United States of America — the No. 1 super power on planet Earth — are you really the best at everything?
Every time I hear people say: “We are Americans. That’s what we do!” or “But, you are in America!” I get upset. Just because you are Americans doesn’t mean other ethnicities must follow your way of doing things.
I once had two friends trying so hard to persuade me that taking ibuprofen is THE best solution for period pains.
However, according to Chinese medical theories — my father used to be a Chinese medical doctor before becoming a documentarian — when menstruating, women’s bodies are vulnerable because of blood insufficiency and womb sensitivity.
We tend to be extra careful on what we consume during a period, especially medicine, which is believed to cause side effects. Also, we get to skip physical education classes when on our periods; my friends thought that was insane, because sports are believed to help relieve the pain.
“We are American women, let nothing stop us!” is what they told me. Though it was not a pleasant conversation, it got me thinking: What made Americans so different?
The U.S. women’s rights movement dates back to the 19th century. For more than a hundred years, American women have been striving to be equal with men. That includes physical inferiorities such as menstrual cramps. But will such absolute equalization backfire on us?
The scientific and technological revolution in the U.S. bases medical theories and practice on scientific facts and research. Because of advertising, thanks to capitalism, people here are more inclined to believe that good medicine works for everything, with much less attention paid to prevention and maintenance.
In China, science and technology — including medication — are based on experience. Consider acupuncture: American scientists cannot find specific issues on the treated spots. However, pressing those spots or pricking them with needles can be very effective for treating diseases.
Chinese medical theories value healthy preservation as prevention for diseases, as well as natural herbs to strengthen the overall health system while treating the specific symptoms. The effects may come slower than American medicine, but patients are less likely to have side effects or catch the disease again.
Treating the disease after it happens is considered the least desirable in Chinese medical theories, because the body is already damaged.
So, you’ll see us cooking medicinal cuisine, practicing Tai chi in the park or walking after dinner in China.
I’m not trying to argue which one is better. Any theory or practice has its own limitations. I believe one may be more suitable for certain diseases and the other for different diseases. If we completely buy into only one, we may ignore other possibilities.
Americans deserve to be proud of many things. However, when their pride is too much, when a certain notion becomes the dominant voice in society and becomes inarguable because of the push of capitalism, then the tolerance for other sidestreams will be lowered. We all understand what would happen when a free marketplace of ideas becomes uniform.
Bingxin “Sophia” Huang is a master’s student in the E.W. Scripps School
of Journalism who is studying abroad at the University of Leipzig this semester. Let her know what you think at bh586611@ohiou.edu.
