Search icon

News

02nd Oct 2016

Japanese politicians have been wearing pregnancy bumps for a great reason

Rebecca Keane

They wanted to highlight how much work women do.

In Japan, it’s estimated women do up to five times more chores and jobs around the house compared to their male counterparts.

To spread awareness of how little work men do compared to women, three Japanese politicians took it upon themselves to wear pregnancy vests which weighed 16lb to work, while shopping and around the house.

According to indy100, the video was produced in keeping with a campaign by Kyushu Yamaguchi, called ‘Work Life Promotion’.

The men wore the heavy vest, which represented a foetus at seventh months of age, while doing their everyday routine including carrying the shopping home, taking public transportation, hanging the washing out and putting on their socks.

The video shows the struggles many women face while pregnant and has enlightened many men on the amount of work women do.

Speaking to The Japan Times, the governor of Yamaguchi, Tsugumasa Muraoka spoke of how the video made him realise how hard his wife had to work during her three pregnancies.

“I really didn’t understand…

“Now that I understand what my wife put up with for so many months, I’m full of gratitude.”