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Antonia Hoyle is horrified by the treatment she has received from her fellow commuters. According to the Daily Mail, the 8-months pregnant woman has been forced to stand on lengthy bus trips as her fellow commuters sit staring out of the window or absorbed in their smart phones. What bugs her is that it’s not men ignoring her preggie-belly, but women who have been looking the other way.
Women hating women?
Hoyle’s experience brings into question the state of chivalry amongst city-dwellers, but, for her, she is fascinated with the trend that women seem to be the biggest culprits- citing an experience where one sitting mom asked Hoyle to move her bag out of the way, and another when a pregnant friend was bumped and hit with a barrage of foul language- from a woman.
Moms-to-be used to be on the receiving end of far more respectful treatment- other commuters would offer up their own seats, concerned people would check on the welfare of pregnant women who seemed to be struggling in the shops. Hoyle suggests that men are still under pressure to appear to be polite by giving up bus or train seats, while women are under no such pressure, so they remain seated.
Are women being unkind to other women? According to Hoyle,
the pressure of rearing children causes women to lose empathy for other women,
sometimes even prompting them to be smug about the fact that someone else is
going through the difficulties of physical changes and emotional turmoil
produced by pregnancy. Living in the city also seems to produce competitive, if not selfish, individuals who overlook the welfare of their peers.
Would you give up your bus seat for a pregnant woman?