16 February, 2018

"Get out of my uterus!"

I don’t usually do book reviews, but I’ve just finished reading We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union about her life. Actually, if I’m honest, she read it to me, as it was my latest audiobook. It is great hearing memoirs read by the people who have written them.

I didn’t know anything about her, other than she looked vaguely familiar, but I saw Trevor Noah interview her on The Daily Show, and looked for her book. I loved the book. I love her. She’s outspoken, funny, and brutally honest. She talks about racism/colourism in the US. And she talks about feminism. Or perhaps I should say, she talks about her life as seen through these lenses, with intelligence and insight.

So I was surprised – though I’m not sure why I was surprised – in one of the final chapters, for her to introduce fertility as a topic. She mentions the endless speculations about whether she’s pregnant because she was photographed wearing a jacket (when it was cold), and how difficult that made an appointment when she went for a non-gynaecological scan, being asked about five times whether she was sure she wasn’t pregnant. Then she talked about multiple miscarriages, about IVF, and about how hard it all is.

“Get out of my uterus!” she said angrily, wondering why people think they deserve to know all the details of her fertility or infertility.

I second that. Well, I would if I had one, but you know what I mean.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Mali; God, yes: why are people's reproductive lives seen as public property?? I see this in everyday life when the younger ones at work (who are still in the having-babies phase) are chatting about childcare, having their second, etc etc - they think nothing of speculating or asking outright about people's plans and reproductive abilities. So curious that it's seen as fair game in this way. Thanks for the heads up about this book: sounds good

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  2. It’s fitting that Different Shores has the first comment given her recent post about Lena Dunham’s hysterectomy. Every is fascinated by pregnancy, but unwilling to acknowledge that this is only 1 aspect of women’s health and frankly isn’t anyone’s business. Thankfully, more are openly talking about all the other aspects, including infertility and unacknowledged pain.

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  3. Ugh, I hate how the media think they can speculate about a female's bodily parts - especially the gynacological side of things. Yuk. Thanks for the heads up about the book though!

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  4. Always looking for a good book recommendation -- thanks! :)

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