I'm just curious what the general opinion is about this. Should pregnant women get subsidized fare because of their "condition"? Or was the passenger right - that a pregnant woman should be treated just like everyone else, since pregnancy is a totally natural occurance?

Just wondering. =)

-- Atara (atara@raex.com), September 12, 2000

Answers

I wouldn't call pregnancy a disability, and I wouldn't think that it would qualify one for a disabled person's bus fare. And I fail to see what the woman taking offense at being labled as disabled -- even though you clearly did not intend to offend her -- has to do with the 'feminist brigade'. Sounds like the woman in question is assertive enough to make her own mind up about whether or not she's disabled; I doubt she stopped to think, 'What would Gloria Steinem do?'

Sorry, I know you didn't mean to offend the woman and you had only good intentions, but if I had a dollar for every time feminism got blamed (instead of credited) for a woman's assertiveness, I'd be a very rich feminist. It's okay to disagree with people, and you don't even have to be a feminist to do so!

And as for the religious right having brainwashed this woman...wha?? Is it that difficult to accept that she just doesn't consider herself disabled by mere virtue of being pregnant, and isn't necessarily under the influence of some evil political force?

-- Jackie Danicki (nein@freeuk.com), September 12, 2000.

Mostly, I'm amused that she was so offended that I gave her a discount. =)

In my mind, though, I do consider pregnancy a disability. The reason that she booked the rides in the first place was because she wasn't able to walk to the store anymore... Which fits our agency's definition of a disability.

...and I do consider myself a feminist, in the old sense of the word. Equal pay, equal rights, all that. (As opposed to Men are the root of all evil, etc.) Being an extremely opinionated and (reasonably) assertive woman myself, I've been called a feminazi enough times that it stopped stinging a long time ago.

After posting this entry, though, it occured to me that this might have less to do with how society views pregnancy and more with how it views a disability. Something to think about, anyway.

-- Atara (atara1@yahoo.com), September 12, 2000.

Pregnancy is not a disability.

I know pregnant woman who jog (slowly, but still) until the end of it.

And pregnancy is no reason for a reduced fare anyway.

-- Suzy (suzy@cyberbabies.com), September 14, 2000.

If she had to ask for the special bus that is usually used to pick up folks who are disabled or otherwise need special treatment, she shouldn't have gotten all snitty about you drawing the natural conclusion that she needed special treatment.

And in a way, pregnancy *is* a disability, albeit a temporary one. It's just that 'disability' has such a negative connotation that people don't want to think about it - but in reality, it simply means that you're not currently capable of operating 'normally', right?

-- Jenipurr (acatbyanyothername@pacbell.net), September 21, 2000.

After talking to my mother about this, I realized that I may have misrepresented what I meant.

Pregnancy in and of itself isn't a disability. However, it can contribute to problems and aggravate existing conditions that could be considered a disability. Yes?

-- Atara (atara1@yahoo.com), September 22, 2000.

Well, it depends on how desperately you're trying to justify your earlier comments...

-- Jackie Danicki (nein@freeuk.com), September 29, 2000.

Um, which earlier comments would that be?

-- Atara (atara1@yahoo.com), September 30, 2000.