Wendy W.

Williams
Equality’s Riddle: Pregnancy and the Equal Treatment/Special Treatment Debate

-‘Uniqueness’ is inapplicable to the childrearing and breastfeeding process

-On superficial level, is pregnancy comparable to other physical conditions? On deeper level, does
pregnancy ‘naturally’ make women unequal in the workplace?
-On the deepest level, women consider pregnancy special and important so the law should honor &
recognize that
-On equal treatment side, focus is on commonality rather than difference
-Critics believe the ‘equal treatment model’ precludes recognition of pregnancy uniqueness
-Proponents of ‘equal treatment model’ view pregannacy as one of the physical conditions that affect
workplace participation for men & women

In Defense of ‘Equal Treatment’

-seeks to keep in step of the increased participation by women by redefining traditional family roles
-The crucial functions of the traditional family arrangement-financial support, housework, and
childrearing- should not, according to today’s feminists, be assigned by sex
-Pregnancy should not be treated as a private problem
-‘Equal treatment model’(ETM) is designed to discourage employers and the state from creating or
maintain rules that perpetuate the traditional family roles
-ETM separates pregnancy and childrearing and insists that each be independently analyzed (ie
substitute ‘parental’ for ‘maternal’ leave)
-difference between ETM critics and advocates is a matter of tactic rathen than ultimate goal
-The separation of pregnancy and childrearing encourages persons from ordering their lives in a way
that best meets their economic and personal needs
-Under the functional analysis, when pregnancy is not disabling, it should not be a basis for forced leave
or termination any more than any other nondisabling condition; as well as, if pregnancy does become
disabling, the benefits appropriate for other workers should be extended to pregnant workers as well
-In 1919, the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted a Convention on Maternity Protection for
Working Women
-ILO provided such benefits has maternity leave for up to 14 weeks, job security, and guarantee paid
nursing breaks (NOTE:ILO considered a ‘special treatment’ model)
-‘Special Treatment’ model see themselves as defending what they have, rathen than seeking more at
the risk of ending up with nothing
- The United States is virtually alone, especially among industrialized countries in having no legislation
providing affirmative protection for a woman worker who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child