Xi’an woman begging for period products in viral video called ‘dramatic’ on Chinese social media

January 11, 2022

A video of a resident from the city of Xi’an, which has been on lockdown since Dec. 22, went viral as the city continues to suffer health issues and supply shortages.

Xi’an, home to about 13 million people, has been on strict lockdown after the government reported over 1,000 residents (well over 1,600 as of last week, according to CNN) tested positive for COVID-19 in December, reported the New York Times.

A now viral four-minute video features a woman who breaks down crying after reportedly asking a health worker for menstrual products, according to Sup China.

“I just want to know if my request for sanitary pads will ever be accommodated,” the woman says, according to SupChina’s translation.

The health worker tells her he is not permitted to leave the area and declines to help her.

“So what?” she asks. “Does that mean I have to bleed a river of blood?”

The woman goes on to describe a shortage of other adequate resources, including food and heat, saying she received no response to complaints she made over a COVID hotline.

The worker’s response elicits a sob from the woman, who suggests that she should at least be provided more toilet paper to make makeshift menstrual pads.

The video, which had 22,000 shares and 28,300 likes as of Monday, also received criticism from social media users (mostly men, according to Sup China) who called the woman “dramatic” and “self-centered”. In an article that has since been deleted, according to Taiwan News, Xi’an Writers Association Chair Wu Kejing also accused the woman of “acting like a princess.”

“It sounds like she wants the entire team of quarantine workers to revolve around her. Who does she think she is?” one Weibo user wrote.

Others blamed the woman for her “insufficient preparation” for the quarantine.

“I think she’s trying to stir up anti-government sentiment by posting this video,” another user wrote. “It’s entirely her fault for not keeping track of her menstruation cycle and not packing properly for the quarantine.”

The comments themselves have also now drawn criticism online from social media users insisting that Wu and other critics are not equipped to understand the situations women have been put in during the lockdown.

“I hope that in your next life, you get your period and suffer from cramps every day,” wrote one commenter, according to Taiwan News. “Remember, don’t be pretentious!”

From China with LOVE :*! (right)

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