Charity Gibson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Charity Gibson

Several years ago, I attended a women's retreat. Women of various ages were there, mingling and c... more Several years ago, I attended a women's retreat. Women of various ages were there, mingling and chatting. Conversations varied, but there was one theme that arose repeatedly. Picking up on the trend, one of my friends turned to someone and asked, "Why is it that any time a group of women get together, they end up talking about childbirth?" That question has stayed with me, and the longer I contemplate it, the more I find that most women feel compelled, at one point or another, to talk about their birthing experience(s). Regardless of whether the experience is good or bad, for most, it is unforgettable. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar have famously asked, "Is a womb a metaphorical mouth?" (227). While they ask this question within the framework of sex and gender influencing use of language, I argue that not only does having a womb influence one's experience of the world and consequential story, but the carrying of a baby within that womb prompts a woman to share her story. Furthermore, evidence suggests that fewer interventions during birth increases the likelihood of a positive birth story. Birth has been happening since the early beginnings of mankind; yet, despite its prevalence, every birth story is somehow unique. Every pregnancy, labor, and delivery simultaneously share similarities which bind women together and differences which individualize them. Today, perhaps more than ever, women need to tell their stories of pregnancy and childbirth because those stories are largely being told for them in the dominant culture of the Western world. However, I recognize that much of my research focuses on women in dominant culture, which often concentrates on middle-class white women. The reality is that women of color and women in poverty continue to be underrepresented in studies. It is, therefore, invaluable to encourage all women to share their birth narratives to rectify homogenization and to allow them to represent the multifaceted experiences that exist. Women's perspective and influence on childbirth has been largely replaced by male influenced and dominated modern medicine. Furthermore, fictional, farcical representations of birth are being spoon-fed to the public and often taken as fact. Speaking and writing of their pregnancy and childbirth experience can be a way for women to reclaim the agency they have lost through the media's portrayal and the medicalization of birthing in which patriarchal agenda and technological knowledge have superseded women's ancient wisdom and practice of child birthing. The medicalization of pregnancy and delivery and the glorification of science over female experience and knowledge has not only devalued natural childbirth but it has also significantly silenced women and their stories through the framing of pregnancy as illness. Pregnancy is called a "condition" in the same way that a terminal illness is called a condition. Rachel Westfall explains, "The inability of women to conceal pregnancy in its later stages, the potential for fluid leakage, and the uncertain nature of the timing and outcome of delivery, are all reflected in dominant societal discourse regarding the fragility and unpredictability of the pregnant body. This discourse in turn reinforces the medicalization process" (264). Convincing women to think of themselves as delicate and in need while with child has been key, for only then will women allow someone else to direct their diet, exercise, delivery, and recovery process. As Ann Luce et al. explains, "By medicalising childbirth, the medical establishment rendered both women and midwives as passive agents in the birthing process. The female body, thus, was reduced to an inferior status, and childbirth was now something that was 'performed' on a woman, rather than something women performed'" (3). This narrative of pregnancy as sickness ironically turns women, who have traditionally been portrayed as powerful, life giving figures in mythology and tribal cultures, into helpless patients unable to give life without the influence of

Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics

Several years ago, I attended a women's retreat. Women of various ages were there, mingling and c... more Several years ago, I attended a women's retreat. Women of various ages were there, mingling and chatting. Conversations varied, but there was one theme that arose repeatedly. Picking up on the trend, one of my friends turned to someone and asked, "Why is it that any time a group of women get together, they end up talking about childbirth?" That question has stayed with me, and the longer I contemplate it, the more I find that most women feel compelled, at one point or another, to talk about their birthing experience(s). Regardless of whether the experience is good or bad, for most, it is unforgettable. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar have famously asked, "Is a womb a metaphorical mouth?" (227). While they ask this question within the framework of sex and gender influencing use of language, I argue that not only does having a womb influence one's experience of the world and consequential story, but the carrying of a baby within that womb prompts a woman to share her story. Furthermore, evidence suggests that fewer interventions during birth increases the likelihood of a positive birth story. Birth has been happening since the early beginnings of mankind; yet, despite its prevalence, every birth story is somehow unique. Every pregnancy, labor, and delivery simultaneously share similarities which bind women together and differences which individualize them. Today, perhaps more than ever, women need to tell their stories of pregnancy and childbirth because those stories are largely being told for them in the dominant culture of the Western world. However, I recognize that much of my research focuses on women in dominant culture, which often concentrates on middle-class white women. The reality is that women of color and women in poverty continue to be underrepresented in studies. It is, therefore, invaluable to encourage all women to share their birth narratives to rectify homogenization and to allow them to represent the multifaceted experiences that exist. Women's perspective and influence on childbirth has been largely replaced by male influenced and dominated modern medicine. Furthermore, fictional, farcical representations of birth are being spoon-fed to the public and often taken as fact. Speaking and writing of their pregnancy and childbirth experience can be a way for women to reclaim the agency they have lost through the media's portrayal and the medicalization of birthing in which patriarchal agenda and technological knowledge have superseded women's ancient wisdom and practice of child birthing. The medicalization of pregnancy and delivery and the glorification of science over female experience and knowledge has not only devalued natural childbirth but it has also significantly silenced women and their stories through the framing of pregnancy as illness. Pregnancy is called a "condition" in the same way that a terminal illness is called a condition. Rachel Westfall explains, "The inability of women to conceal pregnancy in its later stages, the potential for fluid leakage, and the uncertain nature of the timing and outcome of delivery, are all reflected in dominant societal discourse regarding the fragility and unpredictability of the pregnant body. This discourse in turn reinforces the medicalization process" (264). Convincing women to think of themselves as delicate and in need while with child has been key, for only then will women allow someone else to direct their diet, exercise, delivery, and recovery process. As Ann Luce et al. explains, "By medicalising childbirth, the medical establishment rendered both women and midwives as passive agents in the birthing process. The female body, thus, was reduced to an inferior status, and childbirth was now something that was 'performed' on a woman, rather than something women performed'" (3). This narrative of pregnancy as sickness ironically turns women, who have traditionally been portrayed as powerful, life giving figures in mythology and tribal cultures, into helpless patients unable to give life without the influence of

Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics