From: jsb16@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Jennifer S Broekman)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pern
Subject: Re: honorifics, MU*s, bronze/gold pairings
Date: 21 Dec 92 00:23:46 GMT
Reply-To: jsb16@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Jennifer S Broekman)
Organization: Columbia University

In article <724869966snz@keris.demon.co.uk> 
chris@keris.demon.co.uk (Chris Croughton) writes:
>Here's one theory, and I'm quite prepared to have to shot down if people
>can give me good arguments against:
>
>Given that there is no natural contraceptive on Pern, it seems likely
>that any sexually active female (and that includes all the dragonriders)
>will become pregnant frequently.  This means that female dragonriders
>will tend to be not able to fight thread a large proportion of the time
>(remember that going *between* is dangerous when pregnant).  During a
>Pass this is going to be unacceptable, so the ban was introduced.
>
>Arguments, please - if anyone can show that this is false I will welcome
>the input...

As far as I've been able to figure out, there's no evidence that going 
/Between/ is dangerous to the pregnant woman, though it may be damaging to
the fetus. I say *may* because there really isn't any way to know exactly
when conception occurs, unless the dragons themselves can tell instantaneously.
So women who conceived five hours ago might go /Between/ without knowing she
was pregnant and would, to all appearances, only have a bit of spotting if
it aborted. What is conceivable, though never mentioned, is that, if just going
/Between/ is what is dangerous to a fetus (we've had this debate before), 
any woman who Impressed a 'fighting' dragon would become effectively sterile.
Certainly after the Plague, effectively sterilizing women would have been
unthinkable and even before there would probably not be many women who would
be willing to be sterilized for an uncertain benefit.

Also, there were non-/Between/ methods of inducing abortion. They're implied
somewhere by mention of the Hold girls' reaction to the thought of aborting.
I don't remember the phrasing exactly. And certainly in _DragonsDawn_, any 
woman who Impressed and didn't want to risk the trauma of an abortion could 
have gotten her tubes tied.

Finally, given that it's not harmful to the women themselves, it would only be 
unacceptable if women are considered to be useless unless at least capable of 
reproduction. Only in a society in which gender roles are extremely thoroughly
entrenched (which certainly describes Pern in later years) would the sacrifice
of fertile years to fight a common menace be considered reprehensible and not
admirable.

Before arguments about the pain of an abortion get started, please remember 
that countless fertilized ova die for reasons which we don't understand without
the woman's knowing fertilization occurred. Many possible combinations of
chromosomes and conditions don't allow the ovum to implant. If going /Between/
is so incredibly inimical to a fetus that it can kill an implanted fetus, an
unimplanted fertilized ovum stands no chance at all.

Can you tell that I favor an alternate explanation for Kylara's abortions?;-)

-Doriana, rider of Green Tayefeth

   Only Boys Accepting Feminism Get Kissed Meaningfully  -- Geoff Marcy
The only unnatural sexual act is that which you cannot perform. - Alfred Kinsey
		jenneke is: jsb16@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu