Dying to give birth

If ever males wondered if they were born as the favoured gender, here is some real proof – as if any proof were needed. I’ve long lamented the gross

inequality of the genders.

Born male and you get the best of life.
Born female, and what better excuse is there for leaping off a high cliff somewhere.

As one of the blessed gender, I don’t really have much of an excuse for doing myself in, apart perhaps from the often gross unfairness of our society.

But then the fairer gender face that public peril, too.

Humorous writer

That wonderfully humorous writer, Bill Bryson has a new book out that I’m recommending even before reading it.

The section I refer to here comes from Delancey Place’s sample from Bill's The Body, published recently by Doubleday.

Compared to the female lot, however, freshly reminded by Delancey’s excerpt from Bill’s book, I shouldn’t feel so bitter about serving eight years thanks to a crooked prosecution.

It only stole all I possessed in addition to that great lump of life. No actual torture, though.

The worst affliction for the fairer gender, in my humble opinion and from what I have witnessed, is what goes on all around us. Childbirth.

I watched my son being born and I could scarcely believe that in such a modern age we accept as normal that a woman should suffer almost countless hours of agony.

 Is modern life to blame?

 I‘ve seen many animals of different breeds giving birth, and it seems just about distress-free for them. But for a human! Is it modern life that makes us so unsuitable for so-called natural birth?

 Bill Bryson’s very moving story suggests otherwise – that there is certainly nothing new in expecting the aspiring mother to suffer. …. Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at
http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/480-dying-to-give-birth