My nephew is a pro magician and one of his female assistants just got pregnant. He told her that if she doesn’t get an abortion, she’s out of the act. Plain and simple. Because he will hire a replacement when she can’t fit inside the illusions anymore. And he thinks it would be distasteful to saw a pregnant lady in half. I’m disgusted but I’m not sure if I have the guts to tell him so. What a disgrace
I don’t see the issue. His act requires a woman of a certain size. If she’s bigger than that size, the act doesn’t work. Would he do the same thing if she wasn’t pregnant but had gained 40 pounds?
What exactly are you disgusted by?
Is he accepting any financial responsibility for the child?
If she doesn’t fit in the illusions, how is she going to be able to do her job? That said, saying he’ll fire her if she doesn’t abort seems like a particularly tactless way of dealing with the situation.
Is it his?
Why should he? He doesn’t appear to be the father, just the boss that requires an extremely small woman for his act to work.
Think–assistant & magician travel together, stay in the same hotel, long way from home…good odds…
That’s why they always say, before you pull the rabbit out of the hat, make sure you know how to put it back in.
Hm. Interesting EEOC bit here. Is that legal? Seriously, is it?
Damn. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall for that confrontation:
Magician’s Nephew (I know, but work with the joke, already!):“Sadie, I’ll drive you to the clinic and back. You have to get rid of the kid; the whole second act depends on you being the size you are NOW!”
Magician’s Assistant: “What, ‘Carnac’? You think you can just wave a magic wand and Presto! Chango! this baby is gone? Is that what you think, Mr Scarf Up the Sleeve Instead of a Condom?”
MN:" Yes. By the magic of modern medicine, I can make it disappear! Now get in the damned car!"
MA:“Well, I like that. As if one lousy abracadabra makes everything just peachy. Fred, listen to this: your mastery over ME and this baby are an illusion, got that, Voldemort?”
MN:" I swear you can’t get good help these days. And stop with the magician jokes; you know how I hate them."
MA:“Now you see it, now you don’t, sucker! Maybe I’m pregnant and maybe I’m not. HA!”
Yes, he is being kind of a dick in the handling of this. He could have said he have to let her go, not abort the kid or else! (I realize the baby isn’t his, but it’s funnier if it is for the story.)
That motherfucker should be sawn in half.
Someone should make him disappear.
Maybe you can do a rope trick…around his neck.
He better be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat, or else it’s curtains for him.
I guess it’s just not in the cards for your nephew.
Why? It would make the abortion easier.
Actually, I think it would make a better show. (Man, I wish I could find Richiardi’s Chamber Of Horror And Illusion.)
Most likely. There are plenty of jobs, such as acting, where it’s legal to hire and fire based on appearance and physical characteristics.
Of course, that doesn’t prevent people from being an asshole when using that power sometimes.
It’s tactless to suggest an abortion, but not unreasonable to replace her if she can’t physically perform in the act. I guess a really enlightened guy would offer her some kind of paid maternity leave and put her back in the show after the child was born, but unless he’s Criss Angel or something, I doubt he has the finanacial resources to do that.
Still, asking her to get an abortion is out of bounds. It’s one thing to say “I can’t keep you on if you can’t perform.” That’s just honesty. It’s quite another thing to presume to tell her what to do about her own pregnancy.
falls down on the floor in shock
I agree completely with Dio’s post.
It’s rude to suggest an abortion but otherwise I don’t see the problem. What do you suggest he do? Create all-new tricks at his own expense just to accommodate her for a few months?
I don’t see that the nephew’s behaviour is disgraceful, though if it exactly as the OP describes (and I have my doubts), he’s being at worst tactless. The assistant’s job has some fairly strict physical requirements - either she meets them or he hires someone else.
For an employer to suggest that a pregnant woman get an abortion is disgraceful. I agree with Diogenes. If she can’t physically do the job, he’ll have to let her go, and it’s okay to tell her that. It is incredibly, mind-blowingly beyond the bounds of okay to tell someone to terminate a wanted pregnancy. If he wanted to move beyond merely okay to stand-up human being, he could offer her maternity leave or try to help her find another job using his connections.
Even unpaid maternity leave but finding a way to hold her job would be decent: possibly the act could be reconfigured for the meantime or something. One would hope he’d at least make an attempt to find a creative solution.