Whither the Womb? Myths, Machines, and Mothers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11241212 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amadeo F D'Adamo (corresponding author), Elaine Hoffman Baruch |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 72 |
| Publication date | 1986-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers A Journal of Women Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0160-9009 • E-ISSN: 1536-0334 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3346135 |
| OpenAlex | W2316187060 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
Athena came forth full grown from the head of Zeus; Dionysus was carried in his thigh.1 In denying the mother's contribution to reproduction, mythology is not alone; the history of biology denies it also. The first men who described sperm under a microscope claimed to see a complete human being within, the miniature homunculus.2 By thus contradicting the genetic evidence clearly visible in the physical characteristics of children, objective scientists relegated mothers to mere incubators in the reproductive process. Such speculations from ancient Greece on down reflect a recurrent male fantasy, born of envy, fear, and a desire to control, that seeks to eliminate women from the reproductive process altogether. Some feminist thinkers, rejecting the idea that biology is destiny, have also advocated reproduction ex utero (outside the womb) as a means of liberation. But now that the male-dominated reproductive technologies have broken the maternal/fetal bond, some women are afraid that the recurrent male fantasy will eventually become a female nightmare, one in which women are deprived of one of the few sources of power that they have ever had, that of reproduction. To prevent, or at least mitigate, the male domination of reproduction it is necessary that women become actively involved in determining the direction of research as well as the creation of legal structures and the codification of values in the rapidly developing reproductive technologies. Without an awareness of the questions and the implications of the processes and the problems involved in influencing the timing of pregnancy or alleviating infertility, women will not have a meaningful choice; they will continue, instead, to be mere passive recipients of these technological advances. With greater involvement and understanding of what is at stake, women can balance the significant benefits against the risks of these techniques, because, as with all such developments, there are advantages and disadvantages. Rather than take a stand in this article on all of these complex and confusing questions, we will point out a series of issues that arise from these new reproductive technologies, note some of the ambiguities that they reveal, and raise some questions that cannot be ignored. The answers to these questions will be very difficult to find on both an individual and a societal level, but, we believe, rejection of these reproductive technologies is not the solution
Art · Literature · Mythology · Psychoanalysis · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2014 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |