Technocratic Model

1. Women who were menstruating were seen as unclean and were separated from the others so as not to pollute them. Their cramps were thought of as a punishment and the emotional changes were often thought of as proof of the negative energy that was inside them. The traditional Yurok even believed that the blood was poison and that being around a menstruating woman could curse you (Buckley). In older literature research on women was a rarity. There weren’t many female anthropologists so the research was skewed toward a male bias since all of it was males addressing other males. They didn’t look into the women’s perspective in much depth so their models were quite simplistic coming only from the information from the males. They thought that women …show more content…
The technocratic model of birth refers to how in the United States women are expected to give birth in a hospital connected to all kinds of machines because her “machine” isn’t working properly. It is also about how births are now on a time limit. If the birth isn’t moving fast enough they will give the mother medicines to help induce labor. There is also a pattern here of woman who are scheduling births, you pick a day and time for your C-section, and then you’re done. This gives women the impression that natural birth is unobtainable and that doctors are the only thing saving your baby because that is what they want you to think. Birthing has now become a business, since a plain vaginal birth with no other assistance in a hospital is tens of thousands as it is. Then the added prices or surgery or medications and these doctors and hospitals are making a lot of money off of you believing you need their help and that they have our best interest in mind. This model symbolizes the idea that a woman needs outside help because she is ruled by nature and is not a man who is ruled by science and is therefore broken and in need of assistance. You enter the hospital in a wheelchair as if you are sick and fragile, as if having a baby means there is something wrong with you. The birthing process is ritualized by the woman being separated from what she is used to and placed in a strange environment, placed in a hospital gown and ID band, and hooked up to machines(Davis-Floyd). I agree that this method is considered the norm here but is not necessarily the best way for the mother or the baby. This method does nothing to help the mother except to give her drugs and the entire process makes it seem as if birth is not a natural occurrence that women had been doing successfully even before their medical