October 23, 2002 

What’s Wrong With Weaver?

This week's column I'd bring up a few of the more popular topics of recent conversation in the Sandynista forum. 

We've been having a great time chewing over the news that our fave ER doc would be pregnant by mid-season. Discussions have included all the possible permutations and details that would be involved with a lesbian couple having children. The turkey baster joke came and went...then we got down to trying to figure out the details for ourselves. How would TPTB handle it? Was it too soon in the relationship considering that she and Sandy had been together barely a year? Could we see Dr. Weaver as a mother? Why are TPTB being so mysterious? And Why haven’t we seen Sandy yet?  Here are a few of the posts:

 

DarlingGirl:  A lot (no, really ALL) of the resistance to the wonder that is Kerry and Sandy is dictated, I think, by a mentality that there is one and only one right way to do things. Lots of shoulds and shouldn'ts -- Kerry shouldn't be getting pregnant so early in a relationship, the writers should have given us more development of this storyline, Kerry shouldn't still be with Sandy, Sandy shouldn't have outed Kerry at work, Kerry shouldn't have ever said "You did do me a favor", Sandy shouldn't have said she did Kerry a favor, blah blah blah...

The point is that there is more than one way to do anything in life and live happily. Let's face it -- Kerry has WASTED a lot of time. She didn't have the interpersonal life she could have because she didn't realize she was a lesbian. Now, in her early 40's she's realized it. And she wants what she's missed. In her mind and heart, apparently, Sandy DID do her a favor, by saving her a good five or six years of pathetic closetedness, hiding out, being a complete emotional biscuit worrying (uncharacteristically) about what other people think. Part of Sandy's gift to Kerry is that Kerry is, at last, free to dream and go after her dreams in reality. She can try to be a partner, to share someone's life, and right now, to try to be a mom. For that last goal, it turns out, time really is of the essence. So, she's trying. Why now? The answer is now is the only time and why not now, anyway? Is there only one way to lead a happy, rich and meaningful life? Only one way to do anything in life? I just don't think so. I cannot imagine how ANYONE who is gay could conclude that there is. Life is not like that.

As far as ER goes, I think people have ignored or missed what they are trying to do in the grand scheme -- which is, to those unspoiled at least, to capitalize on Kerry's enigmatic status. No one knows what is going on with her -- why she's gone, why she's emotional, etc. We're supposed to be wondering "dumped again?" "still freaked about being gay?" what is up with her? Just like Chen is wondering. Storywise, suspense-wise, less is more right now for Kerry. It is hard for fans of Sandy and Kerry, but the pay off is worth it -- Kerry's announcement and the importance of the nonroyal "WE" -- it's all part of telling a story in particular way. A way that maximizes suspense/surprise (ha! say the spoiled among us), and leads to a truly remarkable revelation -- Kerry, of all people, is following Green's advice: she's building a real life for herself, in her own way. Not that "one way" but Her Way, with the woman she loves and is committed to.

Juliana:  Not to mention that heterosexual couples rush right into parenthood all the time -- hell, sometimes with NO COMMITMENT AT ALL-- and no one has a problem with that???

Loneweaver: As for Kerry Weaver, if she carries the baby herself, it might become a more difficult time for her, physically. Not knowing the extent of her handicap makes it hard to say just how rough it'll be. But that doesn't mean she won't be a great mother. When you look at the make up of the character and her growth through the seasons, you see a woman with a lot of love to give. She has a good heart, with a sweet spot as big as the Grand Canyon, when it comes to kids. How anyone could say she wouldn't make a good mother is beyond me. Sandy and her will make great parents and the doubters be damned!!

 

Then to add fuel to the fire...we had last week's episode "Walk Like A Man" and the question of what was in the syringe (and what it has to do with Kerry's impending pregnancy) and the comment about Kerry being "the straightest gay woman since Janet Reno". 

 

Peanut41: Regarding Kerry taking hormones -- I checked with my pregnant sister (the one who went through IVF) and she says if Kerry's pregnancy was the result of IVF (donor egg from Sandy, perhaps? ) then she would definitely be taking Progesterone during the first trimester, a hormone that she would administer to herself via injection. Okay, I'm stuck on the notion that Kerry's already pregnant. But I was just interested to know that the possibility still does exist -- either Kerry is taking hormones in preparation for her attempt to become pregnant OR she is already pregnant via IVF and must take Progesterone to maintain the pregnancy.

Juliana: At the end of the show, I was asked by my mother, "WHAT was in that syringe?" I told her it was hormones and suggested she would get pregnant. She didn't believe me, and said, "Now WHO would have gotten her pregnant?" I almost said, "Sandy" but why spoil the surprise? I don't think "regular" people have a clue.

WillowMaiden: Going back to Susan and Abby's discussion after they saw Kerry in the bathroom, it looked perhaps as if Susan made a "pregnant" gesture as she was saying "You don't think..." (or whatever it was). Did anyone else notice this? I couldn't tell whether it was that or just a random emphasis gesture... Although if they were speculating that she's pregnant, the "straightest gay woman" comment would make no sense.

Powder Skier: Well, I've slept on it and I'm still trying to figure out the Janet Reno comment. It doesn't make much sense to me.  Before I explain my confusion, let me start by saying this: Reno still identifies herself as straight. She may be very butch, but she says she is straight, so as far as everyone should be concerned, she is straight.

Anyway, what I really don't get is how this comment applies to Weaver. Weaver is gay. She is open about it now. Abby knows it. So how does this comment make any sense that she's "the straightest gay woman since Janet Reno?"

 

With all of this speculation about Kerry’s impending pregnancy, the Sandynistas can't help wonder when we'll finally get to see Sandy. Still the only sign of her presence in Kerry's life is the pendant (or so we think). It was there in the first disastrous flu shot scene, then disappeared from view. Was it still there hidden from view, simply "resting comfortably in her cleavage" as Powder Skier once commented? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

-Mangababe (Editor)

 

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