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Summary: The Woman In The Body

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Emily Martin wrote the novel The Woman in the Body to show how women are being degraded to metaphors and that their natural processes are deemed a social process. Women are being placed in a medical community where their best interests are being degraded to medical practices. The mother is being separated from her body and being placed secondary to the deliverance of the baby. The woman is being influenced by technology and society in order to conform to the needs and wants of the doctor through their use of power and authority. Max Weber developed the Theory of Domination, which perfectly exemplifies the influence doctors in the medical community have on women. However, women are slowly coming to the realization that they have alternate options …show more content…

In the last ten years, more and more women are going the home-birthing route because it is safer and more natural. This can be seen as a mini revolt against the stigmatized and dehumanized view of mothers and birth. Using a midwife and having a home birth allows for the body to naturally go into labor, a labor that could last hours or even days. The female body is designed to naturally produce oxytocin, a hormone that causes labor. In this process, a mother goes through contractions where the baby is turning around so they are facing head first. The mother has complete control over her body and the position in which she chooses to give birth. There are no drugs used in a home birthing and the mother can feel every ounce of pain. Not only are they letting their bodies handle the process naturally, but they are also able to form an unbreakable bond with their baby. This can also be seen as a revolt against the modern technologies and views on women. In the hospitals, mothers do not produce oxytocin at the right times or right levels, and their babies do not get this hormone when feeding on breast milk. This causes a lack in mother to baby bonding. In a home birth, the baby receives the hormone through the breast milk because there was no interference in the birthing process. The mother and child form a different and more passionate relationship going this route as opposed to the hospital route.

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