Many cultures around the globe have superstitions. The Taiwanese have bucket loads of superstitions. I want to know just how far out some of these superstitions are that you’ve seen first hand. So how about it, superstitious or just plain crazy? I’ll start…
A friend of ours who is a Taiwanese children’s doctor said a woman brought her toddler in with all the usual symptoms of the flu. He prescribed medication and they left. A few days later she came back with a different kid who was sick. The doctor suggested a flu shot for the other kid who got better. The mother refused. He asked why and she said because a nurse in the hospital warned her that the flu shot will make your child homosexual.
That’s not even the worst I’ve heard. In my early teens I was dating a pretty middle eastern girl, can’t recall exactly which country she was from. About a year after we started dating her periods started flowing much worse than usual. After a while of it persisting like this, her parents flew her to a hometown doctor. This man, their “doctor” said, “Your periods are getting worse because you’re ready for pregnancy and haven’t become pregnant yet. If you do not become pregnant you will die.”
Of course, since he was a “doctor” her parents believed this and she got married soon after. The world really isn’t fair sometimes.
I don’t think this is a common superstition here. I’ve never heard of it and there are many just stupid ones passed down like air conditioning makes you sick. But I suppose that’s no more ridiculous than the huge number of anti vaxxers in the US saying it causes autism.
I’m ok with superstitions as most cultures have their own. Some may look odder to our own points of view. But medical ones I can’t stand. Especially life threatening ones like not getting vaccinated.
I’m curious if anyone else has ever heard of this? This can’t be a common thing can it? I’ve heard of some stupid ones…but where is this idea even common from. Superstitions as stupid and illogical as they be, at least usually have some sort of stupid reasoning, but why would anyone think that a flu shot makes you gay. I don’t see how the two connects in any way.
The color of your baby one seems pretty common. Like not drinking or eating pretty much anything dark such as coffee. But that one you can see the stupid reasoning. I just don’t see how flu shots make you gay. Is it because the needle is like symbolic like a penis penetrating you? I just don’t get it.
my ex gf’s mother was constantly visiting fortune tellers so i heard more nonsense than i can remember.
the best one i heard though was a friend in china, she visited a fortune teller and the guy told her she was very sick, the only cure was to have sex with him. brilliant!
What interests me is that even as Taiwanese become more educated their superstitious beliefs increase. Normally as societies become more developed/educated superstitions tend to fade away…but not here.
I know an Taiwan National University graduate who is a lawyer. She spends $40,000 per month on various activities related to superstition, such as a “master” who performs ceremonies to remove any bad spells affecting her. She has visited many, many temples across Taiwan to pray at them…and of course must lay under Matsu god as he passes over her… She checks her daily colors to see what to wear…and also checks what time on the day is best to leave the house.
I think this is not a Taiwanese cultural superstition.
homosexual could be replaced with several alternatives, such as autism, melancholy, asthma, atopic syndrome, cancer, etc. It’s a common superstition in the world.
One of the biggest superstitions i can think of is a homeopathy.
