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Theory of Michel Foucault
childless in socio-culture,economic
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In New Zealand, the number of childless couples has increased (Statistics New Zealand, 2013). More women are choosing not to have children. Does this mean that voluntary childlessness is becoming something that is normalised? Are women really free to make this decision? What are the societal implications of a decision of this nature? When it comes to what is expected from women in the Western society ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ are often connected. In this essay, I will argue, through the lens of Foucauldian theory and then from a feminist anthropological perspective that women have less freedom than it seems when it comes to decisions about their own reproduction. Utilising some aspects of Foucault 's theoretical framework, I will briefly outline
All my life I have admired my parents’ strong work ethic and workplace competency and achievement. My expectations were that if I wanted to sacrifice myself to a career, it would not raise an eyebrow. As a child I was told that I could be whatever I dreamed of; in my dreams I never envisioned myself as a mother. I began suggesting my decision of childlessness to my parents in subtle ways but it was not until a family dinner with both mine and my partners family that I was asked bluntly by my mother if I was serious about not wanting children. At that point I openly declared that I had no plan or desire to have kids. The conversation that followed took away any shred of confidence I had about my chosen childlessness and left me with a feeling of unexpected
My mother then softly asked me to tell her why? She needed me to justify why I did not want children.
I tried to understand why all the comments and questions were directed at me even though the decision was mutually made. It was just as much Josh’s decision yet I was being viewed as the resistant party. After it had all simmered down my mother told me that when she was my age she did not want children either. She only insisted that I rethink childlessness because her mother had convinced her to have children. She reinforced that she would accept my decision whatever it may be. I could not help but feeling that even though biologically it was my choice, in reality I would not be normal if I chose to not to have children. The underlying expectations of motherhood, a part of the Western society I was brought up in, meant that I did not have the freedom of choice I thought I
Foucault capitalizes that power and knowledge contribute to the discourse of sex; he discusses how people in power controlled this discourse to repress sex entirely. Foucault talks about the repressive hypothesis in his book. The repressive hypothesis states that whoever holds the power, also controls the discourse on sexuality. Specifically, those in power, according to the repressive hypothesis, exercise to repress the discussion of sex. In addition, Foucault comments that knowledge represents power. Whoever has the power can dictate the language of the population, thus this causes powerful people to also regulate the knowledge of the population. Although Foucault does not agree with every aspect that the repressive hypothesis exclaims, he agrees about the timing of when people started to repress sex. With rise of the bourgeoisie in the 17th century, a rise in tighter control about sex also took place. Foucault stated that the discourse of sex remained
Halfway through dinner I decided to tell them. “That 's great baby, you know we support you no matter what,” says my Mom. As I bring out the numbers for college tuition, their faces seem to changed from excited to nervous. “I cannot afford that, honey,” says my Dad quietly, being unemployed then. That upset me because I was determined to follow my dreams.
The term "reproductive rights" has become synonymous with abortion rights, birth control access, and issues surrounding reproductive technologies, yet the struggle for a woman's right to choose when and how to become pregnant often overshadows a woman's right to choose where and how to give birth. The lack of feminist discourse and activism surrounding issues of childbirth may attest to the hegemony in the modern American birth ritual of increasing medical intervention from obstetricians in hospital settings. There are currently several movements to challenge this dominant birth model--prepared childbirth advocates offer education classes and natural childbirth advocates lobby for the rights of midwives and home births--but I refrain from giving either of these movements a feminist label because neither are invested in challenging prevailing gender ideology or the equation of woman with motherhood. This paper will argue that a feminist discourse of childbirth is necessary by using a Foucauldian analysis to chart the current web of power and knowledge in the American hospital delivery room and how it works to deny agency to women in labor, alienating them from their experience. Recognizing that power and knowledge operate on a myriad of levels and tactics, including counter-tactics, I will not limit my focus to the dominant discourse of medical experts, but also explore what I call counter discourses of childbirth, particularly from the prepared childbirth and natural childbirth advocates. Within this discussion, I hope to offer suggestions on a feminist ethic of childbirth that reaffirms women's autonomy during labor, but does not limit them to prevailing codes o...
Marriage and family therapists Gary and Joy Lundberg’s article on the Family share website argues why it is important for couples to have children. Gary and Joy’s mission is to strengthen marriages and families worldwide through their books, music and family counselling business. The article “Why couples need to have kids” addresses why the reasons for couples, especially young ones, need to have children. The article states that there are practical reasons, emotional reasons and Biblical reasons for having children. In my opinion, I feel that a couple does not “need” to have children as the title of the article states. It is important for couples to privately decide whether they should have children or not. Each individual couple knows themselves and can determine if they are ready for children. The desire to have children is not in everyone and this article assumes so.
Deep down inside, I have always known my parents are loving parents that will do anything they can to support me to prosper and succeed in life. The only problem is that my parents came from very traditional household that used the authoritarian parenting style, so that is the style they used on me. While growing up with parents using the authoritarian parenting style, I was not exposed to their warmth or nurturing side. Instead, I was taught to respect authority and traditional structure in a demanding, controlling and punitive way. This affected me in a negative way as I was expected to follow strict rules unconditionally with absolute obedience, and my parents rarely gave me choices or options as they had very high expectations of what I should be doing. For example, when I was in junior high, my parents selected all of my courses and I had no control over my school schedule. They told me that they were doing this because they knew what was good for me and what career path I should be going into in the future. However, what they did not understand at that time is that their actions lowered my self-esteem and prevented me to act independently; as a result, I never really learned how to set my own limits and personal standards until I entered my sophomore year in high school.
I was a somewhat unwanted child, because the culture exalted male children and despised female children. I was my parents’ third daughter. I was also the darkest skinned, another trait that was undesirable in my culture. I cannot forget that my mother was unsatisfied when she had me. When I was at my tender age my told me about her past and why she wanted a son and dissatisfied when I was born. From her upbringing and the cultural praise of male children, she too wanted a son. However, my father was always proud of us even though we were daughters. As a little girl I would go to my father and touch him in order to become light like him, and he told me I was his precious gold. His love and acceptance of everyone inspired me to aim higher. My father doesn’t believe gender determines a person’s intelligence, so he always hoped for the best for his three daughters and son. I realized that my parents’ had different perspectives on their children because of their varying upbringings. Coming to America I...
Both Foucault and Butler orient their respective philosophies towards the idea of the body, and its relationship to sexuality and gender. Foucault, in his book, “History and Sexuality, Vol. I” asserts that bodies are constituted within a specific network of cultural influences. Whereas Butler, in her book, “Gender Trouble”, agrees with Foucault that the body is only understandable within the context of gender and sexuality, she argues that Foucault’s theory implies that there is a materiality (or ontological independence) of the body outside of those specific cultural regimes; while the body is shaped and determined by cultural influences, its concrete substance is continued in, and outside of, that connection. While Foucault provides the basis
With such factors as genetics, conception, development, and influence in relations to having a child, becoming a parent is not for everyone. It is no secret that humans live in a structured environment but ultimately, the act of raising a child is an act of agency. This act of independence places the responsibility of raising a child solely upon the caregiver. Parents must understand the responsibilities needed to give a child the life it needs and deserves. If a parent remain ignorant and blames others for their own failures of properly raise a child, they have no one else to blame but
For Michel Foucault, it is important to be aware of the relation between the author and text. Moreover, it is important to know about author figure. Foucault asks “What does it matter who is speaking?” accordingly and his question conveys the main ethical principles of écriture-meaning for instant writings. There are several rules for instant writings; therefore, Foucault splits his assumption into two categories. The first category is related with designing that he believes writing should be “freed” from the need to “express” and should able to agent for only its own self which refers to writing expands in a similar ways that it conflicts its own concepts of rules, then it vanishes during the establishment of space upon writing. His second category is related with connection between the writers and their death which means that for him the concept of the author is a component of a historical continuum. It is important to know about the idea of that authorship is flexible because the texts we read take on shapes by readers in communities differently. Foucault argues about the concept of writing, which is called –simply ‘écriture’- , that writing is not interested in its aesthetic and intimations. Basically, écriture remains in transcendental custom that it helps to open more gates for authors in writing.
Bordo, S. 1993. "Feminism, Foucault, and the Politics of the Body." In C. Ramazanoglu, (Ed.): Up Against Foucault. Explorations of some Tensions between Foucault and Feminism. London and New York: Routledge.181 -202.
Laurie states there is a more realistic version of a decision- theoretic approach which calls a normative decision theory (pg3). A normative decision theory can capture norms for ordinary successful reasoning. This totally makes sense that we should “glean approximate values for our outcomes and apply the right decision theoretic rule, we can conform to the ordinary standard for rational decision-making”(pg 3). This way of decision making makes it very clear and realistic to the outcomes of having a child and being childless. Versus just thinking about what it would be like to have your own
Everyday, people are faced with choices. Some of life’s choices are simple, such as deciding what to wear to school or choosing a television station to watch. Other choices, however, are much more serious and have life-altering consequences. Being pregnant has many choices, whether or not to keep the baby. There are many choices such as adoption, or abortion. I decided that I would keep my baby because I knew in my heart that I would regret it in the long run if I didn’t. Throughout my pregnancy I suffered from depression, which is the condition of feeling sad or despondent mentally. My depression was mainly due to the fact that I was sixteen, alone, and scared, I was a waitress at a local restaurant, but that job couldn’t pay for all the financial needs it takes to raise a child. I left my baby’s father when all the arguing and physical abuse began. I couldn’t deal with that and I definitely wasn’t going to raise my child through it. Although I knew deep down that this big decision was for the best, it was still difficult and very painful. Just the thought of raising a child alone was scary. My parents were so disappointed in me they really didn’t have much to say, especially my mother. That made my pregnancy worse because I felt as though I had no one to talk to. I had friends to talk to but most of them didn’t understand what I was going through.
Comedian Ray Romano once said “Having children is like living in a frat house. Nobody sleeps, everything 's broken, and there 's a lot of throwing up.” Children are human beings between the stages of birth and puberty. Children need a lot of care and nurturing and because of this they need a guardian around a lot. The decision to have a child is the most difficult and most life changing decision a couple will ever make. This decision will either negatively or positively influence a couple’s life. Overall informs, “having children has impact far beyond the family circle” (396). When someone raises a child, they must introduce the world to the child. Parents have the job of teaching the child right from wrong and get them prepared to join society.
Stevens, John, and Nazia Parveen. "I've Been Refused IVF Because My Fiance Is Already a Father, Reveals Heartbroken Woman." Mail Online. N.p., 1 Nov. 2013
For a person to make a decision can be a hard thing, especially for women. A mother's desire to have children cannot be pressured or forced upon, women have to take the time to think about what they want in their life. Motherhood is something that most women think about, even when they were a child. As time goes by, we learn to rethink and reflect on what we want in our life. Parenthood can be one of the toughest decision to make because it takes a lot of effort and dedication. Parenthood impacts more on the women than men because they don't have to deal with the burden. There will be obstacles and barriers that will impact women when becoming a mother.