child will bond since the mother is the primary care taker. While sitting the month at the center, women may be separated more from their infants, but soon enough they will be with their infants full-time, and those weeks spent at the center are a good time for the woman to rest and store up the energy to deal with everything when she goes home. This research found very little advice or concern expressed by individuals regarding bonding.

SUMMARY Sitting the month in Taiwan is a mixture of old and new. There are still very traditional ideas regarding the month that can be traced back to thousands of years ago, since these ideas are often associated with Chinese medicine. The idea that women after birth are weak and in a “cold” state is based upon traditional Chinese medicine, and these ideas still strongly influence concepts of sitting the month in these modern times. Some of the old ideas have been repackaged to fit the new times, maintaining the same end result. Women are still secluded and confined indoors during the month. In traditional 84

times this was because postpartum women were considered to be polluted and unclean therefore unable to meet with the heavens and spirits. Confinement indoors is still practiced. Women who venture outside are shamed into running back home as expressed by the woman earlier. The reasons have changed, however, emphasizing health and rest for the woman, not pollution. And bigger changes have occurred. Women sit the month now to become healthier, and to improve their body, both health wise and aesthetically. Emphasis on beauty during the month, to regain a figure better than the pre-pregnancy one is often cited as a reason why women should sit the month. The increasing commercialization of sitting the month is a recent development within the last 10-15 years. Women did not have these options of TODS, supplements or professional centers. Now they do. And how women choose to sit the month in this present environment can be a strong indicator of their positions within the family and society.

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CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS

Everyone in Taiwan is familiar with the custom of sitting the month. Complete strangers and acquaintances who were curious about the research project would talk about their own month‟s experiences or the experiences of someone they knew, friend or relative. Every woman does the month, but not every woman does it the same way. The differences can be seen when comparing older and younger women, and when comparing differences among women. There are significant changes in how and where the sitting the month was practiced 10-15 years ago compared to the options women have available now. The introduction of professional services offered for women during their month have also significantly altered women‟s choices and, consequently, the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law (especially since sitting the month before the introduction of professional services would have involved the mother-in-law as the main caretaker and person of authority). Some of these dramatic changes have occurred just within the last 10-15 years, with the introductions of sitting the month professional services, removing the practice from within the private sphere to the public. The sample population represents a spectrum of ages ranging continually from women in their 20s to their 50s. The sample was analyzed together and separately. Although the sample population represents a spectrum of ages from 25-59 years of age, this population can be separated by two major factors, one is the existence of professional sitting the month service providers and the other is when they sat the month. Sitting the month centers were not available for some of the older women when they sat the month, 86

while for women on the lower age spectrum they are an option. Also, the older group of women, ranging from 38-59 years of age, have already done their month; their youngest child was at least 10 years old. Younger women, ages 25-36, were currently doing the month when they were interviewed, or they were pregnant and planning on doing the month, in which case they were followed up in later interviews. For the purposes of analysis, the population sample was analyzed as one group or as two separate groups depending upon the question and to tease out any meaningful changes among the women. Group OW, represented women who had finished their month and left the childbearing stage, and Group YW represented women who are currently having children, and were sitting the month when the research was conducted. Although these women are less than a generation apart, the 10-15 years have brought dramatic changes to Taiwan and this is reflected in this sample of women. The following are the results of this study. The data were analyzed for how women in the two groups did the month, where they did the month, their thoughts on doing the month, and how factors such as income, education, marriage patterns, and residence patterns may have influenced their sitting the month decision-making and outcomes. The data were also analyzed in terms of general decision-making regarding family, marriage and finances. Comparisons were made between the actual sitting the month behaviors and the stated ideal sitting the month for all women. If the literature previously cited in Chapter One holds true then increased income and education should increase the likelihood of women sitting their ideal desired month. Women with lower incomes and education should be dissatisfied with how they did their month. Residence and marriage patterns should also influence how satisfied women are with their month. 87

Increasing the distance between the couple and their in-laws should increase the likelihood of women sitting their ideal month, an increased choice of marriage partners should have the same result. Although these individual factors are important and have influence on women‟s status, it is each individual woman‟s story that ultimately tells us why and how they decided to spend their first month after giving birth.

INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS A total of 40 women were interviewed, but only 39 will be utilized for analysis. One woman will not be included in the analysis since she was over 90 years old and does not fit the criteria outlined. Her daughter was interviewed and included in the sample. The 90 year old woman provided an interesting counterpoint of how things were during the Japanese occupation period, but she will not be included in the study because she is generations apart from the rest of the population sample and does not fit the sample population criteria outlined. The sample population was contacted in several ways. Some participants were contacted directly and approached for interviews, and in a snowball sampling fashion, they were asked to introduce other women, older women as well as women sitting the month or planning on sitting the month. Also contacted was a physician at An He Hospital in Pingtung City. A majority of women in Pingtung City and surrounding areas give birth at An He Hospital. This hospital is well known for its pediatrics department as well as its Obstetrics. An He Hospital also has one of the few sitting the month centers in Pingtung City. These physicians were asked to approach their patients either currently sitting the month or in their last trimester of pregnancy, asking them if they would be 88

willing to participate in the study. Once the physicians had conducted the introduction and the woman agreed, the participant was then contacted and interviewed. Whenever possible the home was visited, and the participants were observed in their everyday settings and interactions. For some of the population sample, sitting the month may have occurred 10 years ago, while for other women, sitting the month was something they were in the process of doing, while this study was taking place. The age difference between these two groups is small. Women who had already sat the month at least 10 years ago ranged from the upper 30s to their late 50s. Women who were sitting the month now ranged from their mid-20s to mid-30s. Therefore the lower range of one group and the upper range of another group are very close together in age, less than 10 years apart, but the two groups differ importantly in other ways. These groups of women are at different stages of their life course. The older group had already ended their childbearing stage long ago, they were not planning on having any more children and were actively controlling their fertility. The younger group of women was just beginning or just ending their childbearing stage. An important characteristic of this particular sample is later marriage. Women currently marry later and have children later compared to women 10-15 years ago, who married earlier and had children earlier. This may be one possible explanation as to why the current population of women sitting the month are older compared to women sitting the month 15 years ago. There is also a significance difference in the availability and existence of professional sitting the month services 10-15 years ago compared to currently. The professional services outlined previously in Chapter Four, were not available 10 years 89

ago in Pingtung City when some of these older participants did their month. Some of these older women did not know that these centers exist even at the time of the study; they had never heard of or seen a sitting the month center. Women giving birth now have the sitting the month centers available as an alternative to the private home setting. The present existence of professional sitting the month centers and services are a major factor to be considered in this study. Whether or not women can make their own decisions on where and how they do the month would hardly be significant if they did not have available an alternative to sitting at home with the mother-in-law. There were 20 younger women interviewed who matched the criteria for Group YW; their ages ranged from 25 to 36, with an average of 31.3 years of age. Of these women in Group YW, six women were interviewed while they were still pregnant, and 14 were interviewed while they were sitting the month. The pregnant women were interviewed again postpartum to assess their postpartum practice; to ascertain if their previous expectations and plans were being met or otherwise. For 12 of these women, this was their first child, and the first time they were doing the month. For several others this was their second or final childbirth. Sitting the month for some of these women, who had decided this was their last pregnancy, was somewhat different when compare to other women, a point which will be expanded upon later in the chapter. All of the 20 women in Group YW did the month for all their pregnancies. Some of them may not have done the month to their satisfaction, but all of them did sit the month to some extent. There were 19 older women interviewed in Group OW in the study, with ages ranging from 38 to 59, and an average age of 46.8. All 19 older women interviewed sat the month or at least tried to or had the intention of doing so for all their children. An 90

element that needs to be considered is that accounts of sitting the month by Group OW are retrospective in nature and may contain inaccuracies. This is different from women of Group YW who were sitting the month in actuality when this study took place. Of the 20 younger women interviewed, six women were interviewed more than once and observed in family interactions. With these women I was able to conduct participant observation in depth. I was invited into their homes quite often and hung around helping with cooking and preparing meals, as well as going on outings. Several other women were also observed in their home settings, and some spousal and family interactions were observed. But the six women became a group of primary informants, to whom I would go back to ask for clarifications and explanations. Many women were not able to be observed in the home setting since they were from other areas. One woman, for example, Mrs. Lu, was from Shanghai, China. Her husband is Taiwanese, and the couple live and work in Shanghai. But her husband insisted that their child be born in Taiwan for passport and citizenship purposes. Mrs. Lu agreed knowing that she would have real support for herself and her baby postpartum which was not possible in mainland China due to other family circumstances. So they traveled to Taiwan for the birth and to sit the month. There were other women also who lived in northern, central or the southern tip of Taiwan, but who had traveled to the Pingtung and the Kaohsiung area to give birth or to sit the month or both. Mrs. Fan for example lived and worked in Taipei, but traveled to Kaohsiung two days after giving birth and sat the month in a center in Kaohsiung because her husband is in the military stationed in Kaohsiung. For others, Pingtung City provided the closest and least expensive (when compared to Kaohsiung) sitting the month center, even though their family and primary residence was 2-3 hours 91

away. In these instances, family interaction observations were harder, if not impossible to conduct. The older women in Group OW were interviewed once, but they were much easier to access in everyday settings and much easier to observe. They were not confined to one place for a month as the younger participants were for their sitting the month. Since some of them were retired or semi-retired, they were much easier to drop in on and have long chats with as this group was more socially oriented; they planned group outings and get-togethers to the beach or to the local coffee shop or restaurant and would just sit and chat for several hours. I was welcome to join in on these get-togethers, drop in and just sit and listen. It was at these times that it was helpful to be young, married and pregnant but without a husband physically present. The older women were much more relaxed and forthcoming with their comments, insights, and advice with a married woman versus an unmarried one. For example, I was privy to more comments, jokes, lectures and insights than I have ever heard before in all my previous visits. When asked why this was the case, the answer was “Well, you‟re married now. We can talk about this in front of you now.” The younger women in the study were confined by pregnancy, sitting the month, or had responsibilities of work and family. They had much less individual free time as compared to the older women. Overall, there were six refusals for interview, 13.3%. All of them were by younger women, pregnant or sitting the month. Two women gave no definitive reason for refusal. One woman refused, because it was her first pregnancy, and she felt that talking to me would not be good for her and her baby‟s health. From talking with neighbors in the area, it was made clear that the mother-in-law with whom the woman 92

lived, was quite superstitious and did not want her daughter-in-law to be talking to someone for interviews and or participating in any other activities out of the norm. Especially since this was the first grandchild, every precaution was to be taken, including not talking to strangers about the pregnancy. When pressed for specifics, many of the women I talked to dismissed it as merely being old-fashioned or uneducated. No one would explain to me specifically why. Two women refused because I myself was pregnant. There is a belief that two pregnant women or one pregnant woman and another woman just postpartum should not be in the same room together, because this is too much “good” gathered in one space. Having two such strong positive forces together would cause one or both parties to be harmed. For this reason, whenever I introduced myself or had someone else introduced to me to ask for an interview, the fact that I was pregnant would be presented up front and we would ask first if this was an issue with the woman. One woman stated that she was too tired to be bothered with an interview (this women was approached while she was sitting the month at the center).

GENERAL DECISION-MAKING Women were interviewed not only about sitting the month but also about the decision-making within their family. Topics included general decisions as well as those involving family matters and finances. General decision-making involved everyday decisions, i.e. who made the majority of decisions about everyday living. Decisions regarding family involved how many children they should have, childcare, child discipline, and so forth. Decisions regarding finances involved purchases the family would make, as well as decisions regarding banking, savings, and investments. Decisions 93

regarding daily household finances were considered part of general decision-making. Overall the results were not surprising. The majority of decisions were made by the women themselves or as a couple. Analyzing all 39 women in one sample group, the results were as follows. Everyday decisions were made by 69.2% of the women by themselves, while 25.6% consulted their husbands. Only one woman had her husband make all the general decisions. In actuality, her husband made all the decisions in the family, including those regarding family finances, and everyday living decisions. The only decision-making they did as husband and wife were decisions regarding the family, and this was only regarding family planning. This couple was newly married and having their first child, and the young wife was uncertain how they would handle other family decisions in the future. She was unique in this sample population, and this may be due more to her personality than to any other circumstances. Her age most probably was not a significant factor since other women younger with similar family situations were more independent and active in decision-making within the family. The women in the sample could be separated into two groups, those married fewer than 10 years and those married for more than 10 years. When these two groups were analyzed separately, we find that of the women married more than 10 years, 78.9% made decisions by themselves, without consulting any other individual, and the rest, 21.1% made decisions together with their husband. Of the women married less than 10 years, most of whom were married within the last five years, 60% made decisions on their own, 30% made decisions with their husbands as a couple, and 10% had other people making most of their general decisions for them (husband or mother-in-law). For the women married more than 10 years, most of them responded that they had previously 94

consulted and discussed with their husbands regarding issues and decision-making, but they no longer do so. Many women married for longer periods of time seem more resigned regarding their husband‟s participation or lack thereof.

I do everything myself. Even if I have problems or questions, I do it myself. I don’t ask him. I used to ask him, but not any more. Because I think asking him doesn’t help any, this is our family circumstances. (Old Woman #7)

In the case of decision-making, the length of time couples were married directly influenced women‟s decision-making ability. The longer they were married, the more likely they made decisions independently without consulting anyone. Newly married women are more likely to feel out their relationships with various individuals, their husbands or their mothers or mothers-in-law, but women married for some time are more established in these relationships and feel free to make their own decisions without consulting any other individual. Past ethnographic examples of Taiwan from the 1970s placed newly married women very low in the family hierarchy (Wolf 1972, 1975) with little decision-making powers. But as the data show for this study, young women were much more likely to have decisions-making powers compared to their counterparts from the 1970s. This change in newly married women‟s decision-making powers within the Chinese family seems to be fairly recent, as will be shown in comparison of the data between the younger and older groups of women. In this study, women married for more than 10 years were also asked about their decision-making when they were newly married. The results were surprising, since only 5.3% of these women made decisions on their own when they were 95

first married, 52.6% made decisions with their husbands, and 42.1% made decisions with their mother-in-law. When compared to the group of women who were married less than 10 years in this sample population, these numbers were even more surprising. For women married less than 10 years, most of these women made general decisions on their own, with some of them consulting their husbands. For women newly married 10-25 years ago, very few of them made decisions on their own; most of them made decisions with their husbands or their mother-in-law. Ethnographic literature from the 1970s clearly place the newly married woman at the bottom of the family hierarchy with no authority in making decisions of any kind within the family (Baker 1979, Cohen1976, Diamond 1973, Pasternak 1972, and Wolf 1972). But in present times, 60% of the newly married women are making decisions independently of their husbands and in-laws. The older group of women married 10-25 years ago in this study were similar to their counterparts described in the 1970s ethnographic literature, implying that the changes in newly married women‟s status may be fairly recent. Residence for the newly married couple does seem to strongly affect a woman‟s decision-making power (see Figures 1 and 2). Examining the whole sample, the data show that living with in-laws after marriage significantly reduces the woman‟s decisionmaking powers. For women newly married and living with their in-laws, only 19% made everyday decisions by themselves, 47.6% made decisions with their mother-in-law, and 33.3% made decisions as husband and wife. For women who lived as a couple after marriage independently of any parents, these numbers change dramatically. None of the women living as a couple made decisions with their mother-in-law, 53.3% made decisions as husband and wife, and 46.7% made everyday decisions by themselves. Not 96

living with the in-laws significantly increases the likelihood of a woman becoming more independent and able to control her everyday life. There were other residence types, for example one woman lived on her own after marriage due to her husband being away, and others lived with their natal mother due to circumstance beyond their control, but this sample was too small to be noteworthy.

Figure 1 Residence Pattern and General Decision-Making When Newly Married (N=39) 10 10 9

8

8

7

7

7 6 5

4

Self

4

Husband and Wife

3 2 1

With Mother-in-law

2 1 0

0

0

97

Figure 2 Residence Pattern and General Decision-Making When Newly Married in Percents (N=39) 66.7

70 60

53.3 47.6

50 40

46.7

33.3

33.3 Self

30 20

Husband and Wife

19

With Mother-in-law

10 0

0

0

For women to consult their mothers-in-law regarding everyday decisions within a Chinese family should not be surprising, especially if they lived with their mothers-inlaw. These newly married daughters-in-law would be directly under the supervision of their mothers-in-law, who would dictate their work and most of their waking hours. Surprisingly, for women in today‟s period, living with their mothers-in-law does not automatically translate to mothers-in-law making all the decisions. Of those women married less than 10 years and living with their mothers-in-law, 80% of these women made decisions on their own, only 20% made decisions with their mothers-in-law. In 98

direct contrast, women married more than 10 years and who lived with their mothers-inlaw when they were newly married, 66.7% of these women made decisions with their mother-in-law, while only 33.3% made decisions as husband and wife. None of these women made decisions on their own when newly married. But these same women, still living with their in-laws today later on in life, all make their own decisions, without consulting anyone. Admittedly these sample sizes are very small and a larger population sample will be required to see if these trends hold constant. Overall, the age hierarchy apparently is still in effect in the Chinese family, but for the younger women, the husband and wife relationship has become much more prominent in everyday decision-making, compared to the relationship between parent and child. These results are comparable to other recent studies which find similar results of changing family relationships and authority (Cornman et al 2003, Goransson 2009, Salaff 1995, and Yan 1997). Although general everyday decision-making differs between groups of women dependent upon how long they have been married, specific decision-making regarding family and finances are similar between the two groups. Of the women married 10 years or more, 84.2% of these women make decisions regarding the family as husband and wife, while only 15.8% make these decisions by themselves. For decisions regarding finances, 73.7% make decisions as husband and wife and 26.3% make these decisions by themselves. For women married fewer than 10 years, the findings were similar. Regarding decisions about family, 60% make these decisions as husband and wife, and 40% make these decisions by themselves. As for finances, 60% make these decisions as husband and wife, 30% make these decisions on their own, and 10% of the women leave the decisions to their husbands. 99

An interesting although not very significant (the sample size is too small to be of any consequence) finding is that for the younger group of women, 10% of these women would consult their mothers-in-law as secondary sources regarding issues concerning family, but none of them would consult their mother-in-law when it comes to finances. When talking to all women as a group, this seems to be the typical sentiment for both older and younger women. They make it a point not to talk about finances in front of their in-laws; some of them do not discuss finances even with their own natal parents. Even if the young couple is living with their parents-in-law, discussions regarding finance are never common, and decision-making is between husband and wife without any consultation from the parents-in-law. At times the young couple will make decisions in direct opposition to their parents, as will be illustrated later on in this chapter. Whether women are contributing a visible income to the family finances has little to do with her role in the family‟s financial decision-making. This question was addressed by analyzing the entire sample population as one group. Of those women who were not working, 75% made financial decisions as husband and wife, and 25% made financial decisions by themselves. The numbers do not change dramatically for women who work. Of those women that were employed full time, 67.7% made financial decisions as husband and wife, 25.8% made these decisions by themselves, and for 6.5% of these women, financial decisions are primarily made by the husband. In examining these numbers, whether a woman actively contributes to the family finances has little to do with her authority in making financial decisions within the family.

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Table 1 Decision-Making within the Family By Employment and Residence Patterns

DecisionMaking

Employment (N=39)

Working

Residence Patterns (N=39)

(N=29)

(N=10

(N=28)

Parents-inlaw (N=11)

As Husband and Wife

67.7%

75%

81.8%

64.3%

By Self Independently

25.8%

25%

18.2%

35.7%

With Mother-in-Law

0%

0%

0%

0%

6.5%

0%

0%

0%

By Husband Only

Not working Independent

When it comes to decisions regarding family, it would be expected that residence patterns would make a difference, since living with the in-law usually involves the mother-in-law taking care of the children while the daughter-in-law works. Therefore, logically the mother-in-law may be involved in decisions regarding children (e.g., their care and discipline). This expectation does not appear to be supported by the data. Whether the couple lives independently or with their in-laws, family decisions are primarily made as husband and wife or by the women themselves; none of them consulted their mother-in-law or any other person in regards to these decisions. Of the women who live with their in-laws, 64.3% made decisions regarding the family as husband and wife, while 35.7% made these decisions by themselves. Of the women who 101

live apart from their in-laws, 81.8% made family decisions as husband and wife, and 18.2% made decisions on their own. Age was not a significant factor, for older and younger women were evenly spread between the two groups. For women who lived with their in-laws, the group was split evenly, 50/50 between older and younger, and for women who did not live with their in-laws, 54.5% were older, and 45.5% were younger. For women with their first child, these women were asked somewhat hypothetical questions, but they were asked questions regarding child/infant care and if they would consult their mothers-in-law in the future. In examining decision-making, it seems clear that decisions, be they regarding everyday life, family, or finances, are more likely to be made by the couple or by the woman herself. Variables such as employment, income, and education, seem to have little impact upon decision-making. Rather it is residence patterns (whether the couple is living with their in-laws or independently) and also the length of time married (newly married versus married for more than ten years) that are critical factors influencing decision-making for women, old and young.

坐月子 SITTING THE MONTH As indicated above, every Chinese woman does the month. Many women asked me if I planned on doing the month, if Western women did the month, and if Chinese women overseas did the month. Most women, both young and old, stated that Western women most likely did not do the month; they were not Chinese. They, Western women, also seemed to age so much faster than Chinese women, and this is primarily because

102

they do not sit the month. As one woman stated, “The westerners go swimming and go into hot tubs, we Chinese wash our hair (during the month) and we get yelled at.” When women in this study were asked why they did the month, 49% answered that they did so due to health reasons. A close 41% answered they did the month because it is tradition. Only 10% did the month because someone (mother, mother-in-law, other family members or friends) told them they must. This 10% were all younger women. No older woman said they did the month because someone told them to; for these women they sat the month because it was a natural part of being a Chinese woman, or because they were concerned for their future health. Interesting differences exist between women as to why they did the month when examining the sample population by groups. Thirty-seven percent of the women in Group OW stated that women must do the month because it is tradition.

In Taiwan, everyone knows to do the month. It is a custom passed down. I have seen women do the month from when I was younger, everybody sits the month. (Old Woman #1) It’s like it is an incontrovertible fact, like the tradition is to sit the month, so we just follow along and sit the month. (Old Woman #14)

Other women also mentioned seeing their sisters, sisters-in-law, family members, and other friends sitting the month growing-up, therefore they understood that this is what Chinese women did after giving birth. The majority of women in Group OW, 63%, stated that they did the month primarily for health reasons. Sitting the month is health 103

insurance for old age. Having a good month, eating lots of nutritious 补, bu, foods, herbal tonics and resting results in better health in old age. A woman who does not sit the month will age faster, have 腰酸背痛 “yao suan bei tong” (a direct translation meaning sore waist and back pains), bad eyesight, and numerous hidden illnesses, aches and pains which cannot be healed easily. For this older group of women, sitting the month properly ensures health and painless living as one ages.

You can’t not do the month, you’ll have sore waist and back pains. You have to balance your health because you’ll be very weak. I still think the older generation’s traditions are best. You can’t use cold water, you have to find a way to convince the younger generation to take it a little more seriously. If you are going to do the month, do it well. You can’t run around all over. We Kechia also have to wear a head turban. You use a white cloth on your head. I suggest to the younger generation to lie down more and rest more, eat as much as you can, Because this month is a way for us women to recover from 10 months of harm, otherwise you’ll have regrets. (Old Woman #1) If you don’t do the month you won’t have time to take care of your body. I still feel that doing the month is better. Because after you give birth, your body changes, no matter if it is mentally or physically there will be changes, so doing the month can change that for you, giving you the chance to rest. If you don’t do the month, you’ll have more places that hurt. Your health will decline faster. (Old Woman #3) Because just after birth, your body is weak so you need to ‘bu’ with food to help your body recover. And you can also rest at the same time. Yes there is a difference. Later on you’ll meet with various circumstances and you’ll know then, your facial color would be bad. (Old Woman #4) 104

If you don’t do the month, you will get sore waist, pain in the back, get headaches, cause bad eyesight. When you get old, they all come to you. You have to sit the month. I didn’t dare wash my hair during the month. And didn’t dare go outside either. Back in those days, you couldn’t go out, you were shut up at home, you couldn’t go anywhere. (Old Woman #11) If you don’t do the month it is not good. Your health will suffer. There is a difference between taking care of yourself and having someone take care of you. Sometimes you see people their waist or back hurts, they didn’t do their month well. You can try it, if you don’t have your parents to help take care of you and you have to do everything yourself, having to take care of the baby yourself, it is very exhausting. I’ve heard a lot from other people. (Old Woman #12) You can’t not sit the month. It is not good for your health. Everyone knows what happens if you don’t sit the month. It is not good, sore waist and painful back. (Old Woman #17) If you don’t do the month, after you turn 40 you will definitely have ill health. For example if you eat cold or sweet foods, after 40 your teeth will go bad. (Old Woman #19)

The women in Group YW who were currently doing the month, had a different response. For this group, the importance of sitting the month was not in health, but rooted in tradition and societal expectations. Forty-five percent of the women in Group YW did the month because it is tradition, while 35% did the month due to their beliefs of health. Of these women who were more concerned with the future health benefits of 105

sitting the month, the majority were second and third births. The rest of the women in this group did the month because someone told them to do it; 15% did the month because everyone told them they should, and 5% did the month because their mother told them to.

In truth, sitting the month is really because of your parents, your sisters will tell you, you have to sit the month. My mother also told me, I’m telling you, don’t wash your hair, you can’t bathe. (Young Woman #2) They say that women, after giving birth, your body is weak, you have to replenish your body. They want you to have kidneys, sesame oil chicken, pork liver. You can’t wash your hair. I can’t say I don’t want to sit the month, I’ll get yelled at. There is no choice really. (Young Woman #8)

This is in direct contrast to the older group of women, who had already done the month. None of the older women did the month because someone told them to do it. Most of the older women did the month due to health reasons while the younger women did the month because all Chinese women do the month. A possible explanation for this difference could be due to age and experience. The Group OW are more elderly, they have faced more illnesses, aches and pains, which they may attribute to their month (whether it was a good or bad one), while Group YW do not have these experiences and therefore explain their behaviors as having to do with culture and societal expectations. The older women‟s responses may be a reflection of their experiences past and present, attributing their ill health to issues of sitting the month circumstances, a more analyzed response and reflective of what had occurred in the past, while for the younger women, 106

their responses are a true reflection of their current situation, of why they are sitting the month. Since many of the younger women in this study are primiparous, not enough time has elapsed for them to attribute their ill health to bad sitting the month experiences as many of the older woman do. Therefore, the older women are more likely to cite health reasons for doing their month, as a result of reflecting on their past. A common explanation for older women who suffer from ill health, pains and aches that cannot be easily cured or explained are attributed to bad sitting the month experiences.

I had the first two when I was younger, the last one was when I was much older so perhaps that’s why, but in the Chinese way of thinking, it is because I didn’t do the month well, that’s why my health is so bad. I think this is why. Because for my first child, I didn’t do the month well, so there were a lot of health problems afterwards. For my second I did a good month. My brother-in-law who is a Chinese medical doctor prescribed me some medicine and I ate it too, and my health was much better after that time. You might be perfectly fine but later on when you get older, those problems are all going to come out. Chinese elderly say that sitting the month illnesses must be made well during the month. I think this is very right. (Old Woman #18) I didn’t do the month, because when it was my time, my brother-in-law had his baby. And that baby ran a fever and stayed at the hospital for 19 days so I didn’t do the month. I did rest. But my mother-in-law wasn’t there, she had to be at the hospital with the other grandson, and my fatherin-law had to work. I was exhausted, I didn’t sit the month. My husband cooked meals during my month, my month was very pitiful. That’s why I had all those medical problems. My health was so bad. I went to a lot of different doctors, some western doctors and Chinese doctors too. I finally found one who knew what to do and everything feels fine. But it took a long time to get everything fixed. Like my sister-in-law who didn’t do a good month either, some things are not good to eat, some things are bad for your 107

throat, so she didn’t do a good month either, so her health is even worse than mine. So to say sitting the month is very important for a woman. (Old Woman #14)

There should be something useful about it. Everybody says you need to sit the month well. Then there won’t be so many little annoying things that go wrong with the body, unhealthy for the body. (Young Woman #1)

Group YW‟s concept of health as a reason for sitting the month is also significantly different from the women in Group OW. While women in Group OW state that they did the month as a type of insurance to prevent illnesses, aches and pains in their old age, women in Group YW did it more as insurance for beauty than for illness. Of the women in Group YW, 53% of the women mentioned diet and beauty as an important concern to them during the month. Some of these women in Group YW were interested in sitting the month since some methods guaranteed weight loss during the month, while nutritionally enriching your body for a healthier and more beautiful you. As noted in previous chapters, sitting the month centers and popular books on the subject advocate their particular methodology to help women shed the pregnancy weight faster. Some guarantee pre-pregnancy weight at the end of the month if the woman strictly follows their specific methods. None of the women in Group OW were concerned about weight or beauty; their advice was to eat as much as you can during the month, rest, and think about weight loss later. The women in this older group were more pragmatic about sitting the month, more concerned with health and less concerned with beauty and body weight. 108

There is also a difference in sitting the month behaviors between first time mothers and women who know they are having their last child. With modern contraception readily available, many families plan on having a certain number of children. The behaviors of women sitting the month for the last time (those who had decided that this was to be their last pregnancy) changes significantly. They are more rigid about what is appropriate behavior and compliant towards following the rules and advice of others. These women, both young and old, are more likely to follow the rules of not washing their hair, to rest for a full month if not more, to eagerly eat the prescribed foods like sesame oil chicken without complaint and to take the herbal medicinal tonics. Primiparous women are much more likely to be more relaxed in their behaviors and be more dismissive about why they are doing the month. The explanation for this difference in behaviors can be explained in two ways. One is due to the belief that sitting the month can alleviate whatever illnesses plague the individual. Doing the month well will result in better health, therefore if this is the last pregnancy, a good month will ensure better health in the future. It is the last sitting the month conditions which predict health in old age, since sitting the month properly can reverse many ill health issues (It is written in many of the popular texts and stated by professional sitting the month providers). Therefore if previous postpartum periods were not done correctly (as prescribed by the experts/professionals), then sitting the month well will still be effective and insure good health in old age. (It is not uncommon for some women in their thirties or forties suffering from chronic health conditions to receive advice to have another child and to sit the month well to change their physical health for the better. Some women actually follow through with this suggestion.) 109

Another reason is previous experience. Women attribute bad health, aches, pains and unexpected colds after the birth of their child to a bad month. For those who have done the month well, these women talked about how their health was wonderful, how they did not have a cold throughout that winter season, how they did not need a jacket for the winter, all of which they attribute to a month done well. Some women even consider having another child to rebalance their bodies and health, if their previous month was not done well.

Like I have a friend, for her first and second she didn’t do a good month, everyday this or that place hurts, she had a third one, she’s already 40 years old, her oldest is already 18 years old. When I asked her why she’s having another one, she said that her health was too bad, no matter how many doctors or medicines she took it didn’t get any better, so she wanted to have another one and get her body nourished (补, bu). She wore long sleeves, ate well and rested a lot. She did her month well this time. Really, we women have a lot of issues going on, we have to nourish well, you can’t wait too long or it’ll be too late. (Young Woman #6) There are some people who didn’t sit the month after giving birth, and even if they wanted to nourish (补, bu) it’s too late. Only nourishing during the month works. (Old Woman #10)

Of the women in Group YW who did the month, 80% took a bath during their month, but only 47% washed their hair. Of the 53% of the women who did not wash their hair during the month, 75% were multiparous, and stated that this would be their last pregnancy. There is an understanding that you should not wash your hair during the month, but it has become more acceptable to take a bath during the month, especially 110

with hot water readily available and being able to bathe in an enclosed room with no “wind” possible. Some women in this younger group were surprised by the interview question of “Did you take a bath” and in return asked if bathing was not allowed. Both old and young women acknowledge that the heat in Taiwan can be unbearable, especially in the summer, and not taking a bath for an entire month is unthinkable not only for the woman herself but also for the husband who sleeps in the same room.

…so to say you can’t wash your hair, historically they said you can’t wash your hair, but still I wash my hair about once a week, because really, I can’t stand it. (Young Woman #9) This not showering for a month I am very much against. Because your body will be sticky all over, you’d be very unhappy, the weather is so hot, how can you not shower. If I don’t shower I can’t fall asleep, and my husband would also think the room smelled, and the air would be stale, and he wouldn’t want to come into the room. (Old Woman #15)

All the women in Group OW did the month at home. For these women who did the month 10-25 years ago, there were no other alternatives. There were no sitting the month centers available, or TODS, or even mail order supplements. Everything had to be prepared at home, and all the medicinal tonics had to be prepared by a family member, if not by the woman herself. The mother-in-law was the primary care giver in 45% of these cases (See Table 2). Fourteen percent received help from their birth mother, or did the month by themselves without any help, (17.6%). Very few received help from their husbands, other family members (not mothers or mothers-in-law), or with a non-familial 111

hired helper. Two percent in the group did not do the month. This seems to be contrary to what was earlier stated that all women do the month in Taiwan and needs further clarification.

Table 2 Group OW's Sitting the Month in Taiwan

Who helped during the Month

N=49 Births

Did Month by self

17.6%

Did Month with Husband

7.8%

Did Month with own Mother

13.7%

Did Month with Mother-in-law

45%

Did Month with Family helper

7.8%

Did Month with hired helper

5.9%

Did not do the month

2%

This two percent in the analysis represents one woman and her experience. This one woman‟s comments and experience is easily dismissed as being insignificant and an outlier, but further explanations will make clear why her experience is actually very meaningful. Although Mrs. Wu stated she did not do the month in her own words, technically she did do the month to a certain extent. She did not do the month to her complete satisfaction, and she did not do the month in the exact traditional prescribed manner, and she most likely should be considered in the “did do the month” category, 112

because efforts were made on her behalf and by herself to have a month. Due to family circumstances beyond her control, she was not able to do the typical month, or a month that she considered satisfactory. Most of the postpartum month was done independently without help of any kind. Mrs. Wu is not the only one to so vehemently state to the researcher that they did not do a month. Many other women not in this study who the researcher had contact with through casual conversations would also state that they did not do the month, although upon further conversation it became clear that they did do the month or at least tried to do the month. Their month simply was not a month done to their satisfaction, or the month did not meet with their expectations and so their response is that they did not do the month; which explains why they suffer from various health ailments and chronic illnesses. Further examination of Mrs. Wu‟s case will clarify this fine point. Mrs. Wu originally planned a sitting the month with her mother-in-law to help her (her own mother was not available to help and since her mother-in-law lived with them, her husband being the eldest son, Mrs. Wu thought it would be a good arrangement), but her brother-in-law‟s wife gave birth at the same time. The brother-in-law‟s baby unfortunately had serious complications and was hospitalized immediately after birth. The mother-in-law therefore became unexpectedly busy with the brother-in-law‟s family and did not have time to help Mrs. Wu. The mother-in-law came whenever possible, helped cook the traditional foods and left it for the new mother to reheat and eat throughout the day and the next. Even her husband helped with the cooking, as Mr. Wu stated:

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I was exhausted too. I had to go to work during the day, at night I had to go to the hospital and look at the other one. If I had time I had to help cook, and my wife says now her month was pitiful. What can I do about that? There was no one at home to help Mrs. Wu with the baby; therefore, she was not able to have enough rest. When asked how was her month, Mrs. Wu states that she did not do a month. But in actuality she did do the month. She was confined to her home, she tried to rest as much as possible, and her mother-in-law and husband prepared the traditional foods and herbal tonics for her as much as they were able. It was not her ideal month, she did not get enough rest and care, but there were elements of the traditional month during her postpartum period, and everyone around her tried their best to give her a month. Other women were in similar circumstances; they gave birth at the same time as someone else in the family, therefore their mother or mother-in-law had to help those individuals, or else their mother or mother-in-law had already passed away and was not available. Two women had mothers-in-law still alive, but they were in China, and therefore unavailable to help them. (They had married men from mainland China who had no relatives in Taiwan.) These women were dissatisfied with how their month was conducted, and described themselves as not having done the month, although upon further investigation, it is clear that they did do a month, just not in the ideal or desired manner, and most certainly unsatisfactorily. One significant difference between sitting the month in the past (10-20 years ago) and sitting the month currently is the availability of modern conveniences that results in

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much easier circumstances for sitting the month with the current generation of women. One older woman stated:

Everything is so convenient now anyways. Back then you had to slaughter your own chicken, now you can get anything you want at the market. (Old Woman #1)

Indeed, now all the meats that are needed during the month (chicken, fresh fish, pig‟s kidneys, pig‟s liver, etc.) are all readily available at local grocery stores or daily market stalls, nicely packaged and cleaned. No longer is it necessary to go out, pick a chicken, chase it down, slaughter it, boil it, pluck it and then cook it as some women said in the study. Not only are meats readily available, herbal medicines can also be mail ordered or bought easily from the local Chinese pharmacy. The sheer convenience and the availability of the food utilized for sitting the month make the month that much more manageable in the current generation3. Preparing three meals and snacks in between with all the various ingredients and meats necessary for the month usually becomes an all day performance, if not for the convenience of electric pots, slow cookers, pressure cookers, and electric medicinal pots4. Some Chinese herbal pharmacies have a service where the

3

It should be noted that 20 years ago, much of Pingtung was rural with little transportation available. People living in the city proper may have had access to small grocery stores, but those living 20 minutes out of the city would have been in rural farmland and had no such access. Although currently every family owns at least one moped (sometimes one per person) or an automobile, this was not the case 20 years ago, making transportation and specifically preparations for sitting the month that much harder. 4

Electric medicinal pots are similar to electric tea pots with the purpose of boiling Chinese medicine and herbs. The convenience lies in that they can prepare the herbal tonics with no supervision; the herbs are tossed in with water and left to cook for several hours, shutting itself off with little risk of burning. Chinese medicinal tonics in the past required constant supervision to ensure that it would cook at a slow constant temperature and not burn.

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medicines are prepared and vacuumed packed in individual serving plastic pouches. The medicinal pouches (about the size and shape of juice pouches) can be heated in the microwave, boiled in hot water, or simply drunk with a straw. With all these conveniences available in modern times, sitting the month at home becomes much easier and more manageable. Comparing the two groups of women, it is interesting to note that the majority of older women did their month with their mothers-in-law while the younger women did their month equally between their mothers-in-law and the center. Interesting to note is the number of births in which the women‟s own mothers helped during the sitting the month has increased from 15.6% to 21.4% (N=30 Births). What is also notable is that none of the younger women are doing the month by themselves or with another relative‟s help, which was common for the older group. Of the 20 women in Group YW interviewed who did the month, nine did the month at home. And all nine had someone to help during the month. For younger women, the choice for sitting the month is either with their mother, their mother-in-law or the center. There is always some type of support available; no women in Group YW sat the month alone with no help. And during the research there was no mention of anyone doing or having sat the month by themselves. Even those who utilized supplemental medicines, or TODS had their mother or mother-in-law available to help them during the month. In analyzing all the births in Group YW (N=30), 37% of these sitting the month were helped by the mother-in-law, compared to 27% of births which were helped by the woman‟s mother. Of the 20 women in Group YW interviewed doing the month in 2003-2004, four originally had plans to do the month at home, with their mother or mother-in-law for 116

support, but after only a few days postpartum they had moved to the center to do their month. The primary reason for all of them is that the home situation and its system of support had become detrimental to their sitting the month. Originally these women had thought that sitting the month at home would be a good choice, with their mothers or mothers-in-law to help them. All the arrangements were made, and all the parties had agreed. Unfortunately, when the women went home after being discharged from the hospital, they found the reality to be far different from their expectations. The women stated that at home they did not get enough rest, the baby was constantly crying, they were having difficulty breast feeding, and the support network was not working to their satisfaction. In this group of women, there were those that were doing the month with both mothers-in-law and mothers. Although the reason for why they ultimately decided to go the center was different the result was the same. One woman who was sitting the month with her mother-in-law decided to go to the center because she was not getting enough rest. The baby was constantly crying, and she did not feel comfortable calling for her mother-in-law to help her at night, so she talked to her husband and they decided to move to the center, ignoring the mother-in-law‟s protests. Another woman was doing the month with her mother and originally thought it would be fine, but then stated that her mother‟s constant comments and nagging drove her crazy, and so she moved to the center. Although this is what she stated, another reason is that the home was too disruptive for her to fully rest. Her mother takes care of her sister‟s children each night after school, before her sister comes to pick them up after work. There were always children running around, people dropping by, and the TV was constantly blaring. The 117

environment was not conducive for a woman to rest and sleep. Originally everyone had decided that sitting the month at home would be perfectly acceptable, but due to circumstances, these women moved to the center, disregarding the cost and seeking rest and a place to quietly recuperate. These women did not decide to move to the center because the method of sitting the month at home was not in the prescribed manner. They moved to the center to seek rest and someone to help with the baby care at night. Every woman at the sitting the month center that participated in this study slept on her own. Most often the babies were left in the nursery during the day also, with the mother going to the nursery at the appointed time to breastfeed them. I seldom saw women at the center with their babies in the room (the one exception being a nurse who had the baby in her room most of the time, but she herself states that she is a professional and knows what she is doing when it comes to babies). The women would bring the baby back to their room for visits with relatives and with their husband, but, otherwise, the babies stayed in the nursery.

Well, there aren’t many people that will do that (have the baby with them). Because the point of coming here (sitting the month center) is to have a good night’s rest, to be more alert in the day. So usually, most everybody takes the baby back for the night. (Young Woman #19)

There were very few women concerned with bonding with their infants. The understanding is that soon enough everyone goes home and then you will have to face the baby by yourself around the clock; you will have plenty of opportunities to bond with your infant then. Mothers view this first month as an opportunity to learn what they can 118

about baby care (bathing, feeding, changing diapers, so forth) and to rest completely, in preparation for the future when she becomes the primary care provider for the baby.

You have to use this time as an excuse to rest, otherwise Taiwanese women just have to work and will never have the chance to rest. (Young Woman #5)

An interesting point here is that no women went home from the center because they did not like the center. Some women only stayed the first few weeks of their month and finished the rest of their month at home. This pattern was primarily due to financial reasons. The cost of sitting the month centers are fairly high, and individuals with average incomes find it difficult to pay for them. If they had the financial means, all the women agreed that they would have stayed longer, for the full month if not more. None of the women in Group OW changed locations during their month. These women did not have the option of sitting the month centers since they were not available when they sat the month, and to move from one place to another (i.e. mother-in-law to natal mother) would have been considered an insult and done irreparable damage to social relations. The women of Group YW who did change locations all did so with great care and thought, giving good socially acceptable reasons that saved everyone face and kept public appearances. A good amount of manipulation was necessary and done in all these cases. Only one woman interviewed had decided on the Take Out Delivery service (TODS) and this was primarily because the TODS is only available in limited areas, mainly the larger cities in Taiwan. There are no such companies in Pingtung City where the research took place. This service is available in Kaohsiung, one of the largest cities in 119

the southern part of Taiwan, which is 30-45 minutes away from Pingtung City by automobile. The woman who participated in the study did not live in Pingtung City, she lived closer to Kaohsiung and commuted to Pingtung City to work with her husband where they are both teachers at a private institution, which is how she came to participate in the study. The TODS was approached about delivery to Pingtung City, and many of them refused to offer their services citing distance, suggesting the mail order supplements instead.

Ideal Place to Sit the Month The vast majority of older women sat the month with their mothers-in-law which was typical and expected for that time period. The most logical explanation for why women sat the month with their mothers-in-law is because these women were living with their mothers-in-law at the time. Immediately after marriage, 68% of the women of Group OW lived with their husband‟s family, while only 21% lived as a couple on their own. Another 11% lived with their wife‟s family (this was due to the fact that the husband‟s family was in mainland China, or was a long distance away). When looking just at first birth (which usually occurred within a year or two of marriage), 58% of the postpartum period was with the mother-in-law‟s help. Although the majority of women did the month with their mothers-in-law, this was not what the women desired. Older women were asked what their ideal sitting the month situation would be; where they would do it, who they would choose to help them,

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and so forth5. Only 16% of the women would choose to sit the month with their mothersin-law. The greater majority of the women would prefer to do the month at home with someone to help them, preferably their mother. An equal number of women, 16%, would choose to do their month at a sitting the month center. When asked who they would prefer to help during the month, 50% chose their natal mother as the best person to help with the month. It seems clear that the older women sat the month with their mothers-in-law not because they wanted to, but because it was expected, and doing the month elsewhere was not an available option.

She wanted to come back to do the month, but her motherin-law wouldn’t allow it. Because her mother-in-law is from the country and is of the older generation, and felt that going home to her mother’s to do the month would make her lose face, felt like they couldn’t take care of her which is why she would want to go home to do the month. You can’t go back to do the month, a daughter-in-law is part of one’s own family. The modern people don’t care about such things. (Old Woman #1) All my sisters did their month with their mothers-in-law. In that generation who would dare to go home to your mother’s to do the month! (Old Woman #11) I did the month well, his family was very particular on these matters. The most important thing for them is to see

5

This question needs to be qualified. Since this question was asked of older women now, they responded in the present, meaning their responses were of what their preferences would be if they were to sit the month now, not in the past when they actually did the month. Many women responded that they would choose to sit the month in a sitting the month center, but this was not an option available to them when they sat the month.

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their grandchildren. They would never let you go home to sit the month. It wouldn’t matter to them whether it be a girl or a boy, they would still do this. It is not fair perhaps but they really are very particular on these issues, so they think they’ll do it very well. And it is also a question of face. Usually if they don’t let their daughters-in-law go home to do the month, it is because of the question of face, and also because they think they can do a better job. (Old Woman #4)

The issue of having your daughter-in-law doing the month with her natal family has much to do with the Chinese face. To have a daughter-in-law give birth to a member of your lineage, but to have that new family member taken care of by a different family would be considered an insult. It reflects badly on the entire family and its name. The implication of such an occurrence (sending a daughter-in-law to sit the month elsewhere, especially her natal family) is that there must be great internal conflict within the family as she has already been married out and literally “swept out” from her birth family. To have a daughter-in-law pack up her bags and go home when it is not a holiday makes the neighbors wonder; to have a daughter-in-law give birth and go to her natal home to be taken care of automatically results in a great loss of face for the family. This sentiment has changed slightly in the current times. As one woman in Group OW stated, the young people these days do not care about such things as saving face for their parents. They do what they want and feel like, forgetting all their social obligations. There is a notable difference between the two groups of women when examining their ideal place to sit the month. When the women were asked where their ideal place to sit the month would be, given perfect conditions (i.e. money is not an issue, would have enough to hire someone or go to the center, both mother and mother-in-law are healthy, 122

not working, and available to help), the women in Group OW chose to sit the month at home as best and preferred their natal mother to help them during the month. Eighty-four percent of the older women chose home as the best place to sit the month, whether this home be the mother-in-law‟s, natal mother‟s, or one‟s own home. Fifty-three percent (52.6%) chose their natal mother as the best person to help them sit the month. For the women in Group YW, only 30% chose sitting the month at home with their natal mother as the ideal, the overwhelming majority, 70%, chose the sitting the month centers as being ideal, both as an element of support during the month (their ideal person to help them during postpartum) and the ideal place to sit the month. An interesting note here is that none of the women in Group YW chose their mother-in-law as the ideal person to help them with the month. Even the women who did the month with their mothers-in-law would not wish to have their mothers-in-law help them if circumstances would allow. Of the women who did the month at the center, 80% would sit the month at the center again, while only 20% would prefer to sit the month at home with their natal mother. Of the women who did the month with their mothers, 60% would prefer their mothers, and 40% would prefer the center. Of the women who did the month with their mothers-in-law, 67% would prefer to sit the month at the center, and 33% would prefer their mother. For the women in Group OW however, 32% of the participants chose their mothers-in-law as the ideal person to help. What can explain this difference between OW and YW in regards to their perspectives on mothers-in-law during the month? A possible explanation is that for women in Group OW, mothers-in-law are an obvious option for support during the month. Most of the women in Group OW lived with their mothers-in-law after marriage, 123

if not still currently. Therefore, their mothers-in-law would be an obvious if not the only choice for these women to help them during their month. These women are also future if not current mothers-in-law themselves. Therefore their perspective might have elements of the Chinese face, social obligations and traditional ideals. For the younger women in Group YW, the Chinese “face” of their mothers-in-law and the family sometimes is trumped by their own desires and needs. The majority of older women chose home as the ideal place to sit the month because home is considered to be the most comfortable place; no matter if that home belongs to the mother-in-law, the natal mother or the self. At home you could eat what you wanted, say what you wanted, and do what you wanted, whenever you wanted. Sitting the month centers and elsewhere were not considered to be your own space; they are considered to be the realm of strangers, no relation to the family and therefore you would not be able to fully be at ease and rest. For the older women, rest was the most important factor to be considered when doing the month. It is clear from the data that there is a noticeable difference between the women when it comes to the most desirable place to sit the month with the younger women choosing the professional centers and the older women choosing the home setting. Next we look at how older women would like their daughters and their daughters-in-law to sit the month. Women in Group OW were asked if they would encourage their daughters and daughters-in-law to do the month. Most of the women in this group had daughters-in-law or married daughters or daughters of marriageable age. They were also asked where would be the ideal place for them (their daughters and daughters-in-law) to do the month. 124

The majority of the older women answered that the young people should do the month wherever they choose. When asked where their daughters should do the month, 53% replied they should sit the month wherever they liked, 5% replied in their own homes (daughter‟s home), 26% stated in their mother-in-law‟s home, and 16% should sit the month in the mother‟s home. However, when asked where their daughters-in-law should sit the month, 68% stated that they should sit the month wherever they liked, 16% replied in the mother-in-law‟s home (they themselves being the mother-in-law in this case), 11% replied in their mother‟s home and 5% replied in their own homes (daughter-in-law‟s home). Interestingly enough it is the same woman who replied that both the daughter and the daughter-in-law should do their month in their own homes (the 5% in both cases). There is a notable difference in where their daughter or daughter-in-law should do the month when it comes to their own role as mothers or mothers-in-law. The women are more likely to prefer having their daughter or daughter-in-law do the month with someone else and not themselves. This is most likely because sitting the month is no mere small task; it is an intensive burden and work period. Although modern conveniences have made sitting the month easier, it is still time consuming and exhausting. Not only are you taking care of the meals for everyone in the household, cooking specially for the sitting the month mother, there is also the infant to take care, as well as other older children if there are any. It is a highly stressful situation and relationships can be easily strained under these conditions, especially when there are differences in opinion on what to do during the month

The current generation of mothers-in-law are comparatively more relaxed. If you want to go home then quickly go home, less hassle for me. If you do it (help sit 125

the month), there might be comments, this was good or this wasn’t good. They go home to their mother’s it doesn’t matter to me if this was good or wasn’t good, I didn’t see it so it’s good. If she wants to do it at home (my home), I’ll help her the best that I can of course. At that time I’ll have to take some time off and take care of her of course, otherwise how else can you do it. (Old Woman #1) I didn’t have a choice back during my time. I want to give them (daughters-in-law) a choice so they can be happy, that way they can have a good month. If they want to go back to their mother’s for the month and I don’t let them, they’re not going to be happy. I want them to take care of themselves so if they’re not happy that’s not going to work, so they should have a choice of what they want. (Old Woman #17) Why should I help her (her daughter) with the month, her in-laws can help her. If she wants to come back I’ll help but it doesn’t really matter to me. If my daughter-in-law wants to go home to her mother’s to do the month, I’m not going to protest. (Old Woman #14) I don’t have anything to say if they want to do the month at their mother’s home. That would be best. I wouldn’t get angry. I’d be overjoyed. (Old Woman #19)

The majority of the older women stated that they would prefer their daughters and daughters-in-law to do the month wherever they wished. If the younger women desired them to help they would take time off and give them a proper month, if they wished to go elsewhere then that would be fine too. As one older woman put it clearly, “I didn‟t have a choice back during my time. I want to give them a choice so they can be happy…” 126

From speaking to these women, the most likely explanation seems to be that even older women are more careful in their interactions with their daughters and specifically daughters-in-law. Perhaps income, education, marriage patterns or residence patterns can provide a better explanation for these changes in the relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.

Sitting the Month and Income Income levels for this study were determined using official government outlines. In the 2007 Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics Executive Yuan report, distribution of the average personal disposable income per household in the country is outlined for every 20th percent, beginning with the lowest 20th percent and moving to the fifth 20th percent (the numbers given in the chart below represent Taiwanese dollars). The figures presented in Table 3 represent the numbers for the year of 2004 when this research took place. These income figures are the total annual disposable household income before any deductions (i.e. income tax and social security). For this study, income levels were determined by total family income and where they fell in the overall chart outlined would determine their income level. For this study, women were asked about their total family income, including their husband and their own income if applicable, and any other sources of income that contributed to the family finances. The researcher also asked around the community and many of the older women regarding the family‟s finances. Although women were asked about all their incomes sources, some income contributing sources (e.g. family land, rental properties, side businesses etc.) could and often were overlooked. Here, the 127

community of older women were tapped for their knowledge and often they provided information that produced a clearer picture of that family‟s economic situation. Other income sources besides the wage and salary could be from rents on property, land income as well as other side businesses which people often overlook and do not mention in their calculation of household income.

Table 3 Determination of Income Levels Executive Yuan Determination of Income

Average Annual Household Disposable Income Figures (in Taiwanese Yuan)

Average Annual Household Disposable Income Figures (In US$)6

Category Utilized for This Study

Lowest 20 Percent

297,305

9,910

Lower Income

Second 20 Percent

555,452

9 (5 OW, 4 YW)

18,515 Middle Income

Third 20 Percent

775,719

25,857

Fourth 20 Percent

1,035,972

34,532

Fifth 20 Percent

Number of Women who Fell into Each Category (N=39)

1,791,796

59,727

Upper Middle Income Upper Income

21 (10 OW, 11YW)

7 (4 OW, 3 YW)

2 (2 YW)

(Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics Executive Yuan 2007:101)

6

As in other parts of the dissertation, monetary exchange is calculated at US1 to NT30, the average when this research took place.

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No family in this study combined the couple‟s income with those of the parents. Even for those families where the 2 generations lived together, money between the parents and the children were kept separate. There was no evidence that there was a joint corporate model as previously found by other researchers in the 1970s where the family income was pooled and controlled by the eldest male member of the family. Where women did the month had little to do with income. In examining Group YW, higher incomes enabled women to choose their sitting the month setting, but it did not always predict outcomes. Of the women who fit the upper income category, 100% of these women did the month at a center. For these women it was obviously a status symbol to be sitting the month at the center. As one woman put it, “I have the money, why wouldn‟t I sit the month here?” One woman‟s husband was also a physician and knew the physicians who owned the center where the woman was doing the month. The relationship here was not clarified, but obviously it was important enough to be mentioned during the interview. And although not explicitly stated, this relationship had something do with why the woman was doing the month at this particular center. If income is a factor, it would be expected that women in the lower incomes would not do the month at the center, the cost being so prohibitive. But 40% of lower income women were sitting the month at the center. It seems that even though it was difficult for the families to pay for the sitting the month care, they had decided the center was their best option. These women were not able to sit the month at home, there was no one to help with the month, everyone was busy with working or was in ill health, or they were unhappy with the home situation. Some of these women were borrowing money from their parents to do the month at the center. One woman moved to the center on her 129

own, ignoring all the protests of her in-laws and her own mother, digging into their family savings, because she felt that the center was where she could get the most rest. Of women in the lower income category, their ideal place to do the month was the sitting the month center; 60% chose the center as their ideal place to do the month, while 40% chose sitting the month at home with their natal mother as the ideal. Therefore, examining the data, it seems clear that income is not a meaningful factor when women are making the decision as to where to sit the month.

Sitting the Month and Education Education has certainly become more accessible to women in Taiwan. Compared to just 50 years ago, younger women are becoming increasingly more educated. Comparing the two groups of women and their education, there is a notable difference. Group OW were more likely to have received only a high school education while Group YW were more likely to have finished college. Of the women in Group OW, 21% went to elementary school, 32% to high school, 11% graduated from a vocational school and 37% went to college. For the women in Group YW, 10% went to only high school, 5% went to vocational school, and 85% graduated from college. There has been a significant increase of college graduates in the past 10-25 years. Women in Group YW were analyzed to see if increased education would increase the rate of idealized sitting the month situations. Women who had only a high school education should have been less likely to sit the month where they desired, but the data show 50% of these women realized their ideal, and 50% of them did not. Those who attended vocational school realized their ideal, but this could be due to a small sample 130

size in this category. The majority of the younger women in Group YW attended college and of this group, only 40% did the month where they wished. If increased education empowers women and increases their status, then these college educated women should have done the month where they wished, but this was clearly not the case. These women‟s ideal sitting the month would be at the center or to have their natal mothers help them, but their actual month was spent in direct conflict with their ideal. In conclusion, education does not seem to be a factor in women‟s decision-making for their month.

Sitting the Month and Marriage Patterns For this study, women were asked about their age at marriage, how they met their husbands, and how long they knew each other before they were married. The findings indicate a notable difference in marriage patterns between the two groups of women. Women in Group YW married at a later age compared to women in Group OW. A majority of the women in Group OW, 84%, married between the ages of 19-25, 11% married between ages 26-30 and only 5% married after the age of 31. In direct contrast, 5% of the women in Group YW married between the ages of 20-25, 30% married between 26-30, 55% married between 31-35 and 10% married between the ages of 36-40 (although these women are fairly older, they were still considered to be in Group YW since they were still in the childbearing stage of their lives). But interestingly enough, the number of women who give birth within one year after the marriage was similar between the groups in this study. The majority of women in Taiwan still give birth to their first child within the first one to two years of marriage, barring any fertility issues.

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Taiwan is different from America. Taiwan’s mother-in-law, if you can’t have a child, then that is very unhappy, and you have to have a son too. If you don’t have any, then you’ll be nagged every day. …Nowadays people don’t want to have children. If you don’t want to have children, then don’t get married. If you get married then you should have children, that is my way of thinking. Some mothers-in-law will start nagging after a year and no pregnancy. Some of those evil mothers-in-law will say why aren’t you laying any eggs (direct translation). (Old Woman #6)

An analysis of the study population showed no notable difference between age at marriage and sitting the month satisfaction. For women married between the ages of 1925, 56% realized their ideal sitting the month, while 44% did not. For women married between the ages of 26-30, 22% realized their ideal, 78% did not. Women married at age 31 or later, 57% realized their ideal sitting the month, while 43% did not. Looking at the data, there is no meaningful association between when women were married and how they sat the month. One of the most interesting finding is the difference between the two groups regarding whether they knew their future spouses before marriage. For the women in Group OW, only 37% of couples knew each other before marriage, while for the younger generation this number was 100%. For the women in Group YW, only 15% knew their spouse for less than one year before marriage, 60% knew them for 2-5 years, 15% knew each other for 6-10 years and 10% knew each other for over 11 years before they were married. The women in Group OW seem like a transitional group. Traditionally, all marriages in China were arranged between families, with the bride and bridegroom actually seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day if not their wedding 132

night. Some women in Group OW met their respective spouses before marriage, some of them chose their own partners. But the majority of marriages in Group OW were still made with the assistance of matchmakers, in direct contrast to women in Group YW. The older women were more likely to be in arranged marriages, while the younger women chose their partners on their own. Although the majority of older women‟s spouses were introduced by matchmakers and/or family members, none of the younger generation‟s spouses were introduced by matchmakers or family. Most of the women met their husbands in college, or in work related environments; 55% of the younger women knew their spouses naturally, they were not formally introduced to each other. The rest of the women met their spouses through their friends, 45%. Whether the marriages were based upon love or not was at times a fruitless question to ask of the women in Group YW. Women replied that of course their marriages were based upon love. The ideal for the current generation is to marry for love, so the answers from these women were automatic. Asking the older women this same question sometimes resulted in hilarious laughter. Some older women responded that originally the marriage was not based upon love, but affection for each other developed later on in the marriage. Other women stated that their marriage was originally not based upon love, they could barely look at each other without someone blushing, much less would there be thoughts of love. And even now they were not quite sure they liked their husbands, much less loved them. Older women were much more open in their responses about their marriage, and some had feelings of resignation, while still others were beyond any feelings but tolerance.

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Given that current marriages are more likely to be based upon mutual affection, the husbands should be much more likely to support their wife and her wishes than their mother. Therefore, the longer the couple knew one another before marriage, the firmer their affections for each other, and the more likely that the younger woman will sit the month where she wishes*. The data, indeed, support this hypothesis. Of the women in Group YW who knew their spouse for less than a year, only 25% of these women sat the month in their ideal location. For women who knew their husbands for 2-5 years, this number increases to 30%. For couples knowing each other for 6-10 years, the number increases dramatically to 80% and for those that knew each other for over 11 years, the number is 100% (the number is very small in this group and may not be statistically meaningful). It seems that the longer couples knew each other before marriage, the more likely that women sit the month in their ideal situation, whether this be the center or with their mother. How this occurs will be made clearer as case studies are examined later on in the chapter. Individual women‟s stories highlight spousal relationships and show how some women achieve their desired sitting the month situations.

Sitting the Month and Residence Patterns All women in the study were asked their current residence situations as well as their residence immediately after marriage. After marriage, 41% of the women lived in nuclear families, 51% lived with the husband‟s family (in-laws), 5% lived with the woman‟s family and 3% lived on their own (this woman lived on her own after marriage

*

Only Group YW was analyzed. Since the majority of women in Group OW did not know their husbands before marriage, analysis of this group would not be useful in this case.

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since her husband was in the military). Compared to their current residence patterns, there are some significant changes; 67% live in nuclear families and 33% live with their in-laws. The relationship between residence pattern and sitting the month was examined. For this purpose, two types of residences were compared; living with in-laws or living independently as a couple. The samples in other types of residences were too small to show any meaningful results. The analysis show a small increase in realization of ideal sitting the month situations as women live progressively further away from their in-laws (See Figure 4). For women who lived with their in-laws, 47.1% actualized their ideal while 52.9% did not. For women who lived alone, these numbers were slightly higher; 57.1% realized their ideal while 42.9% did not.

Figure 3 Residence Patterns and Realization of Ideal Sitting the Month (N=70 Births)

60.0% 50.0% 40.0%

47.1% N=33

57.1% N=40

30.0%

52.9% N=37 42.9% N=30

Yes No

20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Live with In-laws

Live Independently

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While the difference when examining the women as one group were small, Group YW also needs to be analyzed separately to see if there are more notable differences in that group. There may be a significant difference between the two groups since the patterns of residence differed between Group OW and Group YW. A majority of women in Group OW, 68%, lived with their in-laws after marriage. For Group YW, only 35% lived with their in-laws after marriage. Twenty-one percent of women in Group OW lived on their own after marriage compared to 60% of women in Group YW. The women in Group OW were more likely to do the month with their mothers-in-law since a majority lived with their mothers-in-law after marriage, and since there were no sitting the month centers for women in this group to serve as an alternative. Unlike the women in Group OW, the women of Group YW were not always bound to sitting the month with their mothers-in-law. The likelihood of sitting the month with the mother-in-law‟s help seem to increase with proximity to the mother-in-law. Of the women in Group YW who did the month with their mothers-in-law, 60% lived with the mother-in-law and 40% lived by themselves without any other relatives. But of the 40% who lived by themselves, they all lived within 15 minutes or less of their in-laws, in the same town or neighborhood. These women who lived with their mothers-in-law already had the support system in place. These women‟s mothers-in-law were already taking care of the household; cooking, and taking care of the children before the woman was sitting the month. The younger woman worked while the older woman took care of the home. Therefore, it was natural that the older woman would also take care of everything for the month; it merely 136

added the extra burden of cooking specific foods, everything else remained the same. And in many of these cases, the new mother would take care of the newborn herself. To have the mother-in-law already living in the household taking care of everything, but to sit the month with the woman‟s own mother would be an irrevocable insult that would damage relationships beyond repair. The mother-in-law would question what she did wrong, why the daughter-in-law was not satisfied and sought support elsewhere. Only one woman in Group YW lived with her mother-in-law but gave birth and sat the month with her mother. Her situation was a little different compared to the other women. Mrs. Min lives with her in-laws, and had two children born within two years. Her mother-in-law is also taking care of two children from her own daughter. They all live together, and the mother-in-law takes care of all three children and the household while Mrs. Min and her husband work. Her mother-in-law, the older Mrs. Min is more than happy to send off her daughter-in-law to her natal mother‟s for the month. She is already exhausted from the everyday work and household responsibilities. From various discussions, it seems the in-laws are more than ready for everyone to move out and live in their own respective homes. As Mrs. Min personally states:

Father-in-law and mother-in-law said if the kids are older take care of them yourself, take them back and live on your own. When you have time you can come over.

For Mrs. Min and her family, not doing the month with her mother-in-law was not considered an insult, but a relief. Therefore, Mrs. Min did the month with her own mother with her mother-in-law‟s full consent. Mrs. Min is also very close to her own

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family; they live within an hour of each other and see each other very often, once or twice a month at least. Twenty percent of the women in Group YW interviewed lived 1-3 or more hours away from their in-laws. Of these women, none of them did the month with their motherin-law. It was equally divided; 50% did the month with their mothers and 50% did the month in a center. Only one woman lived within 30 minutes to an hour from her mother, the rest (N=7) all lived within 30 minutes of their mothers in the same city. All of the women who lived more than one hour away from their in-laws but did the month at the center lived within 15 minutes from their mother. The data was further analyzed using only the Group YW sample and their individual births, totaling 30 childbirths. Each birth was analyzed individually since patterns of residence could have changed from one birth to another. Some interesting findings resulted from this analysis of residence patterns and realization of women‟s ideal sitting the month situations. (See Figure 4) For women who lived with their mothers-inlaw, only 22.2% sat the month where they desired. Women who lived apart from their mothers-in-law but within a 15 minute distance had more freedom, 40% of these women sat the month where they wished. Women who lived 15 minutes to 1 hour away, 41.7% sat the month in the manner they desired. And of women who lived 1-3 hours plus, 100% sat the month in their ideal manner. As the physical distance between daughter-inlaw and mother-in-law increases, so does the likelihood that the younger woman will do the month as she wishes (See Figure 4). The likelihood of doing the month with a mother-in-law dramatically increases as the woman live closer to their mother-in-law.

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The further the women lived away from their in-laws, the greater the probability of doing the month elsewhere. Figure 4 Residence Patterns and Realization of Ideal Sitting the Month, Group YW (N=30 Births) 100% N=4

100% 90%

89% N=8

80%

60% N=3

70% 60% 40% N=2

50%

58.3% N=7 41.7% N=5 Realized

40% 30% 20%

Not Realized

11% N=1 0% N=0

10% 0% Live with InLaws

Live Live Live Independently Independently Independently within 15 15 Minutes to 1-3 Hour Plus Minutes of In- 1 Hour of Infrom In-laws Laws Laws

Therefore, women who do the month with their mother-in-law do not do so because they desire to, they do so because they must. If the mother-in-law lives with the family and does not give consent, it will be very difficult for the daughter-in-law to make her own decisions for sitting the month. It becomes easier for the young women to attain her own preferences when she lives further away from her mother-in-law. This will be made much clearer in the case study examples later on in the chapter. Looking at women‟s individual stories reveals why distance between daughter-in-law and mother-in139

law plays a much more significant role in women‟s decision-making compared to other variables such as income and education. Distance between mother and daughter was not as important. Thirty-three percent of the younger women who lived within a 15 minute radius of their mother‟s family did the month in the desired manner. Of the women who lived within 30 minutes to an hour, 73% did so, and only 15% of the women who lived 1 to 3 hours or more away from their mother sat the month in the ideal fashion. None of the young women lived with their natal mothers. If mothers were a significant source of support in their daughter‟s decision-making regarding their month, then increased distance should decrease the number of women sitting the month in their ideal manner. This holds true for women who live far away from their mothers. But for women who live within an intermediate distance, mothers seem to have no significant role in younger women‟s decision-making for their month.

EXAMPLE CASE STUDIES Below are presented some sample case studies from the research. All the previous analysis presented quantitative analysis and yet there are important social relationships and family interactions that are often overlooked by examining mere numbers. Detailed outlines and in depth examination of the stories behind each woman can illuminate much more clearly the complexity of social interactions and the decisionmaking process women go through for their sitting the month. These personal stories and observed family interactions will provide a better portrait of the social dynamics involved in sitting the month in Taiwan and how sitting the month has changed between when 140

women in Group OW did their month compared to Group YW doing their month currently.

Case Study #1 Mrs. Hu is a 47 year old woman living in Pingtung county. She married when she was 23 years old and has three children. When she was first married, she lived with her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law. Currently she lives with her husband, children, and her mother-in-law. Her father-in-law is still alive, but the parental couple have become sworn enemies, refusing to talk to each other, so they live separately. There are some conflicts within the family, on which Mrs. Hu did elaborate. The father-in-law had a mistress who bore a son from that relationship. That son was later accepted into the family. He interacted with them and grew up with them, although he is closer in age to Mrs. Hu‟s children than to her husband. Due to some of these major family conflicts Mrs. Hu and her mother-in-law have become very close and have a very good relationship. Mrs. Hu‟s married family is very traditional. She sat the month for all of her three children, and her mother-in-law helped her with all three. Her mother-in-law cooked for her so that she ate something every 2-3 hours, and she also took care of all the children. Mrs. Hu did not bathe her children until they could sit on their own; her mother-in-law took care of everything. Mrs. Hu was very happy with her experience of sitting the month at home with her mother-in-law. Their relationship was closer than that of mother and daughter. People who saw them at the market thought they were mother and daughter and were 141

surprised to find out that they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The good relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law perhaps is not typical, but this case represents a very traditional sitting the month in Taiwan.

Case Study #2 Mrs. Wu is a 53 year old retired nurse living in Pingtung city. She currently lives with her husband, a doctor. Her three children are away at college, and her in-laws live on their own not far from her. When she was first married, she lived with her in-laws. Both Dr. and Mrs. Wu are highly educated individuals. Their income is higher than most families, both currently and when they were first married. Mrs. Wu‟s case was rather unusual. Due to her experiences as a nurse in the western medical field, she was uncertain about the entire traditional sitting the month process. She was told by everyone during her pregnancy that women should sit the month, and she was given a great amount of advice on how the month should be done. Her in-laws were very traditional, they planned on helping her do the month and made preparations for her. She ultimately did the month for all three of her children, to appease her parents-in-law, but it was in her own way.

I have done the month. For me I don’t think there is any difference in doing the month or not. I don’t think you definitely have to sit the month. Because back then I was a nurse, in the women’s department, so I learned a lot there. Kechia, Taiwanese, and indigenous aborigines, their physical body is all different. Everyone would talk to me about their sitting the month. Even in their hospital room I would encounter some of these superstitions and rules, so I thought about it for a while, why they would do this. I thought about it for a while, and I concluded that it was all 142

passed down from generation to generation, so I wasn’t ready to just accept it. So I found that the elderly, some of the old people, those who come to the clinic, a lot of the elderly, they have pains here or are uncomfortable there, and I have asked them didn’t you do the month? They all say they did, but they still have a lot of problems. So back then I thought it was pretty strange, they did a good month, so why are they having so many problems. So I felt that sitting the month isn’t that important. You have to sleep well and rest well.

The end result was that Mrs. Wu did the month, but she did the month her way. She ate fruits when she wanted, she took baths, she washed her hair, and she went out as she felt like. All of this horrified her in-laws, and they continually told her this was inappropriate. But she was able to continue because she had her husband‟s full support.

Because my husband was very supportive, he would always tell them(the parents) that I’m the doctor here, you’re not the doctor. She is my wife, I know what she needs to do. My husband was very supportive and approved of my decision, so there really wasn’t anything. So my husband was very firm and his parents couldn’t say anything. They did cook sesame oil chicken for me, but I would smell it all the way upstairs, and it was very oily and it was hot so I didn’t want to eat it. So my husband said it doesn’t matter, don’t eat it, just eat your fruits. But my mother-in-law and father-in-law said that those don’t have any nutrition, so don’t eat those things. But my husband said that she is getting more than enough nutrition so don’t worry about it. If she’s not getting enough, I can always give her an injection, so it was all my husband who helped me talk. That’s why I dare to go out so early. Seeing all those customs passed down for thousands of years, if it wasn’t for my husband helping me it would never have worked.

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The possibility of a woman sitting the month as she wished 20-30 years ago was very rare but obviously did occur as in this case. However, as Mrs. Wu‟s case clearly illustrates, it requires full support from the spouse, to the point of going against the parents‟ explicit wishes. In her case it was also supported by the fact that her husband was a trained physician with professional knowledge and authority regarding issues of health that the parents were unable to argue against. Without this shield from her husband, it would have been impossible for her to do the month as she wished, as she herself readily recognizes.

Case Study #3 Mrs. Chang is a 33 year old housewife, who lives in Pingtung city. She has been married for one year and this is her first child. Her husband is also 33 years old, and they knew each other for a while before they were married. Her husband works in construction. Both she and her husband are high school graduates. Their income is towards the lower end of the spectrum. Their extended families all live within an hour‟s distance from Pingtung City, but they have always lived independently as a couple since the beginning of their marriage. They have never lived with either of their parents. Mrs. Chang had originally planned on doing the month with her natal mother, and after she gave birth at An He Hospital in Pingtung City, she went home to her mother‟s home. Her mother lives closer to Pingtung City than to her in-laws, and Mrs. Chang convinced her husband that her mother‟s home would be the best place to do the month. She did not want to do her month at her in-law‟s home, and she persuaded her husband by using the circumstances of her in-laws housing as being inappropriate for someone 144

doing the month. Her in-laws live in a rural area, and the restrooms are located outside the house, similar to an old fashioned out house. The baths are taken below stairs while the living quarters are upstairs. She convinced her husband that this was an unacceptable environment in which to do the month. Doing the month women should not be climbing up and down the stairs, and not having a bathroom be easily accessible would make the month that much more difficult. The circumstances of the environment itself would negate all the benefits of sitting the month. She was able to convince her husband of this and so the decision was made to sit the month at her mother‟s home. The in-laws were not happy to hear that their daughter-in-law would sit the month at her mother‟s, but they understood the situation once her husband explained it to them. No more was said regarding this issue, although the in-laws were still unhappy regarding this issue and considered it a great loss of face. After the first couple of days of being at her mother‟s home, Mrs. Chang could no longer bear the situation at home and moved herself to the sitting the month center, against the wishes of both sets of parents. Both her mother and her mother-in-law were against the idea of sitting the month at the center because of the expense. They considered the cost too high, and they did not understand why it was necessary to spend the money to have strangers, even if they were professionals, do something that could be taken care of at home. Mrs. Chang‟s mother considered the sitting the month centers “shiao bao” or wasteful. It literally means to burn money, and this is how her mother sees the sitting the month centers, as throwing away good money. Her mother constantly asked her daughter when she would return home.

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Mrs. Chang did not consider the money spent to be wasteful, she felt that it was very necessary for her well being to sit the month at the center. She found that she could not rest well at home with her mother. Her mother still worked, and therefore her mother was unable to help with everything completely. The baby cried at night, and Mrs. Chang had no idea what to do being a first time mother. She was forced to get up at night to deal with the baby by herself. She was having a difficult time coping with the infant, and several times ended up crying along with the baby. She did not want to bother her mother at night since she also had to work the next day and she is getting older. Mrs. Chang was also having a difficult time coping with her mother. Her mother would berate her for certain things and constantly told her she should do this or not do that. She would say things such as “You‟re not the president-elect‟s daughter, you‟re not that special, you don‟t need this and that.” Mrs. Chang admitted that after childbirth, women are more prone to tears anyway, but all the comments she was receiving from her mother made her even more unhappy. She would cry and then become unhappy because she was crying and that just made her cry even more. She was already uncomfortable from childbirth and was in pain, and now with all this, it was adding to her mental anguish. Her mother would complain about changing the diaper, feeding the baby, dealing with the baby‟s crying, and so forth, and did not really help her daughter take care of the baby so the daughter could get some rest. Mrs. Chang‟s response was that “I spent all this energy on giving birth, and am in dreadful pain over the ordeal, and tired all over and instead of helping me with the baby and being helpful and encouraging, all I get are all these complaints and recriminations over things I have no control over.” So she decided that enough was enough and made 146

the decision to move into the center. But to respect her husband, she pulled him aside and told him everything about how the situation was unbearable and consulted with him about moving to the center. Mrs. Chang readily admits that this consultation with her husband was a courtesy, a way to show him respect and have him feel involved, but really, she was moving to the center irregardless of how he felt. Both sets of parents were not happy with the young couple‟s decision. They stated that the money spent was a complete waste, the money could be better spent elsewhere, the family could do a much better job taking care of her, and so on. Mrs. Chang however was unmoved, and the parents had little choice in the manner. Mrs. Chang‟s mother was unhappy and constantly asked her daughter when she would come home. But her mother could say nothing to her in-laws because her daughter had already told everyone that her mother was paying for the sitting the month center. This gave Mrs. Chang‟s mother face, and, therefore, her mother could say nothing to anyone. Mrs. Chang had told her in-laws that her mother was paying for her month and so her in-laws could say nothing either, except to speak the usual polite words about spending unnecessary money. The only one who seems to know exactly who is paying for the center seems to be Mrs. Chang and her mother. Even Mr. Chang seems to be somewhat in the dark. Mr. Chang upon hearing all the talk from the parents also was not fully convinced of the necessity of sitting the month at the center. Mrs. Chang therefore “straightened him out.” She told him that it was necessary, that she was not getting enough rest. She also told him that this time he would need to help her and to please have a talk with his family to take the pressure off her. She told her husband what to say to his family, but 147

her husband did not see the need to be so specific with his family, “It is none of their business anyway.” But she insisted that this was the right way and convinced him to support her in this decision. Mrs. Chang was able to manipulate the situation, say what is appropriate to appease all parties and sit the month in a manner that she deemed acceptable and best. She was not able to openly defy her in-laws wishes, but she was clearly manipulating various elements at her disposal to reach her goal. She forced her husband to support her and her decision, and to talk to his parents to appease them. And she used her mother as a tool to meet her own ends, in a manner that left her mother with no alternatives.

Case Study #4 Mrs. Chen is a 26 year old housewife with two children, living in Pingtung County. At the age of 20 years old she married her husband whom she met while working at a bookstore. She has a high school education, he finished elementary school, and they are on the lower end of the income scale. When they were married, her friends and family were very surprised. Her parents were against the marriage, especially her mother, knowing that the future husband‟s family was very traditional, almost backwards as she said. Her friends were also surprised since they seemed to have very little in common and were at different social and academic levels. Mr. and Mrs. Chen have always lived with her in-laws and moving out would require some machinations because they are so bound by tradition. But Mrs. Chen is desperate to live independently and is actively working on the issue.

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Her married family is very traditional partly because of the nature of their village life and partly because they are country folk and unwilling/do not see the necessity to change. Village rural life dictates that all the family live together under one roof, even if they have separate stoves and eat meals separately. Her husband is the middle of three sons, and there is no longer a joint family income or estate or inheritance. They make their own money, spend it their own way, eat separately, and have their own entrances to their parts of the house. The building in which they live has three levels. The first level is occupied by Mrs. Chen and her little family, along with her in-laws. The other sons and their families occupy the second and third floors of the same building. In essence, it is the same extended family living in separate apartments in one big building. Though the mother-in-law and father-in-law live on the first floor with Mrs. Chen and her family, they occupy separate part of the house. They both have their own kitchens and eat separately. But as Mrs. Chen said so clearly, her parents-in-law often do not knock but just come barging in, and it is very inconvenient. Her husband did not think much of it in the beginning, but now acknowledges how uncomfortable it is and is no longer against the idea of moving out. Unfortunately for her, it is unacceptable for the honor of the family that they move out and live independently, while living in the same village as the rest of the family. The family would lose face if this were to occur. Therefore, if she moves out of the family home, it will mean moving out of the village altogether and putting some distance between herself and the family, enough of a distance that the family does not lose face but not too far that they cannot visit often. For her sitting the month, Mrs. Chen wanted to come home to her mother‟s home. Her husband was opposed and insisted that he would do whatever needed to be done and 149

that she would not have to worry about anything. This being her second child and most likely the last (she was emphatic they had no plans to have any more), she said that she wanted to do the month at her mother‟s and do it for 40 days, the traditional period, since this would be her last child. Her husband said that he would do the month for her for 41 days. She was unable to convince him otherwise. He wanted his wife to sit the month at home, because to send her home to her mother‟s would mean loss of face to his family, and also because he wanted the children near him. So she had no choice. Her ideal place to do the month would be the sitting the month center, but her income would not allow for it, and it would never pass through her mother-in-law, who is very traditional and insisted her daughters-in-law sit the month at home. She therefore wanted to sit the month with her mother as being a more acceptable alternative, and would have found a way to make that happen, except that her husband insisted that he would help and do everything for her, better than her mother. She therefore had little choice in the manner. But her natal mother was very concerned for her daughter. She worried that her daughter would be unable to rest fully, and would not be able to eat properly all the foods a postpartum women should have. Mrs. Chen‟s mother also wanted to bring her daughter back home to do the month with her, especially with the last child, but could not go against the mother-in-law and the husband‟s wishes. She wanted to bring her daughter home for both of her postpartum and was unsuccessful in convincing her son-in-law both times. So she compromised and visited her daughter for a week after her daughter gave birth, and then visited her again for the last week of her daughter‟s month. These times were socially acceptable times for the natal mother to visit and would not cause the neighbors to be suspicious or cause the family to lose face. 150

Mrs. Chen, with a very traditional mother-in-law living in close proximity to her family, had very little choice, especially since her husband wanted her to stay home to sit the month. He was not supportive of her decision to sit the month elsewhere, and her circumstances gave her no other viable alternatives.

Case Study #5 Mrs. Lee is a 35 year old computer technician having her first child and living in Pingtung County. She and her husband knew each other from college; they were in the same department but it was 9-10 years after they came to know each other that they married. She and her husband are both college educated and have a comfortable income. She lives less than an hour away from her mother, while her in-laws are much further away in the middle part of the island, about 2-3 hours away. Her in-laws are very traditional. She and her husband have always lived independently since marriage. Mrs. Lee originally had plans to do the month at a sitting the month center, but her co-workers told her that the center was uncomfortable, and she herself was afraid of the cost, therefore she decided to do the month at her mother‟s. She was completely against the idea of sitting the month with her mother-in-law, even though her mother-inlaw continually asked her to sit the month with her. For Mrs. Lee sitting the month with her mother-in-law was not an acceptable option, not even for consideration.

The Minnan say the mother-in-law will help the daughterin-law and the baby, like my mother-in-law feels a little awkward, very embarrassed to do the month at my mother’s.

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Like my mother-in-law’s side is still very old fashioned, it was the same when we married, there were lots of traditions, and if you didn’t do it well they would be very unhappy. Like when she came to see that the baby was sleeping on her stomach, she was very unhappy. So you just have to let the baby sleep this way (on her back). She kept telling me that the baby has to sleep on the back, that way the face will be big, it is good to have this big flat face. So I said to myself, if I did the month over there, would I have to do this the entire month? Like I see my brother-inlaw’s children and they all have these very, very flat heads. My husband likes little faces, he doesn’t like big moon faces. He told me not to mind, I said that I am very afraid of going back after the full month, because after the full month we have to bring her the baby for her to see. And my mother-in-law told me the ears and face must be well taken care of. But I do let her (mother-in-law) have her way. When she comes I let her do it the way she wants. You have to wait 3 hours until she leaves, at most is it only one day. But I always tell her okay, okay, okay. My husband isn’t too bad, he cooperates very well, because our thinking is, because he will sometimes think that his mother’s thinking is very old and traditional, my husband isn’t too bad at all.

Mrs. Lee was able to sit the month with her mother because she lived far away from her mother-in-law. If she had lived even an hour closer to her, she would have had to sit the month with her mother-in-law. Mrs. Lee was scared of doing the month with her in-laws. Her mother-in-law wanted the baby to sleep on her back, so that the head would be flat, resulting in a big “moon-like” face. Her mother-in-law also wanted her daughter-in-law to pull on the baby‟s ears, because big ears are considered lucky. As Mrs. Lee states, all the nephews and nieces on her husband‟s side have big faces, and large ears because they were born close to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law insisted on these characteristics for the infants. Mrs. Lee was afraid that her daughter would also be like that, which is part of her reason why she did not want to sit the month close to her 152

mother-in-law. As it was, she had to control herself and let her mother-in-law do what she wanted (pull on the baby‟s ears, put the baby on her back) during the time when the mother-in-law came to visit. Her mother-in-law would come to visit her about once a week, bringing two male chickens and stay a couple of hours. During this time Mrs. Lee would hold herself back, keeping quiet, all smiles, letting the mother-in-law say and do what she wanted. When the mother-in-law left, she would then relax and go back to her own ways. Her in-laws did not like the idea of sitting the month at a center, and they did not like that their daughter-in-law was sitting the month with her own mother, but they were unable to change the situation because Mr. Lee wanted it this way. His excuse was that he wanted to see his wife and baby often, therefore, it would be better for them to be closer to him which meant his wife‟s family home. Doing the month in the couple‟s own home with the mother-in-law in to help was a possibility, but her husband convinced them that sitting the month this way, with Mrs. Lee‟s mother would be better. In this way not too many people would be inconvenienced, which would be the result if the motherin-law left her home to help Mr. and Mrs. Lee. The mother-in-law is the matriarch of a more traditional household and takes care of several of her sons‟ families. With her husband‟s support and distance from her in-laws, Mrs. Lee was able to sit the month comfortably. She only had to hold herself in check and bear with it for those three hours when her mother-in-law came to visit.

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SUMMARY From the data analysis we can conclude that women‟s status has less to do with education and income, and more to do with the strength of spousal relationships and the relationship and residence with the in-laws. If the spousal relationship is strong, and the husband is willing to support his wife at the expense of his parental relationship, then the woman has certain rights and decision-making ability within the family. Otherwise, the young women who just married in have no power at all, even when it comes to her own body. (One woman specifically commented that sitting the month was all for the benefit of the future generation, the baby, since making the mother healthy produces good nutritious breast milk for the infant. The care given has very little to do with the mother and everything to do with the baby, the continuing of the family lineage.) Women with strong spousal attachments and increased distance from their in-laws were able to sit the month in their ideal locations, whether it be sitting the month at the center or sitting the month at home with their mother. Regardless of whether the woman lives with her in-laws or not, the condition of her relationship with her mother-in-law is also important in determining her status within the family and society. Within a nuclear family setting she has the ability to make decisions regarding the family and herself that may be opposite of what her mother-inlaw wishes. When the family does not live together, it is much harder for the older generation to dictate to the younger generation. When the generations do not live together, the younger can decide on their own what they want to do, sometimes even lying to their parents as we saw in the case of Mrs. Hu who does not live with her in154

laws. Her mother-in-law is very traditional and wanted her to come to the paternal family‟s home to sit the month. Mrs. Hu was horrified at the mere mention of the idea and told the mother-in-law that her mother was paying for her to do the month at the sitting the month center, when in actuality she and her husband were paying for the center. Her mother-in-law upon hearing that the daughter-in-law‟s family was paying for the center, only commented that doing the month with family was much better, and that it was too expensive to do the month at the center. Beyond those polite words, she did not further push the young couple to return home. With the strength of spousal relationship, the young woman can openly contradict her elders and make her own decisions. With the distance of residence away from her inlaws, she can more easily make her own decisions without bringing conflict to family relationships. Although women‟s education, work and employment, and social status have improved, within the family structure the traditional age and gender hierarchies still persist, even if they are muted when compared to 15-20 years ago. Young people still have to listen and pay a certain amount of respect to their elders. Even if they choose not to follow their advice, it is unlikely for the young people to confront their parents publicly. The current societal structures makes it all the easier to seek outside services and support, but a fair amount of income is required to access these private services. Income itself is more likely to depend on education and employment. So these factors, education, employment, and income, do play a role, but a minor one. The most important factors in their decision-making are not so much income, education and employment, but rather their relationships with their husbands and with their mothers-in-law.

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CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION

This dissertation examines how women currently conduct their postpartum month in Taiwan, what factors influence women‟s achievement of their stated goals for their postpartum month, and what changes have occurred within the Chinese family, specifically in intergenerational relations between women. Are economic factors the primary impetus for these changes or can the dynamics of social relationships provide better insight into women‟s status? The conclusions from this study seem to point to social relationships and not economics. Variables of income, education, and employment seem to have little to do with women‟s satisfaction with their sitting the month. It is residence patterns and how far women live from their mothers-in-law that are more significant predictors of sitting the month satisfaction. Below is a summary of the significant findings of the analysis and a discussion as to possible explanations for these findings.

SITTING THE MONTH IN TAIWAN Women currently sitting the month in Taiwan have many options regarding their postpartum period. Unlike 10-15 years ago, women can choose to sit the month at home with support from others, with supplemental vitamins and dietary aids, or they may choose to have their entire month supervised by professional centers who specialize in postpartum care in the manner outlined in traditional Chinese medicine and popular

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literature. Many of these methods have become updated, and women follow these rules without conscious questioning as to the reasons. The practice of sitting the month, 坐月子, has become increasingly commercialized, becoming a big business in Taiwan. Many individuals interested in opening a center do so, with minimal investment in certain cases. Some businesses begin in a formal manner, employing professional herbalists and health professionals, while decorating the center in a manner similar to a hotel. Yet others begin their business in their home, and slowly expand their reputation and facilities from there. One such TCM sitting the month center studied had become a large business with eight rooms and three full time staff members. On research visits just two years prior, this center was being operated in the owner‟s home, where she could supervise the care of two postpartum women at a time. At that time she was the only employee, taking care of her own family, along with up to two postpartum women and their babies. One of the reasons why interviews at these centers were so hard to come by is because the owners are afraid of competition and fiercely guard their methods, “trade secrets”, and their resources (distributors from whom they received medicinal tonics and herbal prescriptions). Any one of their employees, once they make initial connections with other providers (i.e. herbalists, professional health professionals, or cooks) may choose to leave the company and open their own business. Many of these current existing businesses began in just such a manner. They were former employees of large companies, who had learned and made connections with various distributors and these connections then enabled them to open their own competing companies. Therefore, some

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of this contact information is closely guarded, and the owners may choose to limit direct contact with sources/suppliers to themselves exclusively. The reason why women sit the month in Taiwan so extensively could have to do with cultural identity. James Watson discussed specifically the Chinese cultural identity and states that an individual “…becomes Chinese by acting Chinese” (1991:373). Therefore, Taiwanese women can reaffirm their Chinese identity by practicing “Sitting the month”, a practice coincidentally that is not practiced by western women. Several women in this study made a point to mention this fact to the researcher. But it should be qualified here that this identity does not seem to be politically or nationally linked. Presidential election was to be held in March of 2004, therefore during the research period there was constant talk and discussion regarding the upcoming elections, and questioning of loyalties for Green (Democratic Progressive Party) or Blue (Kuomintang/Nationalist Party). It was a primary topic of conversation at any given time, morning to night. These discussions were admittedly more common among men than women, but women were also talking about the elections, and actively putting forth their opinions7. Pintgung County is famous for its support of the Democratic Party but there were many in Pingtung City that were disillusioned with President Chen‟s (leader of the Democratic Progressive Party) practices and questioned his ethics. Talk of elections, political parties and the national identity (the Democratic progressive Party advocates for an independent Taiwan, while the Nationalist Party takes a milder stand and advocates for one China) was constantly present both in everyday conversations, as

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These elections produced great furor amongst the Taiwanese population. There are stories of how one spouse asked the other spouse to get off the car while they were on the highway due to a disagreement; one spouse supported the Nationalist Party while the other supported the Democratic Progressive Party. Or how on the day of elections, one spouse locked the other spouse in the house to prevent them from voting.

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well as the media. But when the talk was regarding sitting the month, there was nothing about this being a Taiwanese practice versus mainland, or any such differentiation. Sitting the month was simply considered a Chinese practice, there did not seem to be any political or nationalistic sentiments attached. Women were clear to draw a difference between western women and Chinese women, but not between mainlanders and Taiwanese. Women sat the month because they were Chinese women, not because they were Taiwanese women. There was more emphasis attached to ethnic differences, between Minnan and Kechia than there were for political affiliations or national identities. This importance placed on sitting the month practice for women currently could be due to what Hobsbawm and Ranger call “The Invention of Tradition” (1983).

“The term „invented tradition‟… includes both „traditions‟ actually invented, constructed and formally instituted and those emerging in a less easily traceable manner within a brief and dateable period-a matter of a few years perhapsand establishing themselves with great rapidity…‟Invented tradition‟ is taken to mean a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past.” (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983:1)

The current manner of sitting the month in Taiwan seems to fit this “invented tradition.” Not in the sense that these women have invented something new, but the idea presently is that all Chinese women must, should and will do the month; the reason being that it is tradition and because Chinese women have always done so. But this may not be the actual case. Women in China and cross-culturally rest when they are able (Wen 1994, 159

comments by women in Taiwan). Rules and traditions are often neglected when their labors are required. Several older women both from mainland China and in Taiwan have mentioned how they were unable to sit the month properly because their labor was required; there was simply no time to rest. Or they were unable to sit the month properly because there was not enough food (eggs and chickens were hard to come by at certain periods). Therefore the resurgence of sitting the month practice along with the emphasis on the specific rules of behavior, and the necessity of such a practice in the first place, can be said to be “invented,” especially when considering that women in the past did not always sit the month, constrained by their work requirements, lack of resources, and simple economics Some women currently choose westernized clinics for their confinement, and Libbet Crandon‟s (1983) study may provide a possible explanation for this choice. Crandon‟s hypothesis in her study of mestizo youth in Bolivia was that “…multiple medical resource use is a medium by which each individual‟s identity in a context of radical social change is negotiated and defined.” (1983: 81) Her discussion centers around cultural identity in the midst of a modernization process where everything is in constant flux. The utilization of a particular health service gives meaning to an individual‟s identity, helping to define who they are in a changing context; a negotiation of an individual‟s cultural identity. This may be one of the key answers as to why Taiwanese women continue to practice lying-in and in particular why they choose a western biomedical setting (especially since all of the women in the upper income brackets chose to sit the month in a professional western hospital setting). By utilizing westernized centers for a traditional practice, they may be defining their identity in an 160

environment of social, political and economic change. As Croll (2000) states, “If it is via goods that individuals rethink themselves then young Asian female consumers have appropriated Western fashion, jewelry, cosmetics and other articles of attire and decoration in order to adopt or craft anew an identity which is gendered, feminine and modern. In the case of transitional economics, they have been encouraged by retailers to rehabilitate the feminine gender” (Croll 2000: 137). If these material goods can help identify an individual with certain characteristics and meanings, perhaps Taiwanese women are choosing to utilize the biomedical sitting the month centers to help redefine themselves towards a new identity. Sitting the month centers and TODS, as well as various supplements and books, all guarantee (both explicitly and implicitly) a return to pre-pregnancy weight and body following their methods. This increasing emphasis on the female sexual body, and the importance of a certain ideal beauty and physicality is found not only in Taiwan but also in mainland China. Gottschang (2006) in her study of infant feeding in mainland China found that women in hospitals were exposed to images of beautiful, slim, sexy women breastfeeding. Breastfeeding itself was pointed out as being advantageous for its weight reducing qualities; breastfeeding was a natural weight loss method. Women were also given pamphlets on postpartum exercises to help them return to their pre-pregnancy body and weight as soon as possible. The increasing emphasis on physical beauty for Chinese women cannot be discounted as a possible reason for the increasing popularity of sitting the month, especially given the recent entrance of Taiwanese sitting the month centers into mainland China and the resurgence of sitting the month practices in mainland China.

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Another possible explanation as to why women in Taiwan sit the month could be analogous to that described by Emily Martin in her book The Woman in the Body. Martin (2001) describes women who took cultural dictates that limit them and instead worked these rules to their advantage. Perhaps these changes in sitting the month, moving their postpartum from home to a commercialized center, are Chinese women‟s method of transforming what was traditionally used to confine them to something that is advantageous to them. As one woman stated, this period is the only time that Taiwanese women have to rest legitimately, therefore they need to take advantage of the time and fully rest themselves. Many women do utilize this argument as an excuse to their husbands when they explain why they are doing the month the way they are. Whether it be the extra financial burden of sitting the month at the center, or being able to sit the month with their natal mother, women use their health and their need for full rest as the primary reasons that they should be allowed to sit the month the way they desire. Given the printed materials‟ explanations and general cultural understanding that women in the first month postpartum are very weak, postpartum becomes an important time for women to rest and replenish so that their future health is guaranteed; women have a very good thousand year old built-in defense as to why they must sit the month in a certain way. Most husbands are unwilling to go against their wives and face the possibility of future recriminations later on. Women actively utilize and manipulate the cultural understanding and ideas of sitting the month to achieve their own desires.

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SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS VERSUS OTHER VARIABLES `The results of this study were surprising and at times conflicted with some of the existing literature. Variables such as income and education had little to do with women‟s satisfaction and decision-making in their day to day lives, but residence patterns were significant in the young women‟s power and authority over their own lives. Yet, it must be recognized that increased education, employment outside the family enterprise and wage income are the very factors that enable couples to live independently of their parents after marriage. Newly married couples would traditionally live with their parents, and in fact, some couples still do. The majority of couples in Taiwan live separately, and their ability to produce an income independent of their parents is one of the major factors that enable young people to no longer be dependent upon their family for various functions, many of which are being filled by the development of public and private institutions. As previously outlined, Gallin (1998) in her study of the relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law found those women who depended upon their children for support had little to no authority, especially if daughters-in-law worked outside the home. Older women who had and could control some type of economic resource could control their own lives and dictate what would happen to themselves, to their family, and to their family members as well. This control of economic resource certainly applies to women‟s sitting the month in Taiwan. A woman with no economic resources may have to depend wholly upon her family for the type of care she will receive postpartum with no alternative options. When women‟s economic contributions to their family increases, women have the ability to choose where to conduct their lying163

in. Brown et al. (1998) found that three issues were statistically significant in measuring the authority of older women over younger women‟s lives, two of these being rules of post-marital residence and the extent of younger women‟s contribution to subsistence. For this study, it seems that post-marital residence has a greater impact on women‟s autonomy than do economic variables. In this study, there were couples who lived with their parents, yet conducted their postpartum as they wished. This occurred if the husband was willing and able to stand with his wife against his parents, which occurred in most of these cases. The husband was able to actively disagree with his parents and impose the couple‟s wishes and their decisions on his parents, which would not have been possible in the traditional Chinese family. Cohen (1976) and Pasternak‟s (1972) ethnographies of Taiwan showed that the patriarch‟s authority in the family was very strong, almost absolute at times, with the younger generation unable to stand against their decisions. Margery Wolf‟s (1972) studies showed how intimacy between husband and wife was discouraged, especially by the mother-in-law, since increased intimacy in the conjugal relationship could decrease the husband‟s loyalty and commitment to his mother. The results of this dissertation clearly show that the conjugal relationship is now stronger than the parent-child relationship. Similar to Yan‟s (1997) findings of the “Triumph of Conjugality” in mainland China, the husband and wife relationship is over-riding the previous authority of the parent and child relationship. The longer their relationship before marriage and the longer the couple had been married strengthened these conjugal bonds that enabled the husband and wife pair to make their own decisions, disregarding the wishes of their elders. Hence, the conjugal relationship “triumphs” over the parent-child relationship. 164

Husbands not only explicitly over-ride parental wishes but most of the decisionmaking regarding the couple‟s finances and family are made by the husband and wife. Even for couples who live with their in-laws, decision-making in financial affairs are made by the husband and wife; the in-laws are seldom if ever consulted in these decisions. What is truly surprising is that even for couples who live with their mothersin-law, whose mothers-in-law are the primary care takers for their children and the household while the wife works, decisions regarding the family and children are not made with the mother-in-law. Husbands and wives are most likely to make the majority of these decisions even though the mothers-in-law are an active and necessary adult in the household. (Some in-laws who are the primary caretakers of the household in Taiwan are given a salary, although the payment is not called such. And therefore even though they are acknowledged as caretakers, they may not be considered a part of the “nuclear” family). Traditionally, status within the Chinese family was divided along gender and age hierarchies. Men had more status than women, and older individuals had more status than the younger. New daughters-in-law, just married in, had the lowest status within the family, lower than her husband and father-in-law following gender hierarchy, and lower than her mother-in-law following age hierarchy. Given this situation, daughters-in-law had very little authority in family decisions in the traditional Chinese family. But the findings in this study suggest that as suggested by Brown et al. (1998), residence patterns are a significant variable in affecting women‟s attainment of their desired ideals for sitting the month. Increased distance from the mother-in-law results in more freedom of choice for the younger woman. 165

This study found that women sitting the month currently seem to enjoy an increased autonomy if they are separated from their mothers-in-law. Living with their mothers-in-law translates to lesser freedom of choice and decreased chances of realizing their ideal, regardless of their income or education. This finding could be due to the nature of this relationship, between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law ingrained within the Chinese culture. In Taiwan gender divisions are still very strong. Household work, taking care of children and the elderly, cooking, and so forth is still considered to be women‟s work, and men seldom venture into this realm. Statistics in 2002 (data available closest to the research period) demonstrate that women are much more likely to do the cooking, grocery shopping, and child care when compared to men (Government Information Office 2008). Men are more likely to do housework when it involves tools and maintenance, or outside work. Women are still considered to be “inside” persons, and men “outside” persons. Given this gender dichotomy, sitting the month, along with pregnancy and childbirth would be considered more to be in the realm of the woman and not the man. Therefore, men are excluded from the sitting the month context. They have little say in what goes on during sitting the month, unless they are trained professionals, specializing in this area. One of the reasons why men have little say is because men are not sure what they should say or do; they know little about sitting the month except what they might have seen or heard from previous female relatives‟ or friends‟ experiences. Seldom do men actually read or research sitting the month like their wives. Their information comes secondhand and filtered at that. Another reason is because they are not sure of their 166

authority in these instances, since sitting the month is considered to be within the woman‟s realm, having little to do with men. They are uncertain if they should listen to their wives or to their mothers, and they themselves have little idea and opinion regarding the subject. Some of the husbands in this study were in this exact predicament. When their wives asked for particular situations for their sitting the month (i.e. wanting to sit the month at the center or at their natal mother‟s home), husbands were unsure of what their response should be. Some of them responded that well, his mother suggested this or that. It was the wife in many of these cases who convinced her husband of her choice and asked her husband to support her decision. The husband then supports his wife‟s decision. As some husbands state, they must live with their wives for the rest of their lives, not their mother. Although they present this decision as a joint one to the public world, including their respective mothers, in truth the wife is usually the one who lays out the plan and manipulates circumstances to reach her desired goal. With the son supporting his wife instead of his mother, the mother-in-law is unable to enforce her will or desire on her daughters-in-law even though she may have very strong objections to their decision. The dynamics of social relationships are certainly becoming more complex and rife with pitfalls. As a study by Wu in mainland China concludes,

“…family conflict is the major reason for suicide in the rural areas…Except for one man, all of the people in my sample committed suicide due to family conflicts, and there did not appear to be significant differences between women‟s and men‟s reasons for committing suicide. Women are more likely to commit suicide because they are often involved in more complex family conflicts.” (Wu 2005:9) 167

Perhaps suicide is an extreme example, but Wu‟s study only illustrates how complex relationships within the Chinese family can become, especially when it comes to motherin-law and daughter-in-law relations. In this study, it seems clear that women‟s status within the family has improved, but it has not become openly public; it is still constrained by many factors. Daughters-inlaw may have more authority due to their increased income earning power as suggested earlier by Gallin‟s (1998) study, but this authority is still very much constrained by cultural rules of social relationships, especially within the family. Younger women are free to make independent decisions and often do when it comes to their family and themselves. But mothers-in-law still wield a certain amount of influence. For the younger woman to openly go against her mother-in-law‟s wishes requires quite a bit of effort and can do irrevocable damage to mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relations if not done correctly, and also affect other relations within the family (mother and son relation or husband and wife relation for example); this can be akin to a slap in the face in some sense. Newly married daughters-in-law who are trying to find their place within their husband‟s families and coping with married life are ill prepared to take this step, which requires intimate and complex manipulations of relationships within the family. One woman summed up the situation of current young Chinese women very well:

There are certain things you can’t talk about at your mother’s home. Like if there are certain circumstances it is still your husband’s family that will make the decisions, like if your child is ill or something like that, your mother’s family can’t make those type of decisions. It is your husband’s family who can make those decisions. It is still the same today. In Taiwan’s current cultural 168

circumstances, you can’t still make your own decisions, otherwise you’ll have regrets later. You’ll destroy motherin-law and daughter-in-law relations otherwise. It will be like you don’t respect your elders, the older generation. If you have any questions and ask your mother-in-law, she’ll feel like you respect her. If she says you guys do what you want, then you can do what like.

Distance from the mother-in-law implies that circumstances can be more easily manipulated so that the daughter-in-law can achieve her own ends. But if the mother-inlaw is in residence this becomes harder to do. The husband in this case plays a pivotal role. He becomes the bridge between his wife and his mother; and usually only through his support can his wife achieve a certain degree of authority in making decisions within the family. His wife is unable to directly and publicly go against the wishes of his mother, but he is able to negotiate this road much easier without doing irreparable damage to his relationship with his parents. These situations usually work to increase the strength of the conjugal bond, since the husband and wife pair then becomes much closer and united against other family members. Both daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law are learning to negotiate this social relationship which no longer follows traditional rules; the realm of social and family relations and hierarchies has been transformed. This relationship between mothers-inlaw and daughters-in-law has changed considerably, no longer carrying the same power it once did just 15 years ago. Current mothers-in-law remember their years as a daughterin-law, where they had to be silent and obedient workers within the family, expressing no opinions, merely listening and obeying the elder‟s orders. They openly acknowledge that those days are gone and will probably never come again. These older women as mothersin-law no longer take it for granted that their opinions will carry any real weight with 169

their own children, much less their daughters-in-law. The daughters-in-law are still expected to listen to their elders, and to be respectful, but once the mother-in-law is out of sight, the daughters-in-law can do as they please. Each party is afraid of upsetting the social balance, doing or saying something that would cause irreparable damage to their relationship. Sitting the month can occur within this period of adjustment, during which the various parties negotiate and learn their new roles, making the situation even more fraught with difficulties and complexities. Sitting the month can be the first important situation after the marriage to test and strain these new relationships. How the woman sits the month, who makes the decisions, and how these decisions come about may ultimately set a precedent for social relations between mother-in-law and daughter-inlaw, between mother and son, between husband and wife. Sitting the month can be seen as a critical stage for the new daughter-in-law to establish herself and her place within this new family.

CONCLUSION The answer to the main question in this dissertation of whether young women‟s status within the Chinese family has increased in Taiwan is both yes and no. Young women‟s status has increased so that they are able to make their own decisions regarding their family, their bodies and their lives (independent of their parents and parents-inlaws), but this change in their autonomy and power is not absolute and varies depending on family circumstances. Women who live with or close to their in-laws are still bound to their in-law‟s wishes. The findings of this study do not attribute this increased women‟s autonomy to changes in income or education. Couples work and control their 170

own income; some couples give money to their parents as acknowledgement of their work and contribution to the family, which in itself is a reversal of traditional Chinese family roles where the parents gave money to the children for their work and contribution to the family economy/enterprise. The important variable for consideration is social relationships; it has to do with the Chinese face or reputation. Young newly married couples are ill prepared to openly and publicly confront their parents. Everyone is likely to be more covert and careful with their actions. The Chinese understanding of face is still an important element to consider in social relations; an action that results in the loss of face would do irreparable damage to these social relations. Although parents state that the young people are no longer concerned about the “face” of their parents, this is not the case. As this research illustrates on more than one occasion, young daughters-in-law are careful to manipulate circumstances so that their inlaws‟ public “face” is not lost, even if doing so is more difficult and makes matters more complex.

FUTURE STUDY One basic element of sitting the month needs to be explored more in depth. This is the fact that more women sit the month now compared to just 15-30 years ago. More women are satisfied with how they sat their month, and more women currently have the opportunity to sit the month. This was not always the case historically. Looking at women 15-30 years ago, and further back in time, more women were dissatisfied with their month and some did not sit the month at all. One woman who was not included in this research since she is over 90 years old was married to her husband through a 171

matchmaker, sight unseen. She was considered the beauty of her small village and since he had very respectable employment at a photographer‟s studio in the city, with future plans to take over the studio, they were married. For her month, she was very frank:

We hardly had the time to finish our work, I didn’t have time to rest. And they say you should have sesame oil chicken, we were lucky if we had eggs and vegetables to eat with our rice, we couldn’t hope to have chicken

This is the situation in which many women found themselves. At different periods in history, circumstances beyond the control of individuals, i.e. scarce resources, prevent women from sitting the month properly. One woman who sat the month during the Cultural revolution in Beijing, told of how her mother-in-law scraped together 30 eggs over a period of several weeks, traveling to the countryside to buy eggs with cash, as well as buying ration coupons from others. Without support and resources, women are not able to sit the month or even rest, much less follow all the dietary prescriptions. It is only when circumstances allow (i.e. the woman‟s labor can be spared with no ill consequences to the family, and the family has the resources to provide the prescribed foods, medicines and support), that women sit the month with all its myriad dietary requirements and behavioral proscriptions. Even in Taiwan itself, women did not sit the month if their labor was required in the fields (Wen 1994, comments by women in Taiwan). They may rest for several days after giving birth, but then they would go back to work because their labor was necessary. The younger generation in mainland China seems to know less about sitting the month compared to their cohort from Taiwan. When talking to Chinese women from the 172

mainland, they were unfamiliar with all the rules and regulations regarding sitting the month. Most of the Chinese women in the US had parents come and help them after giving birth, but this help was geared more towards taking care of the newborn and helping mothers with household tasks, so they could rest and recuperate. (Many of these individuals were singletons, and they were not familiar with anything regarding childcare.) But this is slowly undergoing a change. The mainland has made tremendous economic gains, and with this increasing wealth, women are beginning to sit the month again on the mainland in a manner similar to that in Taiwan. Sitting the month centers similar to those found in Taiwan have opened in Shanghai. Some of these centers are operated by Taiwanese sitting the month companies, which have expanded their businesses into China. These same Taiwanese businesses have also expanded into the US, offering sitting the month centers and TODS in Los Angeles for example. What is interesting is that these centers not only offer services for health and beauty for postpartum women, they also offer something else to women from mainland China, a baby with legitimate US citizenship. A great majority of these sitting the month centers in the US do not collect revenue from offering their services to the local population, but rather their biggest profit comes from offering these services to women from the mainland and to a lesser extent women from Taiwan. Taiwanese women living in the US inquire into the services of these centers already having knowledge of sitting the month practices. Similar to women living in Taiwan, they utilize the center due to insufficient support at home, or due to other circumstances. Women from the mainland are not familiar with sitting the month centers, what services are offered, or why they should sit the month at the center. These 173

women contact the center because they are interested in giving birth in the US, to have a baby with US citizenship. They utilize the centers because they do not have a home here in the US to have their baby, much less a support network to help them postpartum. These women contact the center directly in order to give birth and go back to China with an American baby with all legitimate paperwork. For a fee, the centers provide pre and postpartum support, including the cost of the birth itself and postpartum care in their sitting the month center. For these women, the meaning of using sitting the month centers is very different from that of women in Taiwan. On a personal trip to mainland China in 2007, throughout the streets of Beijing were advertisements for 月嫂, yuesao; directly translated, this means a sister-in-law for the month. These advertisements were for a helper especially called upon for the month after postpartum to help out at the woman‟s home. Upon further questioning, I learned that there are bureaus, similar to those set up for child care helpers, set up for yuesao. A potential customer simply enters the bureau and tells them the circumstances, and they arrange a helper to come to the home. These yuesao are more expensive when compared to the child care helpers, but they are usually only hired for one month and would be responsible for cooking and childcare in the home. The current generation of women in Taiwan who participated in this study all did the month. Women are more likely to sit the month now than ever before. Most likely women currently have more economic stability and availability of resources which enable them to sit the month, but this needs further investigation to make clear what variables are responsible for this phenomenon. The findings here could also be due to a biased sample. The criteria set for the study guaranteed that all young women in this study 174

would do the month8. Future study may be required to select a random sample of young women to examine who does the month, is it true that every woman (except for illegitimate or other secret births) does the month, and if so what factors enable or deter these women. Another question to consider for future study is the meaning of sitting the month. For women in mainland China, in Taiwan, as well as Chinese women in the US, past and present, what does it mean to them to sit the month? How these meanings have changed or transformed along with other political and economic developments is a complex and interesting question to consider for future studies in this area.

8

It should be pointed out however that no women were rejected from the study because they did not do the month. Potential participants who were excluded from the study were rejected because of age criteria, or because they were at a different life stage, and not because they did not do the month.

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APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORMS Applied to pregnant women CONSENT FORM A “Sitting the month” in Taiwan: Women in Transition? You are being asked to be in a research study of “Sitting the month” in Taiwan. You were selected as a possible participant because you are pregnant. We ask that you read this form and ask any questions that you may have before agreeing to be in the study. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are conducting this study. Background Information The purpose of this study is to look at women‟s “Sitting the month” practices in Taiwan and the Chinese family. Procedures: If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following things: Meet with the co-investigator for interviews at a place of your choosing. These interviews may last from 1-2 hours at length and will be audiotaped. There will be a total of 2 interviews. The first will take place while you are pregnant, and the other will take place 2-3 weeks after you give birth. Risks and Benefits to Being in the Study: The study has no known risk. There are no known benefits in participating in this study. Confidentiality: The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report we might publish, we will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a participant. Research records will be kept in a locked file and only researchers will have access to the records. The tapes recordings used in this study will only be accessible to the researchers and they will be destroyed when all the data have been analyzed. Voluntary nature of the Study: Your participation is voluntary, and your refusal to participate will not affect your current or future relations with the University or with Dr. Wu. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Any significant new findings that develop during the course of the research, which may related to your willingness to continue participation, will be provided to you. 176

Contacts and Questions: The researchers conducting this study are Dr. Charlotte Ikels and Shiuan Sanna Chen. You may ask any questions you have now. If you have any questions later, you may contact them at 733-7710. If you would like to talk to someone other than the researcher(s) about: (1) concerns regarding this study, (2) research participation rights, (3) research-related injuries, or (4) other human subjects issues, please contact Case Western Reserve University‟s Office of Research Adminstration at (216) 368-6925 or write: Case Western Reserve University Office of Research Administration Sears Library Building, 6th Floor 10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH, 44106-7230 You will be given a copy of this form to keep for your records. Statement of Consent: I have read the above information. I have received answers to the questions I have asked. I consent to participate in the study. I consent to have the interviews audiotaped.

Signature of Participant:_____________________________________Date:___________

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent:_________________________Date___________

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Applied to older women CONSENT FORM B “Sitting the month” in Taiwan: Women in Transition? You are being asked to be in a research study of “Sitting the month” in Taiwan. You were selected as a possible participant because a local member of the community recommended that we talk to you. We ask that you read this form and ask any questions that you may have before agreeing to be in the study. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are conducting this study. Background Information The purpose of this study is to look at women‟s “Sitting the month” practices in Taiwan and the Chinese family. Procedures: If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following things: Meet with the co-investigator for an interview at a place of your choosing. The interview may last from 1-2 hours at length and will be audiotaped. There will be a total of 1 interview. Risks and Benefits to Being in the Study: The study has no known risk. There are no known benefits in participating in this study. Confidentiality: The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report we might publish, we will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a participant. Research records will be kept in a locked file and only researchers will have access to the records. The tapes recordings used in this study will only be accessible to the researchers and they will be destroyed when all the data have been analyzed. Voluntary nature of the Study: Your participation is voluntary, and your refusal to participate will not affect your current or future relations with the University. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Any significant new findings that develop during the course of the research, which may relate to your willingness to continue participation, will be provided to you. Contacts and Questions:

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The researchers conducting this study are Dr. Charlotte Ikels and Shiuan Sanna Chen. You may ask any questions you have now. If you have any questions later, you may contact them at 733-7710. If you would like to talk to someone other than the researcher(s) about: (1) concerns regarding this study, (2) research participation rights, (3) research-related injuries, or (4) other human subjects issues, please contact Case Western Reserve University‟s Office of Research Administration at (216) 368-6925 or write: Case Western Reserve University Office of Research Administration Sears Library Building, 6th Floor 10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH, 44106-7230 You will be given a copy of this form to keep for your records. Statement of Consent: I have read the above information. I have received answers to the questions I have asked. I consent to participate in the study. I consent to have the interviews audiotaped.

Signature of Participant:____________________________________Date:____________

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent:_________________________Date___________

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調研許可表 (A) 在台灣坐月子：轉變中的婦女？ 您被邀請參與這個 “在台灣坐月子” 的調研課題。 您被選為參與者之一是因為您懷 孕了。 在同意參與這個調研過程之前我們請您細讀這個許可表，併提出您所有的 問題。 美國克利夫蘭市的 Case Western Reserve University 大學的科研人員正在進行這個課 題的研究。 背景信息 這個研究的目的是 調查台灣中國家庭中的婦女坐月子的現象。

程序 如果您同意參與這個調研， 我們請您做以下几件事情： 請您在您選擇的地點輿調研員會談。 面談可能會持續大約 1-2 小時。我們會在面 談時錄音。總共有兩個面談。 第一次在您懷孕時。第二次在您分娩 2-3 星期之後。 參與的風險和福利 參與這個研究沒有風險。 參與這個研究沒有福利。 保密性 這個調研的記錄不會對外公開。在發表的研究報告中，我們不會提供任何可能導致 確認身分的信息。調研中的錄音帶只有研究人員才有權使用。所有資料分析完備之 後將被銷毀。 調研的自願性

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您的參與是自願的。若您拒絕參與，您輿 Case Western Reserve University 大學和大 夫和醫院的關系現在和將來都不會受到影響。 如果您決定退出， 沒有任何的懲罰， 也不會失去應有的福利。 若在調過程有輿您有關的決定性的新發現需要您繼續自願地參與，我們會將此新發 現提供給您。 聯系和問題 這個研究的調研員包括 Charlotte Ikels 博士和陳萱女士。 您現在可以提出您所有的 問題。若您將來還有問題，您可以通過以下的地址輿她們聯系：733-7710 如果您希望輿調研員之外的人員交談有關 (1) 這個調研的顧慮， (2) 參與研究的權 利，(3) 輿研究有關的損傷， 或 (4)其它人類課題的問題，請輿 Case Western Reserve University 大學的研究管理辦公室聯系： 電話：01-216-368-6924 地址： Case Western Reserve University Office of Research Administration Sears Library Building, 6th Floor 10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH, 44106-7230 您將會被提供一份許可表的復印件留底。 同意聲明 我已讀過以上的信息。我提出的問題已被解答。我同意參與這個調研。我同意在面 談時錄音。

參與者簽字_____________________________

日期________________________

調研員簽字_____________________________

日期________________________

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調研許可表（B) 在台灣坐月子：轉變中的婦女？ 您被邀請參與這個 “在台灣坐月子” 的調研課題。 您被選為參與者之一是因為地方 社區的成員介紹了您。 在同意參與這個調研過程之前我們請您細讀這個許可表， 併提出您所有的問題。 美國克利夫蘭市的 Case Western Reserve University 大學的科研人員正在進行這個課 題的研究。 背景信息 這個研究的目的是 調查台灣中國家庭中的婦女坐月子的現象。

程序 如果您同意參與這個調研， 我們請您做以下几件事情： 請您在您選擇的地點輿調研員會談。 面談可能會持續大約 1-2 小時。我們會在面 談時錄音。總共有一個面談。 參與的風險和福利 參與這個研究沒有風險。 參與這個研究沒有福利。 保密性 這個調研的記錄不會對外公開。在發表的研究報告中，我們不會提供任何可能導致 確認身分的信息。調研中的錄音帶只有研究人員才有權使用。所有資料分析完備之 後將被銷毀。 調研的自願性

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您的參與是自願的。若您拒絕參與，您輿 Case Western Reserve University 大學的關 系現在和將來都不會受到影響。 如果您決定退出， 沒有任何的懲罰， 也不會失去 應有的福利。 若在調過程有輿您有關的決定性的新發現需要您繼續自願地參與，我們會將此新發 現提供給您。 聯系和問題 這個研究的調研員包括 Charlotte Ikels 博士和陳萱女士。 您現在可以提出您所有的 問題。若您將來還有問題，您可以通過以下的地址輿她們聯系：733-7710 如果您希望輿調研員之外的人員交談有關 (1) 這個調研的顧慮， (2) 參與研究的權 利，(3) 輿研究有關的損傷， 或 (4)其它人類課題的問題，請輿 Case Western Reserve University 大學的研究管理辦公室聯系： 電話：01-216-368-6925 地址： Case Western Reserve University Office of Research Administration Sears Library Building, 6th Floor 10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH, 44106-7230 您將會被提供一份許可表的復印件留底。 同意聲明 我已讀過以上的信息。我提出的問題已被解答。我同意參與這個調研。我同意在面 談時錄音。

參與者簽字_____________________________

日期________________________

調研員簽字_____________________________

日期________________________

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APPENDIX B Handout to be given to physicians to approach their patients “Sitting the Month in Taiwan” A graduate student, Miss Shiuan Chen from the US, is currently conducting a study on Taiwanese women‟s “Sitting the month.” She would like to contact you to discuss possible participation in the study. The study involves interviews with her, talking to her about your experience with “Sitting the month.” The study does not involve any medical procedures like exams or medications, she merely wants to ask you some questions. Participation or non-participation will not have any bearing on your present treatment and relationship with Dr. Wu. If you are interested, please call her at this number, 733-7710.

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APPENDIX C Oral script to be read in recruiting subjects for study

My research is exactly what was written on the handout given to you by your doctor. My interest is in studying “Sitting the month” in Taiwanese women. To do this, I would like to follow you from now until after you give birth. It would involve a couple of interviews, basically just talking to me about your experiences and I will also ask some questions about your family as a background. These interviews can take place wherever you feel comfortable. You may withdraw from the study any time you wish. All you have to do is call me and let me know. Whether you decide to participate or not, your doctor will not know. There will be no changes to your treatment regardless of your participation or not. And all your responses and your identity will be kept confidential, known only to me. Are you interested in participating?

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