Pre-pregnant. A term that has been around for a while, but not commonly known. Basically it’s a term to describe a woman that is not yet pregnant. Because that’s all women can be, apparently: pregnant or about-to-be.
You might have thought that society had moved forward from the 1950s outlook in which women were only good for baby making, while men were free to do anything they chose. But sadly that old idea is still embedded in today’s society.
The Metro recently published an article stating that “British women are woefully unprepared for pregnancy because they’re so unhealthy”. The article goes on to say: “large numbers of young women smoke, drink too much alcohol, are overweight or obese, and consume inadequate amounts of fruits and vegetables”. Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph tells us that “women who are hoping to conceive should adopt a healthy diet years earlier”.
Essentially what is being said to us women is that we must look after ourselves and change our habits fast, not for ourselves, but for the lives that we have not yet chosen to make.
It’s not the facts that are annoying. As a nation we are getting unhealthier and this is likely to cause health problems. It’s the term “pre-pregnant” that’s the problem. It is a container for the idea that our bodies have yet to do what they are supposed to do.
Much like the abortion debate, our bodies are not seen as our own – as the property of (female) human beings with the free will to decide what to do with them. Instead, we are seen only as vessels for the next generation; we’re only here to carry on the human race. Therefore we can only be totally irresponsible if we even think about living life the way we want. How dare we drink too much? Do we not know that maybe someday a man might want to impregnate us and have us carry his child? We should always have our bodies in perfect condition in preparation for that….honour.
Of course we all want babies to be born healthy, and creating the ideal growing conditions for a baby seems ideal in itself. The problem is that attached to the aforementioned baby-growing conditions is an entire human being, aka women.
If women want to be healthy, it’s got to be for themselves, not so they’re “prepared for pregnancy”. And if we want to lose weight, it’s got to be because we have chosen to, not for the sake of a baby that isn’t there.
A woman’s right to choose extends to more than the question of abortion.
