My comment is to show that doctors and hospitals say 'women can't be trusted to follow even simple directions', but when it's convenient for them it's so very different. At age 16, my son broke his neck. This was about seven years ago. He was not paralyzed but it was a bad break. They put him in a halo, which they screwed into his skull to stabilize his neck. After six days in the hospital, they discharged him home. He could not walk yet, feed himself, clean the halo wounds, dress himself, use the bathroom; in other words, totally helpless. I am a single parent with a job and three children, and they discharged my son to me and said good luck. His care was 24/7 and it was not easy by any means. He was on several medications, including heavy duty pain medication and needed 24/7 care. If it weren't for my daughter, who was 12 at the time, I would have lost my job. She cared for him and her little sister every day while I was a work and then I came home from work and took over. We did this for a long time until he had surgery four years later to finally fix the break. He can walk, but he will never do a job that is physical and he has to be careful. I managed to keep my job and my daughter, who had to drop out of school, got her GED when she turned 18. Hospitals discharge severely injured and very sick patients to their families all the time, usually to a female caregiver. But we can't handle a pregnancy test. Wow.
76
Thanks to Pagan Kennedy for a well-researched and well-written article--and for tracking down Margaret Crane to begin with and telling her important story. And thanks to Margaret Crane for her inventiveness and gutsy-ness. How great--appropriate-- that the prototype ended up at the Smithsonian.
22
As a young married couple in the 1970s I can vividly remember when we were trying to get pregnant my wife and I went to the pharmacy together to make sure that we had a pregnancy test available so that we would both know the results (of the previous night's activity?) It was great fun!
"Well! What color is it! Are you sure? Quick, do another one!" "Look at it again!"
"Well! What color is it! Are you sure? Quick, do another one!" "Look at it again!"
4
The premise of that question - can women be trusted ......- is troubling. It posits that for ALL women, their judgement with their own pregnancy test is doubtful. That premise is troubling, especially coming from another woman.
3
One or two incidents had occurred, of distraught patients, being told they had the dreaded Gay Cancer, going and committing suicide. In the early days, there was little meidical understandof wo got it or why. It mwas an indeterminate death sentences then. A result was the exact same fear multiplied by 1000. That gay men, known as flighty, foolish and frightened of their own shadows, would instantly jump off the nearest bridge if given the results of a positive test. Soon, the entire medical industry-backed up by numerous other "Gay and Counseling organizations, made it impossible for anyone to obtain a an AIDS/HIV test without seeing a psychiatrist who had to do fill out a form testifying to the effect that the individual was not a suicide risk-that they were not getting tested just so they could use a positive test to use as an excuse to end it all.
Over years since then, development of new successful treatments for AIDS/HIV, the entire so called "counselling industry" now denies that anyone was ever refused a medical test because they believed they were dealing with a group known then to be, like 60's women, less stable than straight males, it was considered part of the job.
So, just as 60's women were protected from their rash decisions, so too, were gay men or any person, asking to get the ancient, 1980's Western Spot aids test, were prevented from doing so. Many may, as a result have spread the disease more than if they had been given the test.
Over years since then, development of new successful treatments for AIDS/HIV, the entire so called "counselling industry" now denies that anyone was ever refused a medical test because they believed they were dealing with a group known then to be, like 60's women, less stable than straight males, it was considered part of the job.
So, just as 60's women were protected from their rash decisions, so too, were gay men or any person, asking to get the ancient, 1980's Western Spot aids test, were prevented from doing so. Many may, as a result have spread the disease more than if they had been given the test.
10
As someone who was twice pregnant while taking "the pill", this would have been a great benefit to me. Of course, it was unavailable, because (1) it was in some way harmful to the medical community, and (2) I could not be trusted to oversee my own health and welfare. Thanks, guys.
10
What a great article, thank you.
13
Ugh! As a doctor, I feel ashamed that my predecessors in medicine were so complicit in this back then. But there were strict state laws, and a physician had no choice in many matters of women's health.
You might not like her Politics, but a woman president will take women's rights even further toward equality. Forty years from now hopefully people will be saying "thank God for President Hillary Clinton. Can you remember how awful things were for women back in 2016".
You might not like her Politics, but a woman president will take women's rights even further toward equality. Forty years from now hopefully people will be saying "thank God for President Hillary Clinton. Can you remember how awful things were for women back in 2016".
54
The reason people did not have home pregnancy tests in 1970 is the same reason people did not have computers in their homes in 1970. The technology was not there. This article, although it is interesting, is mostly a smarmy oversimplification. Drug and Diagnostic companies are not sentimental softies, and as soon as the Companies thought that they could make a buck off of reliable home pregnancy testing, the test kits were out the door. Just like with personal computers, no tricky political lobbying, marketing, packaging, or advertising was required. The kits just need to be sufficently reliable to keep their customer’s happy and their lawyers at bay.
I think you missed the point, but perhaps that is the point. Men don't get it.
56
The ? mark behind this lead in, itself infuriates me. Even now when we are going to have the first woman President, our intelligence and capability is being questioned. Why is that? At what point will we have to stop proving ourselves? Margaret Crane, the brain behind this breakthrough test was totally overlooked, sent into oblivion by chauvinistic men ( her manager bosses )giving bizarre reasons not to put it on the market,all in the name of protecting women!! And this went on until men decided it was a very lucrative product but Ms Crane never got a dollar! And she lived in sin with Sturtevant happily for 41 years. She should be a great hero in, always to be remembered because it's women like her who started cracking the shatterproof glass ceiling. We have finally come to the present when we we will have our first woman President in our Country's history. But the fact that she has had to prove her worthiness, her capabilities, her superior intelligence, her tenacity, her grit, her padded résumé, her brilliance with 100% more effort required of a man shows we still have a long way to go. If Margaret Crane was a man would'nt she have won the Nobel Prize in Science? But No!! The fact is, she was a pioneer in shaping women's destiny all over the world. And she is a Winner without a need for a Prize. David v/s Goliath and David won. Unfortunately, David was Dorothy and the fairy tale ending did not happen.
16
The medical profession doesn't ever want to give up a cash cow. A doctor could charge for an appointment to tell a woman if she was pregnant or not. What a farce. Unfortunately little has changed with respect to a woman's health decision. Men make the laws belittling women's intelligence. She still has to ask a doctor for birth control pills. In many states cannot have an abortion before being inundated with so called facts and lies which are irrelevant. Men of course are free to make any health decision they want without interference by the state.
In the case of Margaret Crane, was forced by men to give up her rights to her invention because men have a compulsive need to take all the credit. What a shame she was denied the "glory" of advancing a test which has enlightened women all over the world about their impending pregnancy or not. Can anyone imagine if the home glucose monitor was not used because diabetics would have a fit if they saw their blood sugar out of the normal range. Pregnancy is a normal condition not a disease. Women have the right to know in the privacy of their own homes. Why is the US so backward that women are treated like children when it comes to health care. Luckily, we are on a path of less regulation of medical matters where customers are emboldened to take control of their health and be less dependent on unnecessary and expensive appointments with doctors they do not need.
In the case of Margaret Crane, was forced by men to give up her rights to her invention because men have a compulsive need to take all the credit. What a shame she was denied the "glory" of advancing a test which has enlightened women all over the world about their impending pregnancy or not. Can anyone imagine if the home glucose monitor was not used because diabetics would have a fit if they saw their blood sugar out of the normal range. Pregnancy is a normal condition not a disease. Women have the right to know in the privacy of their own homes. Why is the US so backward that women are treated like children when it comes to health care. Luckily, we are on a path of less regulation of medical matters where customers are emboldened to take control of their health and be less dependent on unnecessary and expensive appointments with doctors they do not need.
25
The reason Doctors wanted to examine women for pregnancy was not because they felt superior, or wanted control, but because pregnancy tests prior to 1960 were often done with lab animals like frogs and rabbits and these old time tests were notoriously unreliable and difficult to interpret. Findings from physical examination were needed to make a reliable pregnancy diagnosis. Even after the current UCG pregnancy test was developed in the late 1950s, it took several years to perfect and become widely available..
1
Ah yes, the poor dumb wimmins. Must protect them from autonomy at all costs. Thank you Ms. Crane for your brilliant end-run around lunkheaded, patronizing paternalism.
22
We need to do the same for birth control pills. No Rx needed, anyone can buy them (men and women) and neither government nor business having any involvement or decision making power.
19
Every young woman should read this. I am 66 and was shocked to be reminded that contraceptives were illegal in my lifetime. A million thanks to Ms. Crane for what she accomplished. The struggle for equality isn't over.
39
Contraception was not reliable until the introduction of the pill in the early 1960s. Ms Crain did not develop the chemistry behind the pill or the chemistry behind the modern UCG pregnancy test. The real credit should go to the scientists who did the work, not the lady who designed the packaging it was sold in.
4
Those were the days when pregnancy was a career death sentence. Knowing was only half of the problem. There was little that wasn't really dangerous to reverse the situation. Just like Texas, you know?
20
I would like to add my thanks to Ms. Crane for thumbing her nose at her boss for failing to invite her to the meeting and GOING ANYWAY. That has made all the difference. As another smart and bold woman, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich once said, well behaved women seldom make history. Thank you Ms. Crane for being a part of my history.
74
In an era when patients arrive at the hospital in the morning of surgery and are sent home the same day, to change wound dressings, empty drains, administer injections and medications, and monitor for pain, infection, and general health. it is past time that all persons are given more control over both their testing and their treatment.
Every two weeks after chemotherapy, I was given a syringe with neulasta to self administer the next day. Any woman undergoing fertility treatment is familiar with a series of daily self injections.
All these are done for reason of financial savings. To keep control of testing and meds such birth control for spurious and invented reasons is the ultimate hypocrisy.
Every two weeks after chemotherapy, I was given a syringe with neulasta to self administer the next day. Any woman undergoing fertility treatment is familiar with a series of daily self injections.
All these are done for reason of financial savings. To keep control of testing and meds such birth control for spurious and invented reasons is the ultimate hypocrisy.
56
As a woman in her mid-40’s I have used home pregnancy tests many times. I have used them to confirm with tears of relief that I was not pregnant. I’ve used them to learn that sadly I was not pregnant when I desperately wished to be. With tears of joy I have used them to find out that I was, indeed, pregnant after months of trying. It may seem odd, but those little plastic talismans are so precious, I kept the positive tests of both of my children and they reside in their baby boxes alongside sonogram pictures and locks of first-cut hair.
In each instance, I’m grateful that I could discover this most personal, intimate news in the privacy and comfort of my home. Thank you Margaret Crane, and thank you Pagan Kennedy for sharing her important story with so many of us who had no idea the origin of something we surely take for granted.
In each instance, I’m grateful that I could discover this most personal, intimate news in the privacy and comfort of my home. Thank you Margaret Crane, and thank you Pagan Kennedy for sharing her important story with so many of us who had no idea the origin of something we surely take for granted.
50
Can men be trusted to even open the bottle?
24
Thanks for your persistence Ms. Crane!
18
Sue them for that $1 and decades of interest. Just to make the point.
31
Although, I'm not a woman, and certainly don't have a say on how to control their bodies, I do extend my sincere appreciation for this incredible invention. These tests were extremely valuable when my wife and I were trying to conceive our son. We would buy boxes and boxes of HPTs only to be disappointed. My wife's smile after her test showed positive, after so much heartache, is one of the greatest moments of our life together. We are blessed with a beautiful little boy now and couldn't be happier. I am so thankful for those tests that encouraged us to keep trying, and finally confirmed our hopes. Truly an empowering invention for women in their right to choose and plan their lives.
40
The word that stands out to me is in the title of the article, and that is "trust." The title implies that women cannot be trusted, and that is the real problem throughout many discussions about women and their reproductive rights. They continue to be treated like children, who are unable to make thoughtful decisions. They must be monitored, and told what to do. Men insist that laws must be in place, otherwise women cannot be trusted to do what is right. Until women have total control over their own bodies, they will never be equal.
51
Perhaps too many years have gone by, but I think it would be nice to see a well qualified lawyer represent Ms. Crane and sue everyone involved in denying her rights of ownership and financial reward for the invention and development of the home pregnancy test. What I find most troubling is the phrase "Pharmaceutical companies were afraid of antagonizing doctors and aligning themselves with the “fast women” who desired a fast test." To those who offered that excuse the pregnancy test was a test of morality or promiscuousness. The objection and opposition by the United States Public Heath Service is also a moral objection, not a health issue. It's strange how many argued that denying the test was in the interest of protecting a woman. We still hear that argument today from conservatives who object to women's health care and abortion. Fifty years later and nothing has really changed.
32
I hope someone ("a well qualified lawyer") sees this article and gets this woman her due. I was so lucky to be born in 1968 and come of age when people didn't assume I was a hysterical simpleton. If Hillary's pending election (!) is bringing forth this swath of female related stories, making me feel as though I'm in my college women studies classes again, I'm looking forward to both the future, and past stories of women.
12
Readers, don't rage against the injustice born by Margaret Crane and countless other smart, enterprising women and the women their inventions benefit. Don't cry. Don't boo. Vote.
87
Changes in technology, rather than changes in attitudes were the major drivers behind home or consumer testing of all sorts. Pregnancy tests before the late 1950s were done with lab animals usually frogs, or rabbits. The technology required equipment and lab skills that were not suitable for home use. The UCG or urinary Chorionic Gondotropin pregnancy test became widely available in the early sixties. The test was simple to perform and required little equipment and it did not take very many years for test kits to become available for home use. It was the same with glucose monitoring. Glucose testing before 1960 required caustic chemicals, boiling water baths and specialized equipment. Test strips and easy use kits were developed and became widely available in the mid 1960s. There were no home computers in 1970, not because women were not trusted to use them without supervision by male professionals, but because the technology was not there. The same is true for home medical testing.
4
You delude yourself, Bill, but not the women who have seen their health care choices determined largely by men for decades.
It's an appropriate point that technological advances played a critical part in availability of home testing But if that were all there was to it, decisions about our own reproductive health wouldn't need to be the hard-won victories that they are. And, women wouldn't have to continually revisit the legislation that underscores our rights to individual self-determination.
There is an undeniable history of men finding it convenient to maintain a self-serving status quo by arguing - and acting - against gender equality on specious grounds of "morality". That high-handed, low-blow strategy is alive and well as I write this.
I give you the Roe v. Wade, protecting women's determination of the paths of their own lives since 1973.
It's an appropriate point that technological advances played a critical part in availability of home testing But if that were all there was to it, decisions about our own reproductive health wouldn't need to be the hard-won victories that they are. And, women wouldn't have to continually revisit the legislation that underscores our rights to individual self-determination.
There is an undeniable history of men finding it convenient to maintain a self-serving status quo by arguing - and acting - against gender equality on specious grounds of "morality". That high-handed, low-blow strategy is alive and well as I write this.
I give you the Roe v. Wade, protecting women's determination of the paths of their own lives since 1973.
19
Men have often been pigs but that does not change the fact that reliable birth control was not available until the early 1960s with the introduction of the pill, pregnancy tests were notoriously unreliable and done with frogs and rabbits until about the same time, and safe abortions were not available until after WWII when antibiotics, anesthetics, and surgical techniques improved enough to assure that women would survive the procedure. Roe v Wade did not made abortion safe, advances in medicine made abortion safe and the law a reflection of the scientific progress, not the cause of it.
1
HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin...not "gondotropin." It is true that lab techniques were not initially transferable to home testing use, but disparities between men and women and health care have existed and continue to... research for many medical non-gender specific disorders were and are performed on men and other examples: men have had access to condoms that were invented long before females were allowed to obtain artificial birth control...so expediting the use of home pregnancy tests was not just a lab or tech issue, it was a "control" issue by companies...there are many issues related to the control of women's health care unrelated to lab and tech reasons, that continue and have to be fought to resolve, for example, health insurance companies decided men deserved erectile dysfunction drugs to be covered before "The Pill" was covered for women, and penile implants are covered by many health insurances, yet women with alopecia after chemo for cancer have to fight some insurance companies to get wigs covered as a medical necessity for aesthetic use (most men can be bald without as much angst as women, and it is more socially acceptable, but if they couldn't and it wasn't, I am sure wigs would be a medical necessity and covered by insurance). It's not just about labs and tech.
7
Thanks for this article. It's so important for young women today to understand how lucky they are that they were born after all the hard work was done by the early feminists to change the image of women from perpetual children in need of constant supervision by men, into adults capable of making their own decisions. Young women today have the opportunity to do and be whatever they want, including president of the United States, but they must remember that not too many years ago, their choices would not have been possible.
31
So straight from "..They had me sign my rights away for $1, Ms. Crane told me. She never did get that dollar." to "Happily, her work on the application had required that she meet with Mr. Sturtevant." ERRRGGGHHH. Sure, what woman needs proper credit and financial remuneration for her ground breaking original idea when she can have a man.....
19
I wonder if the pharm companies that developed drugs for erectile dysfunction had any similar reservations about selling drugs to a gender that presumably "thinks with their genitalia"? Probably not.
35
what a great story I am glad it came out. this woman rocks!
16
Hats off to Margaret Crane. Better yet, a standing ovation.
21
The experiences related in the comments to this fascinating story remind us that pregnancy is firmly bound to a woman's ability to determine her own path in life. Being able to choose is essential to a woman's liberty--a word the far right likes to toss around, just not when it comes to women.
17
Ms. Crane's story is also a wonderful example of the need for true, comprehensive diversity in the workplace. Surely if the executives had been 50% women, the home test would have been approved and moved to market much faster, earning greater profits for the company. Not only will more diverse products and services be developed or improved when we fully integrate the workplace, but there will be an exponential increase in imagination and creativity at the very highest levels. Difference has value in and of itself.
22
When the Christian sentimentalists tell you every baby is a blessing, remember this article.
11
There's another side to this issue of the necessity for everyone, not just women, to take control of their own health care. I have a serious and potentially fatal medical condition which contraindicates some common drugs, which I have nevertheless been prescribed. Many doctors are so in thrall to Big Pharma or so rushed these days they don't bother to read their patients' charts, so I need to do my own research. I'm neither a non-compliant patient nor an alternative medicine fanatic, but I refuse to be the victim of a physician's carelessness.
19
Until well into the 1960s it was common for public libraries to have books on pregnancy locked up in the director's office, who was typically a male. Women had to go to him to ask permission to look at the pregnancy books.
This kind of paternalistic, condescending control of women was pervasive until the cultural revolution of the 60s, and vestiges of it still exist today (as we know with issues like the abortion debate). At Harvard the wives of faculty were not allowed to enter the front door of the Faculty Club, but rather had to come in separately from their husbands through a back door.
All of this sounds so bizarre that it's hard for us to understand what kind of world this was that our parents lived in, it sounds like the Middle Ages, something that occurred centuries ago. But this was only 50 years ago, I can't fathom how men could justify behavior like this!
This kind of paternalistic, condescending control of women was pervasive until the cultural revolution of the 60s, and vestiges of it still exist today (as we know with issues like the abortion debate). At Harvard the wives of faculty were not allowed to enter the front door of the Faculty Club, but rather had to come in separately from their husbands through a back door.
All of this sounds so bizarre that it's hard for us to understand what kind of world this was that our parents lived in, it sounds like the Middle Ages, something that occurred centuries ago. But this was only 50 years ago, I can't fathom how men could justify behavior like this!
34
Thank you, Ms. Crane.
7
Many of the worries about 'knowing the results' would be of concern if it were not for the social climate that exists when the results of a test were known.
The joy or heartbreak of knowing you were pregnant was assumed to be best handled in the presence of a doctor to congratulate or console the woman.
The knowledge that you have an STD or worse, at the time, life ending HIV infection, needed to be given only after a consultation with a special support person at a college related free disease testing clinic.
Were we so fragile back then (men and women) that the knowledge of what was a fact at the time of testing, would lead us to do harm or suicide?
If it weren't for the headlines and gossip and lack of candor in media reports rather than whipping up the fear factor, many of those episodes of high drama as were reported would have been met with the same decision making as we see now, saving all the hand wringing and drama.
Could it have been that the tenor of the times was to make such things as being pregnant seem worse than it was (especially if not married, not old enough, or with the wrong man? Who shaped those ideas and foisted them upon the public, rather than letting the taboos vanish from the church-controlled days prior?
I wonder how many pregnancy test kits are sold not to plan for an abortion if it is positive, but to celebrate the next part of one's life, being a parent because you've tried so hard? To be pregnant has been a wonderful goal for so many.
The joy or heartbreak of knowing you were pregnant was assumed to be best handled in the presence of a doctor to congratulate or console the woman.
The knowledge that you have an STD or worse, at the time, life ending HIV infection, needed to be given only after a consultation with a special support person at a college related free disease testing clinic.
Were we so fragile back then (men and women) that the knowledge of what was a fact at the time of testing, would lead us to do harm or suicide?
If it weren't for the headlines and gossip and lack of candor in media reports rather than whipping up the fear factor, many of those episodes of high drama as were reported would have been met with the same decision making as we see now, saving all the hand wringing and drama.
Could it have been that the tenor of the times was to make such things as being pregnant seem worse than it was (especially if not married, not old enough, or with the wrong man? Who shaped those ideas and foisted them upon the public, rather than letting the taboos vanish from the church-controlled days prior?
I wonder how many pregnancy test kits are sold not to plan for an abortion if it is positive, but to celebrate the next part of one's life, being a parent because you've tried so hard? To be pregnant has been a wonderful goal for so many.
6
I was shocked a few years ago when birth control access conflicts returned to the news cycle. Misogyny and patriarchal condescension is sadly still alive and well. Stay strong, sisters and male allies, and keep fighting back.
32
when I was in college in the mid 1960s, I had a menstrual problem that was treated with birth control pills. OMG, you'd think I was a fallen woman or that being on these pills would make me promiscuous. WRONG! I remained a virgin until marriage at the age of 26. In other words, give women credit for making their own decisions about their lives and their bodies. Getting the Pill in itself does not lead to promiscuity any more than an aspirin leads to headaches.
20
Oh, those hysterical women. They can't be trusted to do anything! They're just too emotional.
That's how millions of Americans - men and women alike - feel about a woman being president. Imagine, sexism might be Donald Trumps biggest ally in this election. God help us.
That's how millions of Americans - men and women alike - feel about a woman being president. Imagine, sexism might be Donald Trumps biggest ally in this election. God help us.
22
As much as openness, frankness and knowing about pregnancy is a scientific advance, much is lost in increasing control and trivialization of pregnancy through more scientific options. I know numerous couples who were unable to conceive naturally when they were "ready", so had to revert to artificial methods spawning test tube babies. A lack of spontaneity with all the potential good and soluble problems has resulted from science's power over reproduction, greater goods have been snuffed out in the name of autonomy, individual rights and career impediments. With these powers comprehensive ethical discussions should be held on the consequences. I don't see that happening.
2
I'd be interested in knowing what "greater goods have been snuffed out in the name of autonomy, individual rights and career impediments. " And what consequences would be discussed? I don't want to argue with you; I just want to understand what you are talking about.
2
Despite improvements over the last three decades, in 2016 teenage pregnancies in the USA are still the highest in the developed world.
Teen pregnancies continue to hold back African American, Mexican American and poor white communities more than almost any other issues.
When a thirteen-year-old girl, not a 'woman' but still a girl, gets pregnant to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy, not a 'man' but merely a boy, the matter does not then become solely a matter between the woman who is still only a girl and her doctor.
Who is going to have the day to day responsibility of raising this unplanned infant? Likely as not it will be the girl's mother, the infant's maternal grandmother. If there's a grandfather to pitch in then great, but in many poor white, African American and Mexican American households living in the projects, or in the sticks of the rural south, there is a perilous shortage of reliable men who stick around for long.
If it takes a village to raise a child, then the village should have some say in whether or not unplanned pregnancies are allowed to proceed to term.
Teen pregnancies continue to hold back African American, Mexican American and poor white communities more than almost any other issues.
When a thirteen-year-old girl, not a 'woman' but still a girl, gets pregnant to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy, not a 'man' but merely a boy, the matter does not then become solely a matter between the woman who is still only a girl and her doctor.
Who is going to have the day to day responsibility of raising this unplanned infant? Likely as not it will be the girl's mother, the infant's maternal grandmother. If there's a grandfather to pitch in then great, but in many poor white, African American and Mexican American households living in the projects, or in the sticks of the rural south, there is a perilous shortage of reliable men who stick around for long.
If it takes a village to raise a child, then the village should have some say in whether or not unplanned pregnancies are allowed to proceed to term.
12
Kudos to Ms Crane, valiant and persistent against evil forces trying to sideline her wonderful idea, and product. The one that laughs last laughs best!
5
The goal of keeping home tests off the market was all about income and power. Doctors wanted both and never wanted to give up either. Insisting on a Pap test to get birth control is nothing more than a tie-in sale, which is generally illegal for other products.
22
This article ought to be required reading for any woman who fiercely insists "I'm not a feminist!"
27
This, like everything else about pregnancy, is about power: men are terrified to lose the power over having children. All those arguments, and never about the real issue.
23
Now which lesson should I share with my daughter?
Lesson 1: men obstructed this woman and she prevailed against all the men who hate women and she was not paid her 1 dollar and she found out that one man stole her idea and she was anguished and an opera is being written about this with a Susan B. Anthony chorus.
Lesson 2: Life is difficult. The system will obstruct you. You must learn to prevail. If you are strong, you will.
Geez, the obstructions she faced were, what almost 50 years old. And Lesson #1 will accomplish nothing.
When will feminists grow up? The world has changed--and it was NEVER easy for men either. Unfortunately, men have not been trained to whine like this. Quick picking the scab.
Lesson 1: men obstructed this woman and she prevailed against all the men who hate women and she was not paid her 1 dollar and she found out that one man stole her idea and she was anguished and an opera is being written about this with a Susan B. Anthony chorus.
Lesson 2: Life is difficult. The system will obstruct you. You must learn to prevail. If you are strong, you will.
Geez, the obstructions she faced were, what almost 50 years old. And Lesson #1 will accomplish nothing.
When will feminists grow up? The world has changed--and it was NEVER easy for men either. Unfortunately, men have not been trained to whine like this. Quick picking the scab.
4
We'll "grow up" when men like you stop acting as though you have/had it just as bad as women. I have a few questions for you:
1. Has any boss ever commented on your "ample" breasts?
2. Has any boss ever threatened to fire you if you didn't have sex with them?
3. Has any woman assumed you were a prostitute and propositioned you in a hotel lobby where you stood with your parents?
4. Has any woman driver pulled up beside you while you were walking home to ask "how much?"
Seems to me you're the one that's whining - want some cheese with that?
1. Has any boss ever commented on your "ample" breasts?
2. Has any boss ever threatened to fire you if you didn't have sex with them?
3. Has any woman assumed you were a prostitute and propositioned you in a hotel lobby where you stood with your parents?
4. Has any woman driver pulled up beside you while you were walking home to ask "how much?"
Seems to me you're the one that's whining - want some cheese with that?
18
Why not both--aren't there good points for both options?
And no one ever said it was easy for men, but compared to what women had to (and still do) contend with, men had it a lot easier. especially white men. Probably like those execs who didn't like Ms Crane's idea, but had no issues with stealing it. And then not paying even the paltry dollar she was owed.
No whining, just the facts.
And no one ever said it was easy for men, but compared to what women had to (and still do) contend with, men had it a lot easier. especially white men. Probably like those execs who didn't like Ms Crane's idea, but had no issues with stealing it. And then not paying even the paltry dollar she was owed.
No whining, just the facts.
16
Sure...
And while I am at it, I will tell her she is a victim because 100 years ago, her ancestors were peasants. And all four of her grandparents were illiterate.
Instead, I will just tell her. Work hard, be strong. And don't whine about transgressions that are 50 years old and do not happen today (or if they did, they happen regardless of gender, sex, or race).
And while I am at it, I will tell her she is a victim because 100 years ago, her ancestors were peasants. And all four of her grandparents were illiterate.
Instead, I will just tell her. Work hard, be strong. And don't whine about transgressions that are 50 years old and do not happen today (or if they did, they happen regardless of gender, sex, or race).
How I wish that every young woman—15, 22, 32—would read this article. So much of what we take for granted as women was bitterly contested back in the '60s and '70s, and it is much too easy to forget the battles fought and the women who were on the front lines.
I'm glad that young women today are blithely unaware of what happened just a few short years ago, but we can't forget how hard it was to get these rights and just how easy it would be to lose them.
I'm glad that young women today are blithely unaware of what happened just a few short years ago, but we can't forget how hard it was to get these rights and just how easy it would be to lose them.
44
When I was moving to SE Asia, I had already spent quite a bit of time here. A doctor was running through all the possibilities of medications I might need, and should she write prescriptions for them? I told her not really necessary, just write down the generic names. I told her I'm obviously an adult. In a Thai pharmacy they'll ask me what it's for, double check that I'm correct, and sell them to me, with appropriate instructions for dosing, etc. Unless they truly believe I need to see a doctor. "Without a prescription?" she shrieked. I said yes. She said, "I don't like that." My answer? "I didn't think you would."
33
The details of this great story are by turns courageous and sad, forgiving and infuriating, and about service beyond corporate or personal benefit and human values at every step. It is easily instructive and transferrable to today's news, where women are treated and being held as sexual chattel in the work place and feel powerless to resist because of outside forces that sanction their submission and cast apersions and blame on them under the pretense they were the predators.
How can women, esp. young women support and vote for men who have a obvious disregard for women--their health, mental fitness, psychological welfare; their inner being. Without holding men accountable, the old excuses and put downs will remain and nothing will change.
The single issue of rape among the uniformed military services shows how deeply ingrained is the male network that protects men against their crimes. The imprisonment of a scared young Indiana woman who was given a 20 year sentence for feticide was just overturned last week. Trump has declared such cases should be prosecuted and women punished.
Women rights is not America's shining hour and the men of America have led the resistance and ignored the carnage.
How can women, esp. young women support and vote for men who have a obvious disregard for women--their health, mental fitness, psychological welfare; their inner being. Without holding men accountable, the old excuses and put downs will remain and nothing will change.
The single issue of rape among the uniformed military services shows how deeply ingrained is the male network that protects men against their crimes. The imprisonment of a scared young Indiana woman who was given a 20 year sentence for feticide was just overturned last week. Trump has declared such cases should be prosecuted and women punished.
Women rights is not America's shining hour and the men of America have led the resistance and ignored the carnage.
25
In 1967, not only did the vast majority women not have access to birth control of any kind, they were not allowed any information about how to prevent pregnancy.
It was not until 1972 that our Supreme Court ruled that women could not be denied access to birth control pills, after years of the Catholic Church fighting and lobbying against this ruling.
Tens of millions of women's lives were destroyed and yet fundamentalist religions still fight to deny women rights over their own bodies.
It was not until 1972 that our Supreme Court ruled that women could not be denied access to birth control pills, after years of the Catholic Church fighting and lobbying against this ruling.
Tens of millions of women's lives were destroyed and yet fundamentalist religions still fight to deny women rights over their own bodies.
28
Most notable is that men poo-pooed her main idea and efforts. Then they stole them.
43
Thank God or the Universe for Margaret Crane. She is a true pioneer in women's rights over their own bodies. I applaud and bow to you Ms. Crane.
Deirdra Purins
Deirdra Purins
16
I think that your best bet is always going to you doctor to make sure if a pregnancy is accurate. In this generation, pregnancy tests that you can buy at the drug store can be accurate as well. However, nothing beats going to your doctor and having them confirm the results. There are also lots of reasons why an at-home pregnancy test can be inaccurate as well. It can be that you took the test too early and etc. The doctor will see any sign of pregnancy right away,
1
Seems to me it all boils down to slut-shaming women. Pharmaceutical companies were afraid of "aligning themselves with the 'fast women' who desired the test. Birth control is maligned as letting women "get away with" premarital sex. Abortion, of course, is "avoiding responsibility" for the consequences of not being abstinent. Girls are denied the HPV vaccine by parents who worry it would promote promiscuity. Women and girls have to fight this stuff at every turn.
26
Betteridge's law of headlines states that "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." It's fun to see the difference between the presumptive answer and the real answer (when there is one).
2
Could Women Be
Trusted With Their
Own Pregnancy Tests?
An ignorant and thoughtless question if ever one was posed.
Trusted With Their
Own Pregnancy Tests?
An ignorant and thoughtless question if ever one was posed.
8
The first HIV tests were available earlier than 1996, before 1993 I think. I bought a couple of them. I had worked in the young men's health survey and collected blot tests for people in 1991 or 1992. The commercial tests were forced off the market, supposedly because of fears that the people tested might commit suicide if given bad news. But, in my opinion, the real objection was that physicians couldn't collect their fees if people could manage their own tests. It think pulling the commercial tests of of the drugstores contributed to the spread of HIV in the US.
8
In 1990, I was scheduled to have a tubal ligation right after the birth of my daughter, who was my third child, and a surprise. I arranged it at my last pre-natal appointment, and I remember the nurse felt the need to assure me as she handed me the consent forms, telling me that it was my decision, that I was lucky women no longer needed their husband's permission.
Jump to the delivery room a few weeks later, where my husband learned about the procedure when the nurse said he had to leave so they could prep me for surgery. He lost his mind and threatened the doctor, who then refused to perform the surgery. He said I should go home and discuss it and reschedule when my husband agreed, and I remember screaming "But it's MY decision, not his." I now have four children.
Jump to the delivery room a few weeks later, where my husband learned about the procedure when the nurse said he had to leave so they could prep me for surgery. He lost his mind and threatened the doctor, who then refused to perform the surgery. He said I should go home and discuss it and reschedule when my husband agreed, and I remember screaming "But it's MY decision, not his." I now have four children.
30
Oooh, how things change!
In 1980, I decided to have a tubal ligation after a pregnancy scare. (Up till then I had medical reasons to assume I was, to use the archaic term, 'barren'.) I naively visited the doctor who'd bought out the practice of my mother's OB-GYN, and explained autism ran in my family, and that I was sexually active and therefore didn't want to risk a pregnancy. (He had a flourishing fertility practice and a bulletin board full of baby pictures, which should have warned me away. But again, I was naïve.) Not only did he treat me like a whore, he did everything possible to try to talk me out of it - insisting on a hospital for what should be an outpatient procedure (jacking up the cost) etc. and even as I was going under the anesthesia, said 'you can still change your mind'. (Afterward I informed him that despite his obvious moral/ethical/religious aversion, he still performed the operation and took a few ... so, who's the whore here?) The assumption that women are somehow 'incomplete' without children, and that a woman who doesn't want one (whatever her reasons) is 'bad' or 'wrong', dies hard.
In 1980, I decided to have a tubal ligation after a pregnancy scare. (Up till then I had medical reasons to assume I was, to use the archaic term, 'barren'.) I naively visited the doctor who'd bought out the practice of my mother's OB-GYN, and explained autism ran in my family, and that I was sexually active and therefore didn't want to risk a pregnancy. (He had a flourishing fertility practice and a bulletin board full of baby pictures, which should have warned me away. But again, I was naïve.) Not only did he treat me like a whore, he did everything possible to try to talk me out of it - insisting on a hospital for what should be an outpatient procedure (jacking up the cost) etc. and even as I was going under the anesthesia, said 'you can still change your mind'. (Afterward I informed him that despite his obvious moral/ethical/religious aversion, he still performed the operation and took a few ... so, who's the whore here?) The assumption that women are somehow 'incomplete' without children, and that a woman who doesn't want one (whatever her reasons) is 'bad' or 'wrong', dies hard.
17
What's most interesting to me about stories like this is the men who pressed women to have sex, but then call the women names for having the sex the men so desperately wanted.
Young women who say they're not feminists need to understand women's issues and what it was like for women HRC's age and older.
Young women who say they're not feminists need to understand women's issues and what it was like for women HRC's age and older.
9
He never did agree. He said his brother told him that women turn into whores after they have their tubes tied. I guess he though fear of pregnancy would keep me 'honest.' He wouidn't get a vasectomy, either, even though it's an office procedure with minimal downtime at one-tenth the cost. I finally left 7 years ago.
9
Some of the biggest lies and mythologies about women have been created and perpetuated by man who were terrorized to find out that women can outsmart them. be more efficient, economical and far more ethical than they are in so many ways.
They were terrorized to find out that they were emperors with no clothes, that they were shallow and self-serving. The idea of them being protectors is a big sham. The only protector I know is the law. If it is applied without bias and prejudice in courts run by men.
What women had to overcome is so Herculean and so epic, parents who care for their girls should enshrine it in the Pantheon of gods like Prometheus and Sisyphus. It should be taught and remembered, like we do the sacred texts which have lost some of their validity and luster. In fact some of them have contributed to the perpetration of man's entitlement as a supreme being. Time to get down from their pedestals if they want to actually secure the survival of our species.
They were terrorized to find out that they were emperors with no clothes, that they were shallow and self-serving. The idea of them being protectors is a big sham. The only protector I know is the law. If it is applied without bias and prejudice in courts run by men.
What women had to overcome is so Herculean and so epic, parents who care for their girls should enshrine it in the Pantheon of gods like Prometheus and Sisyphus. It should be taught and remembered, like we do the sacred texts which have lost some of their validity and luster. In fact some of them have contributed to the perpetration of man's entitlement as a supreme being. Time to get down from their pedestals if they want to actually secure the survival of our species.
9
JG--Women will find a way to perpetuate the species without men. Wish I could be here when they do.
1
I'm sorry but who would want to procreate without men as a general proposition? Most women love their husbands, sons and fathers. Of course we'd want to continue to have husbands, sons and fathers.
And for those women who want to procreate without a significant other (of the male type) - they already can.
And for those women who want to procreate without a significant other (of the male type) - they already can.
1
On behalf of all women, THANK YOU Ms. Crane!
8
Rapid home tests for determining pregnancy or disease status like H.I.V. must first be approved, used and monitored for performance and accuracy in the professional setting where testers are professionally trained and all aspects of testing occurs under well controlled conditions. That takes years. Only then can such tests be considered for sale to and use by the consumer.
The issue of how consumers react to and use the test results is an entirely different matter and much more dependent on what the test is determining or diagnosing. Pregnancy testing used to be considered in need of hand-holding by doctors (mostly men) which is not surprising given the view of women's skills, emotions and rights over half a century ago.
How far we have come, especially in the last few days.
The issue of how consumers react to and use the test results is an entirely different matter and much more dependent on what the test is determining or diagnosing. Pregnancy testing used to be considered in need of hand-holding by doctors (mostly men) which is not surprising given the view of women's skills, emotions and rights over half a century ago.
How far we have come, especially in the last few days.
8
When I tried to read this article the first time I had to stop at the point where credit for the invention was stolen from her, and that she was not compensated.
My eyes were filled with tears of rage. I remember those days so well, the condescending doctors, the dismissive employers, the whole societal attitude that females didn't count for anything other than decoration, or as one slimy little med student told me as 'seminal toilets'. That after I turned the little creep down for a date.
Thank you Ms. Crane, you have benefited millions of women, and I I am glad you are finally getting the recognition you deserve. Maybe the compensation will follow if you never got your $1, and get to void that contract.
My eyes were filled with tears of rage. I remember those days so well, the condescending doctors, the dismissive employers, the whole societal attitude that females didn't count for anything other than decoration, or as one slimy little med student told me as 'seminal toilets'. That after I turned the little creep down for a date.
Thank you Ms. Crane, you have benefited millions of women, and I I am glad you are finally getting the recognition you deserve. Maybe the compensation will follow if you never got your $1, and get to void that contract.
36
I used that same test in the early 80s. For a variety of reasons, it was very important for me to be able to find out the result on my own and come to grips with it on my own. I wish I could shake Ms. Crane's hand and thank her personally.
11
The idea that a teenager might jump off a bridge is described as crazy here. One can only assume the author never faced an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager. I, sadly, did. And I immediately downed a large number of pills, putting myself in the hospital. Luckily, I survived.
I certainly wouldn't dream of advocating that women be denied access to pregnancy tests, but the terror a young woman feels upon learning of an unplanned pregnancy is very real and not a laughing matter. I am normally an extremely rational person and I can't recall another time in my life when I made a rash foolish decision like taking those pills. The shock of the moment caused me to act in a very dangerous manner.
What's the solution? 16 years later, I have no idea.
I certainly wouldn't dream of advocating that women be denied access to pregnancy tests, but the terror a young woman feels upon learning of an unplanned pregnancy is very real and not a laughing matter. I am normally an extremely rational person and I can't recall another time in my life when I made a rash foolish decision like taking those pills. The shock of the moment caused me to act in a very dangerous manner.
What's the solution? 16 years later, I have no idea.
6
Interesting story. Sad that it is another tale of someone being ripped off by a corporation, but no real surprise there. And they didn't even give her the dollar. Maybe she should collect now with some interest added!
11
In response to my comment about the idea that women are simply too emotional to make their own decisions Michael Capp says, "Give us (men) a little credit here, many of us actually have evolved!" Yes, Michael, some of you have - thank heavens. The problem is that the "poor little woman" concept has been institutionalized in many ways.
The only answer to his issue is to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to OUR Constitution that says NO law shall be passed by any government in America that discriminates against women.
It won't change everything overnight but will stop the attacks by radical religionists on women's right to choose what they do with their own bodies and lives. Women must unite and get it done while the courageous women who have fought for better lives for all their entire lives will finally be rewarded for their efforts and so our daughters, granddaughters and all women in the future will be fully protected.
The only answer to his issue is to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to OUR Constitution that says NO law shall be passed by any government in America that discriminates against women.
It won't change everything overnight but will stop the attacks by radical religionists on women's right to choose what they do with their own bodies and lives. Women must unite and get it done while the courageous women who have fought for better lives for all their entire lives will finally be rewarded for their efforts and so our daughters, granddaughters and all women in the future will be fully protected.
59
Your point is well taken. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I have a daughter who is a smart, well educated, professionally successful young adult. Neither she nor I believe gender should ever be a factor in her goals, future successes or personal choices in life. I supported the ERA back in the 70's and still do.
8
Pro tip: You already get equal protection in YOUR Constitution.
1
Thank you, Mr. Capp! Please tell your friends to do the same when the ERA comes up for approval again next year. Women - and the men who love them as Mr. Capp does - can change America and the world by getting off the bench and being fully active in all segments of society. The time has come.
5
In 1974 I called my doctor's office to ask for my pregnancy test results. The nurse said the results were in, and indeed she had them right in front of her, but the doctor was busy so I'd have to call back later to find out.
I said, "Why?"
The nurse explained, "Some women get very excited or unhappy when they get the pregnancy results. It's up to your doctor to counsel you and protect you."
I said, "For crying out loud, this test is for pregnancy, not cancer!"
I heard the nurse's horrified voice as she relayed my message to a colleague, "She says it's not cancer!" I finally got the results... nearly a week later, after paying for a doctor's visit.
I wonder how many young women these days think it's just fine to let men be in charge of women's reproductive health, whether in terms of deciding whether or not we're able to deal with a much-wanted pregnancy or being permitted to have an abortion. If they don't appreciate what a woman's life was like before we started being viewed as almost human, I worry that they'll give away all the gains we fought so hard to achieve.
I said, "Why?"
The nurse explained, "Some women get very excited or unhappy when they get the pregnancy results. It's up to your doctor to counsel you and protect you."
I said, "For crying out loud, this test is for pregnancy, not cancer!"
I heard the nurse's horrified voice as she relayed my message to a colleague, "She says it's not cancer!" I finally got the results... nearly a week later, after paying for a doctor's visit.
I wonder how many young women these days think it's just fine to let men be in charge of women's reproductive health, whether in terms of deciding whether or not we're able to deal with a much-wanted pregnancy or being permitted to have an abortion. If they don't appreciate what a woman's life was like before we started being viewed as almost human, I worry that they'll give away all the gains we fought so hard to achieve.
274
I agree with you entirely. I've understood one thing about women as an Ob/Gyn for more that in 40 years--I don't understand. Why should I have to? I can only listen to my patients, provide accurate information, and respect their choice. I'm proud I helped set up a clinic in our hospital for women seeking abortion. It was run by wonderful, female, compassionate nurses and counsellors. I proudly regarded myself as the technician who would provide the abortion service of a woman's informed choice. I now have worked only in the field of chronic pelvic pain at a multi disciplinary clinic. I and my colleagues offer our opinion and advice, and then provide the woman with the help she wishes, if within our capabilities. It should not be any other way.
6
How many of us have had exactly the same experience?
2
A great comment and a great story!
4
This is why we need more women in decision making, in politics, medicine, corporations, etc. One cannot help but see that all of these negative viewpoints about the pregnancy test kits were made by men. They actually insult the intelligence of women, claiming that age-old stereotype that because "women are too emotional and therefore cannot be trusted to think clearly""
I am a man and I am appalled at these sexist ingrates in powerful positions. There is no doubt that throughout history women have come up with brilliant ideas only to be dismissed by such men, and even worse, as in this case, have their ideas stolen for men to take the credit and rewards.
I am a man and I am appalled at these sexist ingrates in powerful positions. There is no doubt that throughout history women have come up with brilliant ideas only to be dismissed by such men, and even worse, as in this case, have their ideas stolen for men to take the credit and rewards.
119
I've had it happen in my job, many times. I was a chef; a friend of the owner came into the kitchen and asked me "Were is the chef?" I look over one shoulder, then the other, and then looked at him and said "Standing in front of you." He said, "No, I meant the man." One example of thousands, but it usually only made me laugh.
My father used to tell me occasionally how disappointed he was that I wasn't a boy. As a result, I excelled at school (graduated first in a class of 150 computer science students one week after giving birth; I was one of only 3 women in the program at the time), at every sport I tried, and have worked in male-dominated fields my entire adult life, usually becoming the boss in very short order. I've proved myself to my father and every male relative, well-meaning stranger, boss, and work colleague who told me I couldn't do something because I'm a woman, and looked fabulous doing it. ;)
My father used to tell me occasionally how disappointed he was that I wasn't a boy. As a result, I excelled at school (graduated first in a class of 150 computer science students one week after giving birth; I was one of only 3 women in the program at the time), at every sport I tried, and have worked in male-dominated fields my entire adult life, usually becoming the boss in very short order. I've proved myself to my father and every male relative, well-meaning stranger, boss, and work colleague who told me I couldn't do something because I'm a woman, and looked fabulous doing it. ;)
10
I still don't understand why men hate women so much that they, to this day, still treat us like immature, irrational, idiots who cannot make decisions for ourselves. I don't understand why men block women's equality whenever they can. What the hell are they afraid of?
230
Some specificity would help. Which men?? Which women? Do you know women are equally likely to bully as men? This is the 21st century after all.
That, Kari, can be summed up succinctly: paternalistic men seek control over women because they greatly fear women's sexuality. Maintaining repressive controls, shaming women for the "crime" of having sex for anything other than procreation, and putting all manner of obstacles in front of us is simply to assure that submissive, Stepford Wives will remain subservient to their infantile and fragile egos. In other words: they are afraid that independent, confident, and successful women won't need them.
10
Men remain afraid that their Moms will continue to rule their lives.
1
WOMEN Who are empowered to know their own bodies and free to make their own decisions are trailblazers for all of us who will benefit from new technologies that are available via smart phone. More and more we will be able to monitor what's going on with our bodies wherever we are, making vital use of the age of big data to protect ourselves. Data driven medical practice will be the result, meaning that there will be more precise targeting of treatments. I found the article amusingly paternalistic, being a child of the 60s. Time was that men were expected to protect women, even down to walking beside them closer to the street, a relic from Victorian times when such gallantry could, in theory, safeguard women from runaway horses. These days, who knows where to walk with whom, with all the bicycles, skateboards, in-line skates and Segways whizzing by? The designers of the home pregnancy test were fearful that there would be a rash of suicides. But what had happened before Roe v Wade was, effectively, a rash of suicides by butchery, when women were forced into back alleys for dangerous abortions, resulting in many deaths. With HIV, time was during the beginning of the epidemic, that a positive result to the screening test was a death sentence. Those who did not wish to die a horrible death, made a decision to end things. But not all chose that. Now, a positive HIV diagnosis results in lifesaving treatment and in many cases, a long, healthy life. Things change!
41
A rash of murders and disfigurements, you mean. Nobody was telling women they could be maimed or die from the procedure. It was very hush hush, as those butchers preyed on women destroyed their lives and hopes.
2
"Amusingly paternalistic"? Not at all amusing to me! More like infuriating.
3
John, good points, however please educate regarding the myth of back ally abortions. Dr. Bernard Nathanson the founder of NARAL. " He stated that the numbers he once cited for NARAL concerning deaths to illegal abortions were, "false figures".
And yet an extremely large number of women will be voting for the orange bully and his uber conservative VP. Back to the '50's we go!
161
Apparently, if you shop regularly at Target, their tracking of sales of 41 distinct product categories can tell if someone in the household is pregnant even before anyone in the house realizes it.
29
This is true. And it can backfire. Some time back I read an alarming and sad story of a woman whose pregnancy was followed by marketers. She miscarried late in the pregnancy, which broke her heart; and for literally years afterward her husband had to rush to screen the mail and phone calls, intercepting and warding off special offers and solicitations, at every point that would have been a milestone in the lost child's life - free diaper and formula samples, coupons from Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby, mailings for educational toys and Mommy and Me programs, etc. One wonders how many families are getting taunted with 'Baby Einstein' and gifted-child preschool come-ons for a deeply autistic or severely disabled child ...
7
that is a made up story, you can look it up
2
I'm sure SOMEone in the house realizes it.
2
What a wonderful story about Ms. Crane's life and contribution to life here and now.
Thank you Ms. Kennedy and especially Ms. Crane. I am so pleased that you at least got credit for your contribution, even if the corporations failed to compensate you properly [no surprise there].
Thank you Ms. Kennedy and especially Ms. Crane. I am so pleased that you at least got credit for your contribution, even if the corporations failed to compensate you properly [no surprise there].
93
The story with self-monitoring of blood glucose by diabetes patients is almost the same, albeit without the sexist element. In that case the role of Ms Crane was played by Dick Bernstein.
Mr Bernstein, an Engineer, was so passionate about self-monitoring of blood glucose -- and the 'industry" so opposed -- that he started a (highly successful) second career as an Endocrinologist to promote it!
If interested, search for "Meter Memories: How Tom, Dick and Charlie Did It"".
Mr Bernstein, an Engineer, was so passionate about self-monitoring of blood glucose -- and the 'industry" so opposed -- that he started a (highly successful) second career as an Endocrinologist to promote it!
If interested, search for "Meter Memories: How Tom, Dick and Charlie Did It"".
48
It's so interesting to consider al the reasons men thought this a bad idea. Fear and control are powerful motivators and too often get in the way of really good ideas. I'm thinking something somewhat comparable today would be the "smart gun."
37
As our technology increases, and gets cheaper, its high time that many medical "tests" and services be handed over to the patients - the consumer- and cut out the middle men/women, the Doctors. Sorry Doctors, but I shouldnt have to go thru you every time I need, or simply want a blood test (for various screenings). Or some other mundane health screening.
I should be able to monitor my own health, and on my schedule! If I'm an amateur athlete in need of some blood work, I should not be beholden to my doctor, or the limits of my coverage (only 1 covered physical exam and relevant tests per year) to do what I want re; my body and my care of it.
Its time to give the consumer/patient as much personal control and access to tests and services as is possible.
I should be able to monitor my own health, and on my schedule! If I'm an amateur athlete in need of some blood work, I should not be beholden to my doctor, or the limits of my coverage (only 1 covered physical exam and relevant tests per year) to do what I want re; my body and my care of it.
Its time to give the consumer/patient as much personal control and access to tests and services as is possible.
45
In Mexico you can go to a lab, order whatever tests you want done, and get the results. You pay for them, but because there are no middle men and no paperwork, they are cheap. In the US, I once spent days calling after my test results; the doctor was never in, a series of women with names like Sandy and Colleen could never find them. I gave up after about a week, never did find out what was up, nor what the test cost.
27
I can't imagine what medical need a healthy athlete would have for "blood work", unless you're taking steroids or EPO or something.
2
In the USA, internet based companies such as privatemdlabs.com skirt around the bureaucratic limitations and let you buy the medical testing services you want. Prices are lower than what my physicians bill to the insurance company for the same tests, but are not as low as typical mass-market medical tests. Results are available online, quickly.
2
Yesterday, I was in a local 'Dollar' store, and there on the shelves were a number of home pregnancy tests. We have indeed come a long way since the 1960s, which I remember only too well.
38
I remember how women suffered from such discrimination when i was a student nurse in a Canadian general hospital.
I can still feel all the shock and anger of those days when MDs doing Caesarians would speak cruelly and thoughtlessly about their patients during surgery.
I know many nurses on duty at that time felt the same way.
I can still feel all the shock and anger of those days when MDs doing Caesarians would speak cruelly and thoughtlessly about their patients during surgery.
I know many nurses on duty at that time felt the same way.
40
Buying a home pregnancy test - or a contraceptive gel, or pretty much any such thing- at a dollar store can be a recipe for disaster. You're well advised to avoid the pet food and toys too. Much of this stuff comes from China and is not subject to much quality control, and sometimes it's also stuff that was supposed to have been recalled or thrown out (past the expiry date) but was instead resold in an attempt to avoid a loss or make a quick buck. Yes, it's great we can now buy over the counter - but be careful what counter you're buying over. And considering that a naïve teenager might well choose to depend on these questionable goods, you've just unwittingly made a case for the need to have a medical professional involved. and the possibility that sometimes the consumer - whether it's the girl buying an undependable pregnancy test or the boy buying expired condoms - isn't the best judge or his or her own needs.
2
What a fascinating story and a lesson for anyone who has a great idea.
27
Another Steve Jobs!
3
I laugh at this sort of ignorance. Women and men; two sides of the same coin. Each obviously have capabilities unique to their sex, but each also share a full complement of capabilities as well. And here's a shocker; they both belong to the same species. Consequently there is no other way to view the misogynistic attitude that women are inferior or incapable than to say that it is stupid.
No pun against the article but the attitude should be bred out of the gene pool. Indeed, in today's world it can be inferred as a self-limiting bias. These days what woman is going to settle down and bred with a man who evinces such obvious stupidity, eh? And so the days of misogyny dwindle down.
As for the medical field I say get a grip. Stop being so insulting as to think your patients are somehow incapable of understanding. We may be ignorant of specifics in your field of study, but being human just like you means we are fully capable of managing our own life and physical affairs once provided the proper information. Providing proper information is your paramount role.
It comes to this. Economic Darwinism means those medical practitioners who get this, those who understand how beneficial it is to enpower your patients (your clients), will thrive in business (which is what all medical practices - at heart - are), those of you who do not, will fail. For obvious reasons. And justifiably so, too.
Just sayin' is all.
John~
American Net'Zen
No pun against the article but the attitude should be bred out of the gene pool. Indeed, in today's world it can be inferred as a self-limiting bias. These days what woman is going to settle down and bred with a man who evinces such obvious stupidity, eh? And so the days of misogyny dwindle down.
As for the medical field I say get a grip. Stop being so insulting as to think your patients are somehow incapable of understanding. We may be ignorant of specifics in your field of study, but being human just like you means we are fully capable of managing our own life and physical affairs once provided the proper information. Providing proper information is your paramount role.
It comes to this. Economic Darwinism means those medical practitioners who get this, those who understand how beneficial it is to enpower your patients (your clients), will thrive in business (which is what all medical practices - at heart - are), those of you who do not, will fail. For obvious reasons. And justifiably so, too.
Just sayin' is all.
John~
American Net'Zen
20
You made my day. Thank you.
6
Is the objection to pregnancy tests like the rejection of other popular medical tools? I don't think so.
This is not just another case of the medical world keeping its role (and income). Women taking control over their bodies is the most profound revolution of the modern age. Pregnancy tests are a major tool in this revolution. No wonder they generated so much antagonism.
onourselvesandothers.com
This is not just another case of the medical world keeping its role (and income). Women taking control over their bodies is the most profound revolution of the modern age. Pregnancy tests are a major tool in this revolution. No wonder they generated so much antagonism.
onourselvesandothers.com
75
Ah, us poor fragile things, unable to handle the reality of pregnancy without a fainting couch.
The day a guy figures out how to extract something the size of a small Butterball from his body - non-surgically - after months of not being able to even see his feet, that's when we can talk about fragile.
All of this would be archived under "Can You Believe This In History?" if we didn't see the same drama over emergency contraception. The claims that women can't handle medical abortion pills are dramatic too.
Most women manage to avoid hysteria very nicely, thank you. If anything, the hysteria is cultural and deeply ingrained, and not particularly female. We have a strong segment of the nation who really get hysterical over the idea that women have sex at all.
The day a guy figures out how to extract something the size of a small Butterball from his body - non-surgically - after months of not being able to even see his feet, that's when we can talk about fragile.
All of this would be archived under "Can You Believe This In History?" if we didn't see the same drama over emergency contraception. The claims that women can't handle medical abortion pills are dramatic too.
Most women manage to avoid hysteria very nicely, thank you. If anything, the hysteria is cultural and deeply ingrained, and not particularly female. We have a strong segment of the nation who really get hysterical over the idea that women have sex at all.
177
When I see some of the comments about male birth control (a male "pill"), many of the comments made reflect the same resistance that Ms. Crane faced in getting her home test accepted.
Can men be trusted? Can they be responsible?
Luckily for women, the home pregnancy test, along with the pill and more than 20 forms of contraception have given women true control over their bodies.
Now if only men had that kind of control over their bodies more than 40 years later...
Can men be trusted? Can they be responsible?
Luckily for women, the home pregnancy test, along with the pill and more than 20 forms of contraception have given women true control over their bodies.
Now if only men had that kind of control over their bodies more than 40 years later...
27
Everyone should handle their own birth control. Male and Female. There would be no mistakes then.
16
As a women who raised boys I have always thought that both men and women need to have full control over their reproduction and not leave it to the other one, whether in a relationship or not, even in marriage if one of them doesn't want children yet or ever. I taught them that every time they have sex with a woman they're putting their entire future in her hands, which is simply a fact. Why would anyone, male or female, want to do that? They should both use protection, every time. If that sounds distrustful, it's really just being realistic and being in control of at least that part of your future.
75
Yes, of course. But I remember a moment in 1984. I'd started a love affair with a man I didn't realize was informally engaged to a close friend (both of them deliberately concealed their relationship from me; long story) and he handled this menage a trois by assuring each of us he'd stopped seeing the other. (He lied like Trump, of course.) I went to a women's health clinic for, among other things, STD tests. When I called for results, they shunted me around ... then told me I needed a return visit, because I was positive for gonorrhea.
'I'll kill him! No, I'll kill her! No, I'll kill him first. Then her. No, I'll kill her first ...' Etc.
As it turned out, the incubator had conked out and a batch of a dozen tests, mine included, would have to be redone. Botched tests and positive tests were not distinguished on the initial sheet provided to the clinic's phone counsellors; both were indicated in red ink, 'return visit required'.
So, while obviously I don't condone the patronization and condescension, people DO panic. (Thank heaven they didn't tell HIM. He would have broken some windows and taken a tire iron or baseball bat to something - or someone. Men get so overemotional.) And yes, the retest was a clean bill of health.
;}
'I'll kill him! No, I'll kill her! No, I'll kill him first. Then her. No, I'll kill her first ...' Etc.
As it turned out, the incubator had conked out and a batch of a dozen tests, mine included, would have to be redone. Botched tests and positive tests were not distinguished on the initial sheet provided to the clinic's phone counsellors; both were indicated in red ink, 'return visit required'.
So, while obviously I don't condone the patronization and condescension, people DO panic. (Thank heaven they didn't tell HIM. He would have broken some windows and taken a tire iron or baseball bat to something - or someone. Men get so overemotional.) And yes, the retest was a clean bill of health.
;}
25
That's a story! But I still believe quite strongly that people should be able to order STD tests directly from a lab, if they want to. People don't have less ownership of their bodies just because people also feel emotions.
2
Quite an article! How much has changed -- thanks in large part, to people like Margaret Crane! I am so glad she fought and won the battle required to have this concept accepted! And Ohrbachs was mentioned -- it was my favorite Manhattan store.
40
I am so delighted that Ms. Crane came forward with the story of her accomplishment. So much of the hidden history of women has been lost though the centuries when women were not given or did not claim ownership of their contributions to civilization. Thank you Ms. Crane for improving the lives of countless women!
89
I hate to bring this back to why older women carry a lot of anger. (I can hear the groans already.) But, this is a perfect history story.
Margaret Crane's employers blew her off, and then when she turned out to be right, stole her invention. So she made a sexual alliance with a powerful man. Granted, it was totally her choice, but that kind of makes me mad, too, because making a sexual alliance with a powerful man was sometimes the only way up for a woman. She still got cheated of her accomplishment.
Then there was the whole condescending, controlling arrogance of the medical establishment as it was then, with their attitude that women should not be ALLOWED to have birth control or find out on their own if they were pregnant.
All my life I've heard the canard that women were not as smart or talented as men. The proof was supposedly that none of the "great" people were women. "Even the greatest chefs are all men," with laughter because women were always the cook in the home. Well, guess what, talented women were always held back from becoming great, as this story amply illustrates.
Margaret Crane's employers blew her off, and then when she turned out to be right, stole her invention. So she made a sexual alliance with a powerful man. Granted, it was totally her choice, but that kind of makes me mad, too, because making a sexual alliance with a powerful man was sometimes the only way up for a woman. She still got cheated of her accomplishment.
Then there was the whole condescending, controlling arrogance of the medical establishment as it was then, with their attitude that women should not be ALLOWED to have birth control or find out on their own if they were pregnant.
All my life I've heard the canard that women were not as smart or talented as men. The proof was supposedly that none of the "great" people were women. "Even the greatest chefs are all men," with laughter because women were always the cook in the home. Well, guess what, talented women were always held back from becoming great, as this story amply illustrates.
295
Yes, I read this feeling angry too. I don't begrudge Ms. Crane her love for Mr. Sturtevant. But I do have to take a deep breath hearing the story of how she was cheated out of her royalties and credit for her invention. I am angry and will remain angry about how men seem to genuinely believe they are smarter than women. I studied neuroscience in my second undergraduate degree and learned that women's brains have many more connections than men's through the corpus callosum. Men, evidently unable to see how these connections enable women to think more globally, so to speak, label women "crazy." I'm tired, worn out. I'm sad that the current and future generations of young women have to face this nonsense still.
125
Actually it is quite standard when you work for a company that you sign over your patent rights. I had to do that on starting employment at every tech company I worked for. Some companies do compensate employees for successful patents, but many do not.
28
"...how she was cheated out of her royalties and credit for her invention."
Just to bring the message back on track: it's very common, perhaps nearly universal, that intellectual property developments (patents and other creative works) are the property of the employer by the concept of "work for hire." You get paid for doing your job; the company gets paid for taking advantage of it. Few working people get "royalties," though bonuses can be relativly common.
The $1 figure is ludicrously low, even for the time period involved, but it makes the assignment of the patent to the employer legal, even though the patent is in the name of the inventor, as it was in Ms. Crane's case.
Just to bring the message back on track: it's very common, perhaps nearly universal, that intellectual property developments (patents and other creative works) are the property of the employer by the concept of "work for hire." You get paid for doing your job; the company gets paid for taking advantage of it. Few working people get "royalties," though bonuses can be relativly common.
The $1 figure is ludicrously low, even for the time period involved, but it makes the assignment of the patent to the employer legal, even though the patent is in the name of the inventor, as it was in Ms. Crane's case.
2
This message is for Ms Crane:
I salute you for treating, me the consumer, as an adult. I salute you for being brave, for being the odd person who does not conform to social rules, for bringing us closer to truth. And I thank you for helping birth a product that brings more control over our own bodies (despite what the conservatives might want).
I salute you for treating, me the consumer, as an adult. I salute you for being brave, for being the odd person who does not conform to social rules, for bringing us closer to truth. And I thank you for helping birth a product that brings more control over our own bodies (despite what the conservatives might want).
131
Republicans put up a bill to push for OCT oral contraceptives. Dems opposed it.
8
When was that? I'd like to know more. Source?
How strange. I wonder why.
Yes, because the GOP bill was another attempt at undermining the ACA, and its OTC birth control provisions. Plus it was a bill that amounted to giving someone one shoe, instead of the pair. (The Dems had their own bill in the offering as well.)
Your post is a classic example of using a minor fact, as a means to try and lessen the entirety of the discussion, and take a shot at the Dems. Make it seem like they don't actually support coverage of birth control coverage. FYI; The GOP bill didnt guarantee insurance coverage, while the ACA does! Which is at the heart of the issue - insurance coverage!
If the GOP presents such a bill, You know there are deeper motives involved, and none of them are looking out for women and their reproductive rights.
Your post is a classic example of using a minor fact, as a means to try and lessen the entirety of the discussion, and take a shot at the Dems. Make it seem like they don't actually support coverage of birth control coverage. FYI; The GOP bill didnt guarantee insurance coverage, while the ACA does! Which is at the heart of the issue - insurance coverage!
If the GOP presents such a bill, You know there are deeper motives involved, and none of them are looking out for women and their reproductive rights.
54
While provocative, this headline is beyond insulting.
But it did what it intended.
I read the article.
Well done, headline writer.
But it did what it intended.
I read the article.
Well done, headline writer.
20
I, too, almost didn't read the article because of the headline.
1
I re-read the headline several times, and found it to be a precise indicator of the well written article that followed. Wonderful journalism.
But now you have me curious as to what you found in those few words that was insulting? I would really like to know what I missed.
But now you have me curious as to what you found in those few words that was insulting? I would really like to know what I missed.
5
You miss the greed factor. Physicians are in business to make money.
5
C.C., let's put "greed" in some perspective. My wonderful internist has been in practice for 23 years and he and his physican wife are STILL paying off their medical school loans! Doctors start earning money years later than most people, and then joining/running a practice is expensive. Some specialties, like surgery, tend to generate high earnings, whereas general medicine doesn't. I know younger doctors who have day jobs, but still have to moonlight at walk-in clinics to pay back their loans.
I don't think many people put themselves theough the harrowing ordeals of medical school plus 3-8 years of general and specialty residencies afterward just for money. If that were their goal, they could easily have gotten MBA's instead, and gone straight into investment banking, where they'd earn far more, at a far lower tax rate, without life-and-death responsibilities.
I don't think many people put themselves theough the harrowing ordeals of medical school plus 3-8 years of general and specialty residencies afterward just for money. If that were their goal, they could easily have gotten MBA's instead, and gone straight into investment banking, where they'd earn far more, at a far lower tax rate, without life-and-death responsibilities.
32
Do doctor's make money on lab tests? Lab technicians perform those tests.
I don't think physicians choose one of the world's most grueling professions solely to make money.
I don't think physicians choose one of the world's most grueling professions solely to make money.
5
Yes, they take on heavy debt, go through rigorous training, do difficult residencies, work long hours, and struggle with our insane health insurance system, just to make big bucks. Just like hedge fund managers, physicians don't actually work to earn their money or contribute anything positive to society. /sarcasm
4
Over-the-counter pregnancy testing had a big impact on many other types of biological analysis and many inventors and companies battled the FDA over such matters. However, then pregnancy testing was just begining to be reliable and by 1973 (Legalization of abortion), clinics began providing quick and reliable (Ortho's Gravindex) and (Organon's), two hour red cell tube test was especially reliable. Ultimately, (SensiChrome) Roche developed a more sensitive technology and very early detection became a reality. Over-the-counter testing however is now peaked mostly because 10 milIU is the general standard for HCG in urine. Nevertheless, a 2 milIU sensitivity technology would change abortion care and essentially detect HCG before a clinical pregnancy diagnosis is possible and therefore Uterus interruption might technically occur before diagnosis (therefore not an abortion) bases solely on an ultra tiny amount of circulating HCG. Further, no pathology tissue analysis would be possible and again, no abortion. In the old days the idea was bantered around as a (ministration extraction), medical induced period. Just thought that I might stir the pregnancy pot and see what chatter emerges.
12
Two things are contributing to large medical expenses in America -
1. Fear of being sued: in this case patient may commit suicide, but it is more generally fear of unreasonable law suits.
2. Regulations preventing do it yourself healing. Why do I need a pharmacist to count my tablets? Why do I need a doctor if I could self prescribe most medicines that I need based on symptoms.
Of course there are other reasons - like the way medicine patents are handled. But those two would solve problems in most common cases.
1. Fear of being sued: in this case patient may commit suicide, but it is more generally fear of unreasonable law suits.
2. Regulations preventing do it yourself healing. Why do I need a pharmacist to count my tablets? Why do I need a doctor if I could self prescribe most medicines that I need based on symptoms.
Of course there are other reasons - like the way medicine patents are handled. But those two would solve problems in most common cases.
4
Margaret Crane was acting in a care of ethic. Joan Tronto defines ethics of care as " all activities we do to maintain, continue, and repair our 'world' so that we can live in it as well as possible. That world includes our bodies, ourselves, and our environment... (Johannesen, 2008, p.209)" Crane felt that it was important for women to find out if they were pregnant in the privacy of their homes. She acted in a care of ethic by creating the very first at-home pregnancy test and then presenting it to her managers. At first she was shot down but eventually the idea came to surface again and she was finally heard. What Margaret did was very controversial in the sixties but I believe she did a great service to women and their privacy.
Johannesen, R. L., Valde, K. S., & Whedbee, K. E. (2008). Ethics in Human Communication.
(6th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, LLC.
Johannesen, R. L., Valde, K. S., & Whedbee, K. E. (2008). Ethics in Human Communication.
(6th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, LLC.
21
Wow. Thank you, Ms. Crane. I used this early kit to predict my firstborn's impending arrival. I remember the mirror, the ring showing at the bottom of the tube. I called my sister to come over and see it. Such a beautifully private moment of joy would never have been possible in a doctor's office. I never really appreciated that until I read this story. You are owed a thousand different thanks.
97
So, did Margaret Crane ever receive royalties or any other compensation for her invention? Or is she another one of the female inventors robbed not only of the recognition of her invention, but of the financial fruits as well?
32
Corporate employees are usually required to sign over their patents to their employers. This is true for men and women.
Akira Endo invented statins, which are one of the most significant drugs today, and signed over the patent to his employer, whom he finally left.
Akira Endo invented statins, which are one of the most significant drugs today, and signed over the patent to his employer, whom he finally left.
3
Thank you, Ms Crane! Nice work!!!!
8
Unbelievable! Thank you for this story.
8
And next, let's take birth control pills off prescription and sell them in every convenience store, drug store, supermarket, gas station and just about anywhere else where people go to buy life's necessities. No age restrictions either. It's about time for women to have complete control over their bodies.
46
Contraception would be a good thing for the government to pay for - make it free and easily acquired. It would save a lot of social problems and tax dollar spending down the road.
31
Great article. Reminded me of my parents who were living "in sin" back in the late 1930's when they both worked at CBS Radio. Naturally they had to keep their living arrangements a secret from their bosses. But when my father was going to be promoted to work with Edward R. Morrow he found out and withdrew the offer. My mother did go on to become the first woman radio producer at CBS.
46
Wow. Have you thought of writing this story up and submitting it for publication?
13
Dear Ms. Crane.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (once was twins)
Very sincerely yours! :-)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (once was twins)
Very sincerely yours! :-)
25
In late 50s watched older school friend almost bleed to death from botched self-abortion. Can't go back.
46
What a long trek we've had to trudge to the point where women are simply human beings. And how sad it is that we still have a vocal minority who feel completely comfortable exalting the humanity in a zygote, but are utterly blind and insensate to the humanity and agency of a living, breathing human being who happens to be female.
65
Ms. Crane auctioned off her patent for $11,875.
4
Would love the link to this information. My whole takeaway from this was she got screwed by the company who made billions off her invention.
16
Yes. How could she auction a patent she didn't have? She auctioned off the prototype, not the patent.
32
She was listed as inventor on the patent but forced to sign away her rights for $1.00.
1
I was not surprised by the misogyny Margaret Crane dealt with in the "Madmen" universe of advertising 50 years ago, but was shocked to discover in this article that as late as 1967, 26 states "barred single women from obtaining birth control." That is not ancient history! Many GOP politicians long to reestablish their control over not just women's constitutional right to abortion, but to contraception as well. When Donald Trump chose Mike Pence, a virulent foe of Planned Parenthood, as his Veep, he sent a clear signal about how his presidency would treat a woman's right to make her own reproductive decisions. If a President Trump were allowed to choose more politicized Supreme Court Justices with their personal religious agendas, women might find themselves a lot further back than 1967.
173
In France, contraception was only made legal for all women in 1967, and abortion in 1974. Every woman I know who was old enough to have sex (married or not) before 1967 had either at least one illegal abortion or at least one child she didn't want. Can't go back.
34
As late as the 1960s at least two states barred birth control provision to anyone, married or not. Those two states were Massachusetts and Connecticut. When I got married in 1960 I had to go to a woman gynecologist in NYC the week before my wedding to get birth control.
4
The medical profession is still obstructing consumer level testing. Remember when the FDA shut down 23andMe after the company announced plans to start selling DNA test kits at Walgreens?
29
FDA made the right choice to stop 23andMe- what they were doing was effectively illegal. 23andme ignored numerous written warnings from the FDA; they had ample chances to reply and negotiate a legal solution. 23andme learned from this experience, but it's never impressive when a capitalized and advised company continuously ignores the obvious.
Also, 23andme's product is more or less worthless in terms of medical value.
Also, 23andme's product is more or less worthless in terms of medical value.
5
Yes, women are just too "emotional" to think and act for themselves. When and why was this idea ever allowed to get social traction? It's simply beyond belief but is still common male thinking. Time to end the charade and leave women alone to make their own decisions about their bodies and lives.
131
This idea has been around for a long time. Even in the 40's and 50's women had a hard time getting their own checking account. At the beginning of the 20th century, women could not go out unescorted, were not allowed to read about politics, could not own property, and, of course, were not sensible enough to vote in elections. It has been deeply entrenched for centuries because it is taught by many religious faiths that the husband is the master. Hysterectomies are so called because they were frequently used to cure "hysteria" in women.
We had to work very hard in the 60's and 70's to make the progress we made. I am glad to see comments like yours that show what was common belief when I was young is unthinkable by people today!
We had to work very hard in the 60's and 70's to make the progress we made. I am glad to see comments like yours that show what was common belief when I was young is unthinkable by people today!
23
I beg to differ on one point. As a 62 year old male with a few years of perspective "women are just too "emotional" to think and act for themselves" is not and has never been my way of thinking nor has it been the way of thinking within my circle of friends.
While it do not dispute that may still be the way SOME men think, it is, fortunately, not very common at all. Give us a little credit here, many of us actually have evolved!
While it do not dispute that may still be the way SOME men think, it is, fortunately, not very common at all. Give us a little credit here, many of us actually have evolved!
8
As though men aren't emotional (see every war ever)!
32
It takes a woman to see what a t women actually need. The answer to the question of what do women want is "you should try and ask them." Great product ideas are few and far between. This was a great one. I am sure millions of women are thankful.
135
If Ms. Crane never received her dollar for her invention, then she may not have signed her rights to royalties away (one imagines that receiving the token dollar is required for the agreement to be valid); she should consider following up on that.
303
That would be great! Let's hope she becomes a multi-billionaire.
59
I hopes she reads your comment!
3
This of course needs the acquiescence of the woman somehow.
Whereas Plan B just needs someone to buy it and put the pills in the woman's food or drink, so she is not in control of her own body.
Whereas Plan B just needs someone to buy it and put the pills in the woman's food or drink, so she is not in control of her own body.
5
No more in control than anyone who eats or drinks, by your logic.
9
What a ridiculous scenario
12
I suppose it's possible to do this, but I doubt it's ever happened.
10
The title of this article has caught my attention because many people forget the mentality of doctors during the 60's. I believe Ms. Cranes should have received more credit due to how many women she has helped with this creation. Although some of the doctors made a valid point at the time, I believe that every woman should have the right to know what is occurring in their body. Thanks to Ms. Cranes many women and teens today are more aware of their circumstances.
81
One would wish that the condescension towards women were just an artifact from yesteryear, but it is not. Presumptuousness abounds today. We see it when employers are allowed to reject insurance coverage for birth control while hypocritically accepting Viagra. We see it when women are given arbitrary waiting periods, counseling sessions and other restrictions on abortion.
Women deserve to be entrusted with control over their bodies. Without being treated as fully responsible, we will be denied full ability to shape our own lives.
Women deserve to be entrusted with control over their bodies. Without being treated as fully responsible, we will be denied full ability to shape our own lives.
390
While I agree 100% with you, we will only be treated as fully responsible adults when all of us demand to be. No ifs, ands, or buts. But I also do not see that happening in my lifetime here in this country.
10
Yes, absolutely ... and yet OTOH there is a nascent brand of 'feminism' which seeks to do the exact opposite, to infantilise young women and assume they have no judgement or control over their own bodies. This school would hold that a woman who consciously and deliberately chooses to consume alcohol and/or drugs (as opposed to being slipped a mickey) is a priori incapable of consenting to sexual activity. (And yet would tar her partner, in the same circumstances, as a rapist.)
Do we want to be responsible for our own choices, even when the outcomes are negative? Some people want all the rights but none of the responsibility. When it suits them, they want to retreat into poor-little-victim-me childhood; and when it suits them, they want to be a big girl now.
Do we want to be responsible for our own choices, even when the outcomes are negative? Some people want all the rights but none of the responsibility. When it suits them, they want to retreat into poor-little-victim-me childhood; and when it suits them, they want to be a big girl now.
6
ACW, do you really want to decriminalize the act of sex with a semi- or unconscious person? It's big can of worms to open. Getting drunk is NOT consent. What if a guy passes out at a party, and others think it would be funny to violate his body? Did he "consent" by getting drunk and he should just shut up about "the negative outcome"?
And if the woman is "responsible" then why NOT the guy? Doesn't HE bear responsibility for HIS choices in having drunken sex, including the possible "negative outcome" of a rape accusation? Removing the risks gives actual predators an open season on any woman who's had a drink.
The normal reaction to an unconscious person should be to see if they're OK and/or call someone to help -- not exploit their body. How does anyone know why someone is losing consciousness. They can pass out from insulin shock, a fall, a mistimed sleeping pill, a medication interaction, or other reasons. This is how people die unattended in crowded rooms where everyone assumes they're drunk and don't bother to look after them.
People are responsible for their actions. But stupidity is not a crime and carries its own penalties. Exploiting a helpless body IS a crime, a
but the accusation has to be proven in court. The trial itself isn't a sentence -- it's just the guy's "negative outcome" for stupidly engaging in drunken sex. Works both ways.
And if the woman is "responsible" then why NOT the guy? Doesn't HE bear responsibility for HIS choices in having drunken sex, including the possible "negative outcome" of a rape accusation? Removing the risks gives actual predators an open season on any woman who's had a drink.
The normal reaction to an unconscious person should be to see if they're OK and/or call someone to help -- not exploit their body. How does anyone know why someone is losing consciousness. They can pass out from insulin shock, a fall, a mistimed sleeping pill, a medication interaction, or other reasons. This is how people die unattended in crowded rooms where everyone assumes they're drunk and don't bother to look after them.
People are responsible for their actions. But stupidity is not a crime and carries its own penalties. Exploiting a helpless body IS a crime, a
but the accusation has to be proven in court. The trial itself isn't a sentence -- it's just the guy's "negative outcome" for stupidly engaging in drunken sex. Works both ways.
11
Great story. Unbelievable, but sadly, still entirely believable. Sad that we are still having these conservations about whatever the next women's "health" issue is....
105
What a great story! I remember those days. in the early 1960's after having one baby, I thought I might be pregnant again. I went to my obstetrician for a pregnancy test. When I later phoned the lab to get the results, they refused to give them to me. I called my doctor to complain. He said "Don't worry, they called me and I told them "She's a good girl, you can tell her"". Even in those benighted days I felt insulted, both by the lab and the doctor! I don't remember the results of this test, but I did have another baby after a couple false alarms. Young women today often don't realize what it was like and how far we've come. At one job interview the interviewer after looking over my college transcript, said "If you were a man we would put you right into our management training program." They were quite upfront about the discrimination. Needless to say I was not put inot management training. The job I was offered was as assistant to an engineer. It was before small, sophisticated computers or calculators and my degree was physics/mathematics. Instead I went to graduate school and got a PhD in mathematics and had a career in teaching and research, where I also faced obstacles, but that's another story.
350
Peggy, I would love to hear that story.
17
What a remarkable story you must have! If you wrote an article about it I, as a young woman in technology, would love to read it, as I'm sure many thousands others.
22
As a teen who came into her own in the late '60s trying to take charge of her own life and sexuality, I find your comment so very interesting and compelling. Please write your story and publish it somewhere. We will lose our history - "her"-story - the stories of women's lives and struggles - if we don't start doing this. Our experiences as women - yours, mine, Ms Crane's and so many others - will become lost unless we compile them. I wonder if there is a writer with a web site that is doing this......Pagan Kennedy...go for it. Since you did this story, you can do others!
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Thank you for this article! I have read about Ms Crane before but the way you tell her story gives us a glimpse as to the kind of woman that she is. I have taken so many pregnancy tests before, some free with my ttckit tests, others that were digital ones, when we were trying to get pregnant and I used to wonder as to how it came about. I have read about Ms Crane a few months back but did not know she is such a fascinating lady!
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Thank you, Pagan Kennedy, for this excellent article. And a thousand thanks to Margaret Kane. I was one of those women who had to wait for a doctor to tell me if what I suspected was true. (And quite the condescending group of guys they were in those days.) It's wonderful to live long enough to be considered a grown up and you helped make it possible.
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'And quite the condescending group of guys they were in those days.'
A lot less has changed about that than you think. And so many doctors now come from Third World countries such as India, where women's rights and independence leave a lot to be desired, and bring those antediluvian attitudes with them. The upside of that, though, is that a lot of those Indian doctors are *women*, and therefore it's easier than it was 50 years ago to find someone of your own gender. With regard to your plumbing, to borrow an old advertising slogan: Ask the woman who owns one.
A lot less has changed about that than you think. And so many doctors now come from Third World countries such as India, where women's rights and independence leave a lot to be desired, and bring those antediluvian attitudes with them. The upside of that, though, is that a lot of those Indian doctors are *women*, and therefore it's easier than it was 50 years ago to find someone of your own gender. With regard to your plumbing, to borrow an old advertising slogan: Ask the woman who owns one.
13
I forgot how dim a view doctors and pharmaceutical companies took of anyone, especially women, being able to control their lives when it comes to reproduction. If it were men seeking to control their bodies and they wanted privacy no one would have worried even if the "men" were 13 years old. Dealings I and others have had with doctors over the years have shown that we often know a medication is hurting us before the doctor does. We know when something is wrong with our bodies even when our health care providers refuse to do the tests or decide that those of us of the female persuasion are attention and drug seeking idiots.
What this patient would appreciate is having more effective over the counter drugs available so that once we know what's wrong we can save ourselves as visit to the doctor, the two hour wait for the 7 minute audience, the wait at the drug store, and other aggravations. And why can't a pharmacist do some prescribing? Many of them are more knowledgeable than the doctors when it comes to drug interactions, how well the drug works, etc.
Given how hard it's becoming to select and stay with a physician due to the narrow networks preferred by the wealth care industry as well as the formulary tricks they play, perhaps patients need more options for OTC medications. It would be easier than worrying about whether or not a preferred doctor is still a preferred provider on one's insurance.
What this patient would appreciate is having more effective over the counter drugs available so that once we know what's wrong we can save ourselves as visit to the doctor, the two hour wait for the 7 minute audience, the wait at the drug store, and other aggravations. And why can't a pharmacist do some prescribing? Many of them are more knowledgeable than the doctors when it comes to drug interactions, how well the drug works, etc.
Given how hard it's becoming to select and stay with a physician due to the narrow networks preferred by the wealth care industry as well as the formulary tricks they play, perhaps patients need more options for OTC medications. It would be easier than worrying about whether or not a preferred doctor is still a preferred provider on one's insurance.
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