A Dire Strait

In Taiwan, around 40% of mothers experience postpartum depression. Studies have shown that cultural factors play a crucial role: the tradition of postpartum confinement, the power structure in the family and our arbitrary interpretation of maternity.

A Dire Strait is based on the postpartum custom “Zuo-Yue-Zi.” Although it might be practiced differently in every family, it concretizes the arbitrary standard of a good mother in our culture. This film is a projection of my fear of this judgmental system as an Asian woman.

I have witnessed my mother, her mother, and all other mothers in my family spend their lives struggling. My mother can’t stop talking about how much she was pressured during pregnancy and after giving birth. She had to sneak food into her room, forbade from a fan or even an open window during the steamy summer. “I was having heatstroke and growing heat rash all over my body, although they think I would catch a cold as soon as I take off my sweater.” My mom now laughed about it.

Chinese mothers feel obligated to prioritize family over self-care while also doing it in a “right” way that pleases elders. In order to benefit the family, the fundamental unit in our collectivist belief, women are forced to lose their uniqueness and what they want in life. They not only step into the system but also trim themselves to fit into it. Eventually, mothers see it as an achievement and continue training the next generation to suffer the same way. Many younger mothers nowadays still bear such family pressure.

It took my mom, the most talented woman I know, 30 years to find out what she wanted to do with her life other than being a mother. She privileged me with a lot more freedom and choices than she had. A Dire Strait is my shout-out for her, as well as my first statement to break this chain.