Forever Pregnant

[silversliver]

Washington Post published an article today entitled Forever Pregnant - Guidelines: Treat Nearly All Women as Pre-PregnantWhy this raises my feminist hackles: Women already get asked every time we go to a doctor whether we are pregnant, have some chance of being pregnant, or plan to get pregnant soon. Usually there is also a question about use of

Comments

[coriolinus]

In terms of specific recommendations the article makes, I count six

[geekgirlsarah]

I think the biggest problem in the article for Silversliver and I, though I can't speak for her, is that it assumes that all women are destined at some point for pregnancy, and reinforces the idea that the role of women in society is to always be prepared to drop their lives and make babies.

[chaostheory635]

exactly! as a woman who likely couldn't even get pregnant if she wanted to (which she doesn't, ever, by the way) i'm terrified of things like this...if these guidelines were taken any further, there might be no women in my field. "oh, no, sweetie...you need to stay OUT of the lab. there are mutagens and teratogens there!"
/end rant

[silversliver]

*Thinks about what compounds she works with on a daily basis*
I'd be in the same boat. Today I used benzene for the first time in a while, and it brings an anecdote to mind. I don't have to tell you we've come a long way from when a woman chemist I met was in grad school, pregnant at the time, and a labmate refused to use benzene inside a fumehood right as the research was being published that it was a carcinogen. These days, I'd be escorted from the lab. Then again, my advisor is fond of saying, "Benzene's not so bad! I used to wash my hands in it."

[ex_wronghead997]

There's an interesting discussion of this issue going on over here.

I can't help but think that in a better world we'd all be able to safely assume that this was just poorly thought out...

[silversliver]

If only we lived in that better world! 'Cuz damn I could use some right now.

That is an interesting discussion there, though. Thanks for pointing it out.