Why Penny and Robbie Risked Pregnancy, Part 1
Why Penny and Robbie Risked Pregnancy, Part 2
Robbie's View of Penny as His Potential Wife
"Going Steady" versus "Going Slumming"
Robbie Gould's Denial of Paternity
Penny's and Robbie's Prospects in Paternity Trial
Penny's Loss of Hope About Robbie
This article has chronology mistakes that I will fix later.
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The Houseman family arrived at the Kellerman resort hotel on Saturday, August 10, 1963. Baby Houseman gave $250 to Penny Johnson on Tuesday, August 13.
During those four days, there remained some possibility that Penny's pregnancy might lead to renewed communication between her and Robbie Gould. Furthermore, such communication might enable Penny and Robbie eventually to reconcile, to marry, to give birth and to raise their child.
As soon as Baby provided the $250 for the abortion, however, Penny and Robbie no longer had to communicate with each other. The possibility of a reconciliation disappeared.
In this article -- Part 1 -- I will discuss how a reconciliation between Penny and Robbie might have begun if Baby had not provided the abortion money. In my next article -- Part 2 -- I will discuss how they might have married happily. These two articles could be the basis for a sequel movie about Robbie and Penny, called Dirty Reconciling.
First, I will review the events that took place from Saturday through Tuesday, August 10-13, with special focus on Penny and Robbie.
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The Events of Saturday Through Monday
On Saturday mid-day, the Houseman family arrived at the Kellerman resort hotel. That evening the family was introduced to Robbie in the restaurant.
On Saturday night, Lisa Houseman and Robbie danced in the ballroom. There, Robbie and Lisa were seen by Penny, who had realized a few days earlier that she was pregnant. Penny intended to inform Robbie about her pregnancy soon. Baby too was dancing in the ballroom, and she chatted with Robbie.
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On Sunday evening, Baby attended the "dirty dancing" party in the employees' bunkhouse. Johnny Castle briefly considered the possibility that Baby might replace Penny in a dance performance at the Sheldrake Hotel and so he tested her dancing skills. He found that she had no dancing experience or talent.
Meanwhile on Sunday evening, Lisa was making out with Robbie in a secluded location on the resort's main grounds. Lisa allowed Robbie to caress her clothed breasts. Robbie and Lisa were beginning to "go steady".
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On Monday mid-day, Baby and Lisa were trying on wigs with Penny's help. Robbie approached Lisa and said he was earning enough money in tips that he soon would be able to buy an Alfa Romeo automobile. Lisa confided to Baby that she intended to meet Robbie secretly at the golf course that night.
On Monday night, Penny learned that Robbie had gone to the golf course with Lisa. Penny, who recently had realized that she was pregnant, lost her hope that she might reconcile with Robbie, because Penny felt she could not compete with Lisa.
However, Baby and Neil Kellerman saw Lisa rushing away from Robbie and arguing with him about their sexual encounter. Neil took Baby into the kitchen, where Baby saw Penny sitting in a corner and weeping. Baby departed from Neil and ran to get Johnny Castle and Billy Kostecki.
Johnny and Billy took Penny back to the empty bunkhouse. There Baby learned that Robbie had made Penny pregnant and that Penny was making up her mind to get an illegal abortion. However, Penny did not have the necessary $250. The abortionist would be available on the Thursday of the following week -- on August 22 -- so Penny had to acquire the $250 before then. Penny refused to accept any money from Johnny for the abortion.
The Events of Tuesday Morning
On Tuesday morning, Penny informed Robbie about her pregnancy and her intention to get an abortion. Penny asked Robbie to help pay for the abortion. Robbie was surprised by this news.
Robbie's first reaction was to blame Penny for the pregnancy. Back in June, they had begun having sexual intercourse, using a condom. Then they agreed that when Penny figured from her menstrual cycle that she probably would not get pregnant, then Robbie could insert his naked penis into her vagina briefly on the condition that he withdraw before he ejaculated. Now Robbie blamed Penny for misinforming him about her menstrual cycle on those occasions. Now Robbie accused Penny of getting pregnant deliberately in order to capture him into a marriage.
Penny's response was that Robbie was the one who had insisted on that stupid scheme of guessing her menstrual cycle so that he could insert his penis without a condom. She had guessed to the best of her ability but had turned out to be mistaken. Anyway, she would not have become pregnant if he had withdrawn properly as he had promised to do.
The argument between Penny and Robbie continued. Robbie insinuated that another man had made Penny pregnant, but she insisted that she had not had sexual intercourse with any other man during her summer at Kellerman's.
Robbie said that he would not help pay for the abortion as long as he had good reason to suspect that some other man might have made Penny pregnant. Robbie was working hard to earn money during this summer, and he did not want to give it all away because of a pregnancy that he had not caused.
Their entire discussion that Tuesday morning was angry and vulgar, but at least Penny and Robbie were talking with each other again. They had avoided each other since they broke up at the beginning of July. Now their renewed communication was enabling them to begin to clarify some facts and resentments about their prior relationship.
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A short time later on that Tuesday morning, Penny informed Johnny and Billy that Robbie refused to help pay for the abortion. Then Billy went to Baby and informed her.
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Later on that same Tuesday morning, Baby on her own initiative went to reason with Robbie about paying for the abortion. Robbie was in the restaurant, setting the tables for lunch. Baby told him she wanted to talk with him about a serious matter. She offered to pour water into the drinking glasses while he was setting the tables.
At this point, Robbie and Baby respected each other's intelligence. They already had chatted several times -- when he was waiting on the Houseman family in the restaurant, when he was dancing with Lisa in the ballroom and when he was present with Lisa.
Robbie had learned that Baby was a serious reader, in contrast to Lisa. Likewise Baby had learned that Robbie was a serious reader, in contrast to most of the young men she knew. Baby had seen that Robbie had argued with Lisa on Monday night, but Baby still was on rather good terms with Robbie.
As Robbie set the tables and Baby poured water, Baby explained to Robbie that his helping to pay for the abortion would be the right thing for him to do. Baby appealed to Robbie's intelligence. Surely Robbie understood that paying for an abortion would be much simpler and cheaper than going through a paternity dispute and then paying child-support for many years. Surely Robbie as a future doctor understood that he should treat Penny in a caring manner.
Robbie did not respond to Baby's reasoning as she expected him to respond. Rather, he objected that Baby was ignorant about the situation and that Penny might be pregnant from some other man. Baby was so shaken by Robbie's objection that she even spilled some of the pitcher's water onto a table.
Then Robbie suggested to Baby that she read a thick book -- Ayn Rand's philosophical novel The Fountainhead -- in order to reason about such situations better. The book would explain to Baby why Penny "does not count".
Frustrated and infuriated by Robbie's refusal to consider her own reasoning, Baby poured the pitcher of water on Robbie, threatened to get him fired and rushed away.
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The following video clip shows how this discussion between Baby and Robbie is depicted in the movie Dirty Dancing.
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Robbie Gould
Just where do you get off, telling me what's right?
Baby Houseman
You can't just leave her.
Robbie Gould
I didn't blow a summer hauling toasted bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place.
[Baby is so shaken that she spills water.] A little precision, please, Baby.
Some people count; some people don't.
[Robbie offers Baby the novel The Fountainhead.] Read it. I think it's a book you'll enjoy, but return it. I have notes in there.
Baby Houseman
You make me sick. Stay away from me. Stay away from my sister, or I'll have you fired.
The Events of Tuesday Afternoon and Evening
After Baby failed to persuade Robbie to help pay for the abortion, she found her father on a putting green and asked him for $250 but refused to state the reason. Her father refused to provide the money.
On that Tuesday evening, Baby went to see Penny, Johnny and Billy in the bunkhouse. Baby told them that she had talked with Robbie and talked with her father, and both of them refused to provide any money. Baby said that if she herself had $250, then she gladly would donate all of it, but she actually had only about $10 and so could not help significantly.
The Events on Wednesday
Penny figured that if she could convince Robbie that no other man had made her pregnant, then Robbie would relent and help her pay for the abortion. She figured that he really had only that one objection and that she could overcome it. She arranged to meet with Robbie again on Wednesday so they could talk privately.
In regard to Penny's relationships with other men during the summer, Penny answered all Robbie's questions and convinced him that she had not had sexual relations with any other man since their break-up.
In return, Robbie remarked that he himself had not become seriously involved with any other woman. He had just begun a relationship with Lisa Houseman but had not gone beyond some making-out with her. Now he already had broken up with Lisa because her sister Baby had threatened to get him fired if he continued to see Lisa. So, Robbie remarked, he was unattached again.
Then the conversation turned toward the abortion. Penny provided Robbie more details than she had provided in their conversation of the previous morning. She explained how the abortionist had been found, what was known about his experience, when he was available, how and how much he would be paid. Penny and Robbie discussed how much money each of them would pay for the abortion.
Finally their conversation turned toward their prior relationship. Robbie assured her that she had not done anything wrong. She had been a good girlfriend. He regretted upsetting her by breaking up with her. He just had come to think that they were mismatched as a couple. Their upbringings and interests were too far apart. Prolonging their relationship would have only postponed their break-up, which was inevitable and would become even more agonizing.
Penny told Robbie that he had broken her heart. She reminded him that she had not finished high school because of her constant arguments with her mother, who kicked her out when she was 16 years old. From that young age, Penny had worked full-time and supported herself. She wasn't stupid. She thought Robbie had enjoyed her wit. She was shocked when he dumped her because she was not smart enough.
Penny wondered whether she was dumped because she failed to read that novel, The Fountainhead, that Robbie recommended to her. Penny had intended to read it -- and she did begin to read it -- but she had become very busy at that time. She was organizing a new wig-selling business for Mr. Kellerman, and she wanted to show him she could excel in that assignment.
Penny assured Robbie that she had enjoyed the novel's first part that she did read. She had browsed through the entire book and had read with interest the notes that Robbie had written in the margins. Even though she had returned the novel to Robbie when they broke up, she still intended to buy her own copy and read it all.
Robbie told her that she would not have to buy her own book. He would give her his own book, with his notes in the margins. He and she would have to meet again to finish making their arrangements for the abortion, and then he would give her his book.
As they parted, Robbie kissed Penny's forehead lightly. He promised that he would help her get through this crisis. He believed her. He felt they were being honest with each other.
The Events on Thursday
On Thursday, Penny and Robbie met again. They immediately agreed that each of them would pay half the $250. Robbie promised to give her his share in a couple days. Because of that agreement, Penny said she would go ahead and schedule the abortion for the following Thursday, August 22. Billy knew the location and so would take her there. Baby would replace her at the Sheldrake dance performance. Johnny already was beginning to teach the dance to Baby.
Robbie gave Penny his book, The Fountainhead, and said she could keep it. He told her he had learned a lot from reading it, and he was sure that she too would learn a lot.
The Events Afterwards
In the following days, Penny spent every spare moment reading The Fountainhead. She paid special attention to the passages that Robbie had annotated in the margins. She found herself identifying strongly with the novel's supporting character, Dominique Francon, who devoted herself passionately to supporting the novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, an extraordinary architect who was revolutionizing the construction of skyscrapers. Robbie's margin notes indicated that he himself admired Howard as a role model and intended to emulate Howard's creative ambition in his own medical career.
Penny supposed that just as Howard was a creative genius in architecture, Robbie might turn out to be a creative genius in medicine. Just as Howard needed a woman, Dominque, to devote herself to his support and satisfaction, Robbie too would need such a woman. Penny understood now, too late, that she should have played such a role for Robbie from the beginning of their relationship.
As Penny read the passage where Howard came into Dominque's bedroom and raped her, Penny agreed with Dominque's reaction that the rape had been "a master taking shameful, contemptuous possession of a slave". Penny regretted now that she ever had impeded Robbie's sexual desires when they were going steady.
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Meanwhile, Robbie was experiencing second thoughts about dumping Penny. He had been unreasonable to think that he ever would find a woman who was intelligent as him and also was beautiful and sexual and also shared all his interests and opinions and also would be a devoted wife and attentive mother. He never would find a woman who combined optimally all the qualities that he desired. He realized now that Penny's qualities were enough to make him happy.
Robbie wanted to excel in his life, as Howard had excelled in The Fountainhead. Dominique never would be able to match Howard's ambition and achievements, but Dominique served devotedly as Howard's helpmate and made Howard happy. If Howard was satisfied with his intellectual inferior Dominique, then Robbie could be satisfied likewise with Penny.
That's the reasoning that worked to reconcile Penny and Robbie. Such reasoning would repel other couples, but it brought Penny and Robbie back together.
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And so forth and so on. Robbie and Penny continued to meet and talk. They decided to resume their relationship. Again they were going steady.
They decided to postpone the abortion. Then they decided to cancel the abortion. Ironically, Robbie "The Objectivist Philosopher" Gould found he could not rationalize aborting his own child from Penny's womb. Robbie told Penny he wanted to marry her so that she would give birth and they together would raise their child.
Robbie introduced Penny to his parents, who immediately accepted her. Especially Robbie's mother loved Penny and always took Penny's side in any disagreement.
Penny called her own mother, from whom she had been estranged for many years, to inform her that she was pregnant and engaged. Penny's mother wanted to reconcile with Penny and so offered to move to Connecticut to help Penny while Robbie attended Yale Medical School. Penny agreed to her mother's offer.
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Robbie and Penny were optimistic about their marriage plans. In 1963, the divorce rate had been very low for many years. After 1963, the divorce rate soared, but Robbie and Penny did not foresee that change.
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Penny and Robbie joined the countless couples who have broken up but reconciled. The following statistics are from an article titled Breaking Up and Getting Back Together: Statistics.
* In 2009 ... the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas found that approximately 65% of U.S. college students had broken up and then gotten back together again.
* A 2012 study ... found that 44% of young adults aged 17 to 24, reported breaking up and getting back together again (with 53% admitting to having sex with an ex).
* According to a 2013 study .... about 37% of couples living together, and 23% of married couples have broken up and then gotten back together again.
* Earlier studies on married couples ... found that between 10-17% of married couples separated and then got back together again, and about 40% of separated married couples attempted a reconciliation ....
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A good friend of mine has now been with her boyfriend for eight years. When they had been together about a year and a half, the guy decided he wanted to be single... Simple as that. He was going to uni and wanted to just be single...after a year and a half. So, off he went; the girl was devastated. He went out with other girls, slept around, and so on. He enjoyed his single life. The girl kept in touch, wrote him letters, went to visit, was in love with him still and was still sleeping with him... Anyway, long story short, in the end she won him back, after about six months. They have been together ever since and are the strongest couple I know.and
A young man I worked with had a girlfriend for about a year. He never really spoke that highly of her and he always used to say things like, she loves me more than I love her. He seemed annoyed by her really and he never really got into the relationship. They fought a lot. Anyway, eventually they broke up, she was devastated. It lasted a couple of months and then he realised what he was missing I guess. They got back together and after a while. Bam! He was in love...they are now engaged.and
Another good friend of mine had lived with her boyfriend for a few years. She had gotten bored in the relationship and didn’t think she loved him anymore. Another guy had caught her eye and she became a bit obsessed with him and left her boyfriend to move back in with her parents. Over the next few months, she pursued this other guy, but nothing ever came of it. She ended up missing her ex so much that after eight months she got back together with him. Lucky for her, he never knew about this other guy and still missed her. They have been back together about a year and have just bought a house together.and
My ex-bf’s sister and her boyfriend have been together about five years. After about two years, they broke up, I’m not sure why, but it lasted about six months. In that time, his sister had another relationship. I’m sketchy on the details of this one, but I know that after six months, something happened and they ended up getting back together. They just bought a place together after being back together for a few years.and
A girl I worked with had an on-again-off-again boyfriend. She used to say he was “nothing special” and they had issues and didn’t seem that bothered about each other. They were on off on off on off... They are now engaged and have just bought a house together.and
My friends lived together and then broke up for a while. By chance, they ran into each other in the pub after a few months of not speaking. They ended up back together and now have a house and are still going strong.and
Another young lad I worked with...and these two were quite young, but still... They are still together now. But, he broke up with her. She didn’t take it well and still tried to be in his life. She cried outside his house, rang and texted all the time, went mental if he was with other girls... They were together for about two years and were about 18 at this point. Anyway, they must have been apart about a year...and I don’t know what happened, but one day...presto, they’re back together. They have been back together for about two years now.=====
This article will be completed by a Part 2 and a Part 3.
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