From: martinc@hatteras.cs.unc.edu (Charles R. Martin)
Newsgroups: soc.singles
Subject: Re: British men
Date: 15 Nov 92 23:31:50 GMT
	<dp7p9bk@lynx.unm.edu> <1992Oct30.223301.21342@panix.com>
	<25259@sybase.sybase.com> <MARTINC.92Nov2121051@grover.cs.unc.edu>
	<25748@sybase.sybase.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: UNC Department of Computer Science
In-reply-to: mysti@sybase.com's message of 11 Nov 92 23:45:56 GMT

In article <25748@sybase.sybase.com> mysti@sybase.com (Mysti) writes:

   In article <MARTINC.92Nov2121051@grover.cs.unc.edu> martinc@grover.cs.unc.edu (Charles R. Martin) writes:
   >
   >The questionable nature of the statistics themselves have been widely
   >reported. 

   I'm sorry if I've missed the postings here or articles in the media,
   perhaps you could condescend enough to give a reference or two?  Do you
   know the leading cause of injury for women in the US?  

See reviews of Faludi's book in the Wall Street Journal and the New
Republic, among others.  Sorry I can't give you a date reference, but I
can't afford the space to keep the things around.

   >   And in case you hadn't noticed, there is a bias toward prosecuting
   >   women for their part of pre-natal negative behaviors.  I heard on
   >   the news (can anbody confirm its accuracy?) that men's genetic
   >   material is also damaged after certain activities, yet there is no
   >   talk/action to hold them responsible for birth defects.....
   >
   >Nor have I recently heard of much activity in the way of prosecuting
   >women for their pre-conception activities.  By the way, do try to be a
   >little more careful here -- pre-natal refers to *post* conception, but
   >before birth.

   My understanding was that the successful prosecutions were against women
   who had engaged in "dangerous" activities while pregnant.  Can you
   quote which cases involve pre-conception prosecutions?  That's even
   more horrifying...

I was being too subtle: I don't know of *any* such.

   >However, I agree -- I have yet to hear of a single prosecution of a man
   >for taking drugs while he was pregnant.  Shameful.

   Ah, well, at least you amused yourself.  Or maybe you didn't know that
   men as well as women contribute genetic material in order to create a
   fetus.....

You can't have both, Mysti.  I am indeed aware that drugs can have a
genetic affect transmitted throguh changes in sperm; I'm not aware of
any prosecutions on that basis.  Nor am I aware of any prosecutions of
*women* on the basis of preconception activities affecting their
potential children.  Thus this seems completely equal.

I am aware of the rather more dramatic affects that taking drugs during
pregnancy can have on the developing foetus, and I'm aware of
prosecutions -- foolish ones -- on that basis.  (Have any of them stood
up in court?  I don't know.)  I am unaware of any mechanism by which the
father taking drugs during the mother's pregnancy can affect the
foetus's development; I am unaware of any prosecutions on the basis that
this occurred.

--
		Charles R. Martin/(Charlie)/martinc@cs.unc.edu
     Dept. of Computer Science/CB #3175 UNC-CH/Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3175
	    3611 University Dr #13M/Durham, NC 27707/(919) 419 1754
     "Oh God, please help me be civil in tongue, pure in thought, and able
      to resist the temptation to laugh uncontrollably.  Amen." -- Rob T
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