A full page and a half ad for Depo-Provera in the Thursday, Oct. 30 edition of The Chronicle asked in large "Toys 'R Us"-like script, "If you accidentally got pregnant, could you still make it to graduation? It went on to say, "IF you're not ready, you're not ready. That's why more women that ever choose Depo-Provera.... So, you can focus on history, not maternity."
The image of female students at Duke created by this ad is one of stupidity and promiscuity. The ad assumes Duke female students have no self-will to abstain from sex while they pursue their academic career, and that their thoughts in the classroom are torn between sex and their studies.
Pfizer has fabricated a certain image of a female student to sell a product.
What image of our students does the ad give to prospective applicants? One could hardly blame them for wondering if they would be expected to engage in sex on a regular basis.
So much for our campus as a place where they might be taken seriously in the classroom for their intelligence, concentration, and true love of learning.
Emily O'Brien's magnificent letter in the Oct. 27 edition of The Chronicle is only one example of the fine quality of our female students, which Pfizer's ad wishes to undermine.
Susan Keefe,
Associate Professor, Divinity School
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