Sunday, November 29, 2015

Sunday Story

I'm griping today. I read a book this week that is not erotic, and maybe more a literary type book than genre, but it could slip into romance. I don't think I'll give the title because I don't want to be an author-basher or completely negative about this book.

There's a female lead character who's 29 and one of the best midwives in the district with almost as much education as a doctor. Okay, so health worker, knowledgeable, expert in her field.

She's pregnant, won't name the father, and has hidden the pregnancy for as long as she can (30 weeks I think it was).

So far, I was doing okay.

But as the book progressed I started to lose it a bit and by the end I was really shaking my head.

Within an eight month period, she has unprotected sex with at least 3 men (2 of whom are sexually active - we know that for sure because it's discussed). The reason for this is that she has PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome) and can't fall pregnant...but I feel it's an author invention, to create uncertainty over the father's identity. Not only that, I feel the author has chosen poorly to do this.

Why isn't this health professional worried about having safe sex to be safe from any other risk factors, like sexually transmitted disease? We don't have safe sex just to stop pregnancy, not now days.

What really irks me is that she's a health professional and highly educated. She should know this. And 2 of the men are also health professionals - why don't they know it too?

To me that's a wrong premise. So wrong.

I know it's a work of fiction, but we're using a real profession, a real education system, and the story is showing that health professionals don't practice safe sex. That's wrong.

It's the wrong message to give to readers.

It's the wrong way to be showcasing health professionals.

I wouldn't be so riled up if these people weren't involved in occupations where they would be very well aware of the possible consequences of unsafe sex. The story relied heavily on showing how accomplished this girl was in her chosen field...yet her life showed the opposite.

Maybe I'm being overly picky because this safe sex thing is a topic I've wrestled with and have adopted (except when I forget and my crit partners notice!) - so maybe I'm a bit like a reformed smoker banging on about the risk factors of smoking. Usually I can glance over it - in this case, I just can't. It's just wrong premise for the chosen characters, in my opinion.

Does this premise bother you?


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