On a blog without a name

In America, it would be unthinkable for a pregnant woman to drink.  To be seen doing so in public might even invite hostile comment from perfect strangers, and the absolute rule against drinking is regularly alluded to in American popular culture.  Yet in other countries the rule is hardly so absolute.  As the BBC notes, women are subjected to many complex, conflicting orders and injunctions during pregnancy – many of them are surely cultural as much as they are medically rational responses to pregnancy. Most of them, of course, call for self-denial, and play on one of mankind’s favourite emotions, guilt. It’s a winning combination, of course.