China: China had wanted a nine-month pregnant nurse engaged in coronavirus operations, to be looked at as a hero. However, the video which features the heavily pregnant nurse 'as doing her job' has invited ire and backlash from around the world.
One user has said that the woman, Zhao Yu, is being used as a "propoganda tool", reports the BBC. People are criticising the hospital for letting an at-risk person work in a highly contagious environment. However, that's not the entire story.
As the country battles with COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, it struggles to maintain a public face of being strong against this new coronavirus epidemic, which has killed 2,400 people and infected about 77,000.
So how does China do that? Videos are emerging on the internet through state-run media agencies, which attempt to portray the heroic nature of many female nurses in China; even weeping while getting their hair shaved to aid the efforts against the disease.
One video circulating on Twitter also shows a bald nurse making a motion of trying to tuck a lock of hair behind her, until she realises she cannot do that anymore.
Many users on Weibo -- China's version of Twitter -- are criticising the Chinese government for using such videos for propoganda.
An associate professor in sociology at Fudan University, Shen Yifei, said that earlier, several nurses had cut their hair short and were looking pleased in photos. However, people became angry when women had their heads shaved in front of camera in hospitals, reports the South China Morning Post.
Shen said the authorities had their own agenda, and could lead to pressure on others. Medical workers should be praised for their performance at work, not something related to their female features, she added.
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