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Hi everyone, and welcome back to Happy Hour. 欢迎回来酒馆. Hi, 安澜.

Hi, Lulu, hi, everyone.

So what are we gonna talk about today?

Well, there's a term that I keep seeing a lot on the internet.

Okay.

Tiktok, Instagram and parenting groups as well.

You are not a parent or someone who's into social media.

I know, but even I’ve keep seeing it everywhere.

All right

The idea of a crunchy mum.

Okay. Did you get some weird thoughts when you hear that?

Yeah. I kept thinking about granola (格兰诺拉麦片) or is it the sound that the mum makes?

What? did they sound crunchy?

Could be.

Yeah. Actually you're quite right to notice that trend. It is a trend. I know many people among our audience are parents themselves.

Yeah.

So I thought… Yeah, let's talk about this trend, crunchy moms. The origin, the reason, the pros and cons.

Okay.

Yeah. Well, of course, there's crunchy mom, there's crunchy parents. Let's specify that. First of all, 安澜 what does the word crunchy actually mean like in the general sense?

Well, crunchy just means like food really. So it's that sound you make when you bite into something hard, like a biscuit or a cookie or...

Or a celery stick.

Exactly. It’s that sound. That's a crunch.

那种脆响的那种声音, 你可以说,比如说一根芹菜或者像安澜说的cookies, that sound means the food is crunchy.

Yes.

So a crunchy mom, obviously doesn't mean that you bite into the mom and she is crunchy.

I hope not.

Yeah. And you're right to associate it with granola bar. Granola is like a..., how shall I describe it? It's kind of like a cereal breakfast bar, thingy.. with nuts and everything, so it's crunchy.

Yeah.

But in this sense, crunchy is a counterculture movement almost. It basically is used, well, back in probably a few decades ago. Crunchy was used to describe people who were into natural, holistic, you know, back to the earth lifestyles. Think organic food, environmentalism, distrust of big corporations. That sort of thing.

So a crunchy mum is basically that sort of 1960s, 1970s, hippie energy, but applied to parenting.

Well. Yes and no, because when you think of hippy, you probably think more music, art. But this idea has evolved. Today's crunchy mom is a parent who prioritizes natural, organic and holistic approaches to raising children. Now you might think that's still a bit vague, right?

Yeah.

So think about natural birth and extended breast feeding.

Okay.

Baby wearing. Do you know what baby wearing is?

Oh. That's kind of like you carrying the baby yourself, you're using like a sling or a wrap.

Yeah, exactly. You see a lot of celebrities doing that.

Yeah.

Instead of putting their kids in a stroller or in a baby car. Yeah. And using cloth diapers instead of the store-bought disposable ones.

Okay.

I think we're truly going back. I mean in China, I think in... , well, few decades ago, there were people using cloth diapers. 就是尿布, 而不是现在的这种外面卖的尿不湿.

Well, exactly. In the UK, I know that cloth nappies, we call them nappies is we don't call them diapers in the UK, are becoming more and more popular.

Yeah, but cloth diapers you have to wash.

Well, exactly.

That's a problem. And also you see a lot of TikTokers or Instagram moms they showcase their homemade baby food,

Okay.

Organic meals. Some of them even go so far as, completely avoid processed food or store-bought food. And also they prefer gentle discipline, so like no harsh words, no harsh punishments, no spanking. It's a little bit like hands-off parenting if you free range.

Yeah. I can see that, yeah.

They might even use things like essential oils, natural remedies. You know all these holistic things.

Yeah. And I have heard of another term, silky moms. And I did check that one up. Parents who prefer convenience, mainstream products, disposable everything. And they aren't afraid of formula or frozen nuggets.

So that's the other end of the spectrum, basically.

Yeah,

Yeah. I’ve heard that term less. But you do see articles like eight signs, you are a silky mom; eight signs, you are a crunchy mom.

Hmm?

That we love labeling people.

Well, precisely.

But I do want to say this clearly crunchy in itself is already a spectrum. No two crunchy moms or crunchy parents are the same, some of the things we just mentioned, for example, they might do cloth diapers but use formula.

Yeah.

Others might breast feed for years but still use disposable wipes and diapers. It's not an all or nothing label.

No. So we know about that granola connection.

But why is this term everywhere right now? Why are millions of parents on social media identifying themselves as “crunchy”.

Well, nowadays in the age of social media, the biggest reason for anything to trend, is social media algorithm.

Okay.

Tiktok, Instagram, they love this sort of new trend content and new aesthetics. And crunchy mom content is very aesthetic. We talked about this last time, aesthetic here doesn't mean 审美, it basically means a trend on social media.

But it also does look pretty, like all these ornate, beautiful handmade wooden toys, perfectly arranged, organic homemade baby meals, a mom in like a flowery dress, baby wearing in a sunlit forest. It’s aspirational, it’s calming.

Well, yeah. It's kind of like the cottagecore of parenting. It looks nice but I don't think that's really realistic.

Yeah. In fact, in the cons section, we're gonna talk about how this has been putting pressure on your everyday parents.

Yeah. Well, I guess the second reason would be post pandemic control. So after Covid, a lot of parents felt like they lost control of their family's health and safety. So making natural choices, organic food, nontoxic products, avoided certain medicines, felt like a way to almost take back control.

You know what? I get that, I think not just the post pandemic thing, also the world just feels more chaotic.

Oh, yeah.

Controlling what goes into a baby's body, feels like something you can do at least.

Yeah.

And of course, there's information access. So say few decades ago, if you wanted parenting advice, you asked your doctor, your mom or read a book. Now there are just gazillions of podcasts, blogs, vlogs, social media accounts, offering all these alternative advices and also aesthetically pleasing and aspirational. You can find a community for pretty much any parenting philosophy.

And that's the issue. More information is always good, but more misinformation is also possible.

I guess we'll talk about that later.

So here is the paradox. Mainstream parenting culture has its own pressures. You got to have the perfect nursery, the perfect schedule, the perfect milestone achievements. Now crunchy culture often frames itself as the alternative to all of that pressure. And it sounds so simple, just being natural. But then again...

It’s curated natural though.

Exactly. Now you have to make your own baby food and so your own diapers and grow your own organic vegetables.

And they have to be aesthetically pleasing. They have to, be arranged like an Instagrammable way. I would say that's a lot more pressure than just buying formula from the store.

Yeah. Raising a baby is already stressful enough.

Exactly, exactly. But then again, still millions of parents are drawn to this lifestyle.

排版长图：Jer.ry

文稿校对：梅薇薇 & Jenny

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