Why Men Are Wearing ‘Pregnancy Vests’

One day, my husband came home from work and very seriously told me we needed to sit down a talk. I’d given birth to our son about a month before, so I was exceptionally sleep deprived and hormonal and obviously not thinking clearly because I started weeping. I thought Jay was going to tell me he couldn’t handle being married anymore. I mean, I was a pretty big wreck after our son was born both physically and emotionally, so the idea didn’t totally come from left field.

If there were a superhero award for husbands, my man would be the lifetime recipient because he’s that amazing. Jay took care of me through my entire pregnancy, and even after. He was right there by my side, doing all the dirty and unpleasant things that mostly people run from. He shaved my legs when my belly got so big that I couldn’t see my legs anymore, and he cleaned up after me when I became violently ill with morning sickness. He took over doing the laundry so that I wouldn’t have to climb the stairs and he’d rub my back and legs for hours. And if I even mentioned I was hungry, Jay would jump.

The amazing care continued after our son arrived and Jay juggled helping me heal from double major surgery and taking care of our newborn while working full time. And although he was exhausted, Jay never complained. He did (and still does) things with a happy heart and has been more hands on with our little boy than any father I’ve ever seen before.

So what did Jay want to talk about? He wanted to talk about how sad he was that the women at work told him they wished they had husbands like him and how they felt that their husband didn’t help out or care about things very much. Jay told me that he didn’t realize that a lot of guys don’t participate in their relationships and homes the way he does and that it really hurt his heart and he wanted to talk about how we need to make sure to raise our son to respect and love and care for his future wife and children.

Yes. His words made me fall in love with him even more.

For every Jay, there’s a man who doesn’t care and a woman who’s feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated. The problem has become so awful in Japan, where the average woman does more than quadruple the amount of housework that their husband does that there are actually three male politicians wearing “pregnancy” vests with the hope that doing so will nudge men into wanting to help out around the house.

The vests are 16 pounds and shaped to make the wearers feel and look seven months pregnant. And they men aren’t just wearing them for photos. They wear them while getting in and out of cars, bending over to pick things up, and even climbing stairs.

One man says that he had pain in his shoulders and back while another said he’s got a new appreciation for his wife and that he’s "full of gratitude."

[via Japan Times]