Re: Franny not pregnant

Karen Chauss (chauss@rpi.edu)
Fri, 01 Aug 1997 17:44:36 -0400 

At 03:43 PM 8/1/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Okay so she WAS getting physically ill in the restaurant.  And she said
>she hadn't been herself lately.  But anyone who really gets WORKED UP
>over something can be made physically ill.  I get myself really worked
>up over things and make myself sick too.  If I can, obviously Franny
>can.  I thought that (the professor) saying Franny was pregnant was
>condescending; I thought (please forgive me here for what I am about to
>say) that a MAN come up with that idea.  As if a FEMALE couldn't come up
>with SEARCHING on their own.  As if only something AMISS (pregnancy in
>this case) could only bring it on in the life of a girl. I was
>affronted.  To say the least.  

Here's what amazon.com says to describe F&Z:

                     An insightful examination into the psychology of a
young woman
                     through the seemingly mundane events of her day to day
life.
                     On one hand, Franny is an independent-minded college girl
                     trying to distance herself from her family while
questioning her
                     purpose in the world. On the other, she's the youngest
of seven
                     children, all famous for brilliant performances on the
radio quiz
                     program "It's a Wise Child," with a brother Zooey who
continually
                     reminds her of how she "should" be. When Franny discovers
                     she's pregnant, her conflict heightens as she looks at
friends
                     who seem to have resigned themselves to lives as
housewives
                     and compares that to the life she'd always thought
she'd lead. 

The first time I read this (especially the last sentence) I couldn't
believe they were talking about the same story I know and love and have
read about 100 times. I have never believed the whole pregnancy thing and
still don't. I re-read F&Z earlier this summer to look for clues, but I
just didn't find anything that suggested pregnancy. Sexual activity, sure.
Pregnancy, no. Can anybody point to places where they really thought "Oh.
She's pregnant." as distinguished from "Oh, she's having sex with Lane."?

Perhaps this is a remnant of an era where birth control was not as readily
available and women having sex often meant women having babies. 

--Karen


Karen Chauss
chauss@rpi.edu
http://www.rpi.edu/~chausk/
http://secure.href.com/kchauss/