The Public Life of the Fetal Sonogram
222 pages, 6 x 9
15 images
Paperback
Release Date:09 Sep 2008
ISBN:9780813543642
The Public Life of the Fetal Sonogram
Technology, Consumption, and the Politics of Reproduction
SERIES:
Studies in Medical Anthropology
Rutgers University Press
In The Public Life of the Fetal Sonogram, medical anthropologist Janelle S. Taylor analyzes the full sociocultural context of ultrasound technology and imagery. Drawing upon ethnographic research both within and beyond the medical setting, Taylor shows how ultrasound has entered into public consumer culture in the United States. The book documents and critically analyzes societal uses for ultrasound such as nondiagnostic "keepsake" ultrasound businesses that foster a new consumer market for these blurry, monochromatic images of eagerly awaited babies, and anti-abortion clinics that use ultrasound in an attempt to make women bond with the fetuses they carry, inciting a pro-life state of mind.
This book offers much-needed critical awareness of the less easily recognized ways in which ultrasound technology is profoundly social and political in the United States today.
Janelle S. Taylor is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Washington.
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Sonographers and the Making of the Public Fetus
3. Obstetrical Ultrasound between Medical Practice and Public Culture
4. Love Machine: The Theory of Ultrasound Bonding
5. Prenatal Diagnosis, Pregnancy, and Consumption
6. Entertaining Fetuses: Keepsake Ultrasound and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
7. Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index
1. Introduction
2. Sonographers and the Making of the Public Fetus
3. Obstetrical Ultrasound between Medical Practice and Public Culture
4. Love Machine: The Theory of Ultrasound Bonding
5. Prenatal Diagnosis, Pregnancy, and Consumption
6. Entertaining Fetuses: Keepsake Ultrasound and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
7. Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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