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The technocratic body: American childbirth as cultural expression

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  • Davis-Floyd, Robbie E.

Abstract

The dominant mythology of a culture is often displayed in the rituals with which it surrounds birth. In contemporary Western society, that mythology--the mythology of the technocracy--is enacted through obstetrical procedures, the rituals of hospital birth. This article explores the links between our culture's mythological technocratic model of birth and the body images, individual belief and value systems, and birth choices of forty middle-class women--32 professional women who accept the technocratic paradigm, and eight homebirthers who reject it. The conceptual separation of mother and child is fundamental to technocratic notions of parenthood, and constitutes a logical corollary of the Cartesian mind-body separation that has been fundamental to the development of both industrial society and post-industrial technocracy. The professionals' body images and lifestyles express these principles of separation, while the holistic ideology of the homebirthers stresses mind-body and parent-child integration. The conclusion considers the ideological hegemony of the technocratic paradigm as potential future-shaper.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis-Floyd, Robbie E., 1994. "The technocratic body: American childbirth as cultural expression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1125-1140, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:38:y:1994:i:8:p:1125-1140
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shaw, Rebecca & Kitzinger, Celia, 2005. "Calls to a home birth helpline: Empowerment in childbirth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(11), pages 2374-2383, December.
    2. Namey, Emily E. & Lyerly, Anne Drapkin, 2010. "The meaning of "control" for childbearing women in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 769-776, August.
    3. Kierans, Ciara, 2011. "Anthropology, organ transplantation and the immune system: Resituating commodity and gift exchange," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(10), pages 1469-1476.
    4. Emily Burns, 2015. "More Than Four Walls: The Meaning of Home in Home Birth Experiences," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(2), pages 06-16.
    5. Mansfield, Becky, 2008. "The social nature of natural childbirth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 1084-1094, March.
    6. Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Holdren, Sarah M. & Fair, Cynthia D., 2020. "“It was all taken away”: Lactation, embodiment, and resistance among mothers caring for their very-low-birth-weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    7. El-Nemer, Amina & Downe, Soo & Small, Neil, 2006. "'She would help me from the heart': An ethnography of Egyptian women in labour," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 81-92, January.
    8. Tully, Kristin P. & Ball, Helen L., 2013. "Misrecognition of need: Women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 103-111.
    9. Neiterman, Elena & Fox, Bonnie, 2017. "Controlling the unruly maternal body: Losing and gaining control over the body during pregnancy and the postpartum period," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 142-148.
    10. Kroll, Camille & Murphy, Julia & Poston, Lindsay & You, Whitney & Premkumar, Ashish, 2022. "Cultivating the ideal obstetrical patient: How physicians-in-training describe pain associated with childbirth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

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