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The Birthing Process

In Birth as an American Rite of Passage, Robbie E. Davis-Floyd (1992) contends that the birthing process in the U.S. is the effort by the technocratic society to control a natural act (p. 2). According to her, the birthing process should be considered a rite of passage because it sends a powerful message to the women, "the initiates," that the technocratic institutions are superior to their natural capacities (Davis-Floyd, 1992, p. 16). Fundamentally, Davis-Floyd (1992) highlights the fact that woman's creative power is usurped by the hospital and technology. Instead of being celebrated as a life-giver, she is disempowered and made to feel helpless and dependent on them (pp. 74-5). From the technocratic perspective, women's bodies are regarded as entities that are likely to fail and need to be fixed during the birthing process (David-Floyd, 1992, p. 54).

To support her main arguments, Davis-Floyd uses a wide variety of sources. Regarding the perspective of doctors towards pregnancies, she cites articles from prestigious medical journals and books on pregnancies and birthing written by doctors. These writings illuminate the obstetricians' complete reliance on technology and their belief in the necessity of using technology to control the birthing process (Davis-Floyd, 1992, pp. 54-5).

One of her most powerful ways of demonstrating the imposition of the hospital staff and the technology on the women is her presentation of four perspectives: "Official Rationale," "Physiological Effects," "Women's Responses" and "Ritual Purposes." By providing the diverse perspectives on every step of the birthing process and the hospital procedures, Davis-Floyd (1992) illustrates convincingly the fact that many of the hospital procedures were imposed on the women to reinforce the technocratic culture, rather than for the well-being of the women (pp. 76-153). For example, birthing mothers are forced to lie in bed even though many studies have shown...

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The Birthing Process. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:55, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687742.html