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Talking out my problems with SGA last night in a bit more detail, primarily so I can get it out and let go of it, and get on with the business of imagining John and Rodney making out in a puddlejumper.
Here's the thing. I do think that John has the right, as team leader, to evaluate the fitness of his team and to make judgement calls about their assignments based on those assesments. It is in the job description. For example, I didn't have a problem when he judged that Teyla's insomnia that one time was negatively affecting her job performance and put her on stand down until she got some sleep. The issue here is that he had already done so. John is showed as being aware of the physical symptoms that may interfere with Teyla's ability to do her job, fatigue and nausea, before he finds out she is pregnant. He knows, he has a chance to watch her work in the field and, though he feels bad for asking her to work while she isn't feeling hot, he judges her competent to continue. The only thing that changes is that he knows why she's feeling a bit poorly. She's not suddenly going to get more tired or more queazy because of that knowledge.
He's not judging her based on her actual ability to continue going on missions, he's judging her based on how she's prioritizing her pregnancy. Which is none of his goddamn business. She has a doctor. One who, as chief freaking medical officer of the entire mission, has the ability to ground Teyla if she feels her going on missions is of medical concern, and we can assume if she is any kind of doctor, has already had this discussion with Teyla where they have outlined the risks the physical demands of her job might pose to her pregnancy. Am I really supposed to believe that Teyla, who is regularly shown as approaching decisions with a cool head...using both emotional warmth and logical reasoning, who was the leader of an entire people, who makes getting in tune with her own body and mind through meditation and excercise a priority on daily basis, who could take out John with her pinky finger on her worst day, that Teyla is somehow rendered incompetent to judge what level of risk she's willing to take just because a stick turned blue? No. No, no, no, and also....no.
And the other thing that is bugging the ever loving shit out of me here. The assumption that preservation of this pregnancy should come above all other concerns or priorities Teyla may have. It can. It's not a bad thing if it does, especially if Teyla concludes that it trumps, then it's actally a good thing. However, Teyla has a fuckload of major concerns on her plate right now, and it is nowhere near irrational for her to conclude that, when balanced, fighting against a major threat to her home galaxy, or finding her people and partner rates highly enough to outweigh the potential loss if something goes wrong. It's not like she's deciding that her crack habit is of higher priority than taking her prenatal vitamins here. Using the near loss of her pregnancy as a bludgeon to prove John right is just icky on so many levels. Remove the paternalistic "you don't know what's good for you" frame from the same situation, and I can see it being an actual powerful and heartbreaking moment where Teyla decides to shift her priorities. Making it a foregone conclusion that there is no other acceptable decision and that Teyla just needs to catch up to the Wisdom of the Penis....ARGH. And as mentioned above about her already having a doctor...where is Doctor Kaylee in all of this? You know, the one who has actual detailed knowledge of her medical condition. The other actual woman who actually has standing to bring up these concerns and to talk them through with her patient? Wow, those girls sure are silly and stupid, even when they've got medical degrees to back them up, aren't they? Because if the only correct decision truly was for Teyla to stand down, and her doctor, the person in charge of determining medical readiness for missions, didn't call halt, then she's a pretty crappy doctor. Damn women. Can't put them in charge of anything.
And there you have it. I'm going to hope that SGA's tendency to shove uncomfortable implications under the rug, means that the rest of Teyla's pregnancy will be folded into the story in a way that allows me to handwave from here on out. Then I can go merrily on my way and pretend that the part with John never happened, that Teyla worked through the series of issues raised here as a fully competent, adult human being with the support of her friends, to come to this conclusion. Then I can get to imagining fun stuff like clueless Uncle Rodney attempting to bounce a baby.
Here's the thing. I do think that John has the right, as team leader, to evaluate the fitness of his team and to make judgement calls about their assignments based on those assesments. It is in the job description. For example, I didn't have a problem when he judged that Teyla's insomnia that one time was negatively affecting her job performance and put her on stand down until she got some sleep. The issue here is that he had already done so. John is showed as being aware of the physical symptoms that may interfere with Teyla's ability to do her job, fatigue and nausea, before he finds out she is pregnant. He knows, he has a chance to watch her work in the field and, though he feels bad for asking her to work while she isn't feeling hot, he judges her competent to continue. The only thing that changes is that he knows why she's feeling a bit poorly. She's not suddenly going to get more tired or more queazy because of that knowledge.
He's not judging her based on her actual ability to continue going on missions, he's judging her based on how she's prioritizing her pregnancy. Which is none of his goddamn business. She has a doctor. One who, as chief freaking medical officer of the entire mission, has the ability to ground Teyla if she feels her going on missions is of medical concern, and we can assume if she is any kind of doctor, has already had this discussion with Teyla where they have outlined the risks the physical demands of her job might pose to her pregnancy. Am I really supposed to believe that Teyla, who is regularly shown as approaching decisions with a cool head...using both emotional warmth and logical reasoning, who was the leader of an entire people, who makes getting in tune with her own body and mind through meditation and excercise a priority on daily basis, who could take out John with her pinky finger on her worst day, that Teyla is somehow rendered incompetent to judge what level of risk she's willing to take just because a stick turned blue? No. No, no, no, and also....no.
And the other thing that is bugging the ever loving shit out of me here. The assumption that preservation of this pregnancy should come above all other concerns or priorities Teyla may have. It can. It's not a bad thing if it does, especially if Teyla concludes that it trumps, then it's actally a good thing. However, Teyla has a fuckload of major concerns on her plate right now, and it is nowhere near irrational for her to conclude that, when balanced, fighting against a major threat to her home galaxy, or finding her people and partner rates highly enough to outweigh the potential loss if something goes wrong. It's not like she's deciding that her crack habit is of higher priority than taking her prenatal vitamins here. Using the near loss of her pregnancy as a bludgeon to prove John right is just icky on so many levels. Remove the paternalistic "you don't know what's good for you" frame from the same situation, and I can see it being an actual powerful and heartbreaking moment where Teyla decides to shift her priorities. Making it a foregone conclusion that there is no other acceptable decision and that Teyla just needs to catch up to the Wisdom of the Penis....ARGH. And as mentioned above about her already having a doctor...where is Doctor Kaylee in all of this? You know, the one who has actual detailed knowledge of her medical condition. The other actual woman who actually has standing to bring up these concerns and to talk them through with her patient? Wow, those girls sure are silly and stupid, even when they've got medical degrees to back them up, aren't they? Because if the only correct decision truly was for Teyla to stand down, and her doctor, the person in charge of determining medical readiness for missions, didn't call halt, then she's a pretty crappy doctor. Damn women. Can't put them in charge of anything.
And there you have it. I'm going to hope that SGA's tendency to shove uncomfortable implications under the rug, means that the rest of Teyla's pregnancy will be folded into the story in a way that allows me to handwave from here on out. Then I can go merrily on my way and pretend that the part with John never happened, that Teyla worked through the series of issues raised here as a fully competent, adult human being with the support of her friends, to come to this conclusion. Then I can get to imagining fun stuff like clueless Uncle Rodney attempting to bounce a baby.