The purpose of the following paper is to interpret the popularity of reproductive technology within the area of sociology. Reproductive technology was developed to treat infertility. Over the last two decades its advancement was encouraged and popularity was achieved by three following sociological phenomenon: an increase in women in labour market and the choice of alternative lifestyle, and proliferation and availability of technology. As reproductive technology attains recognition, sociological consequences such as commercialization of reproduction, gender imbalance, and legal measures regarding reproductive technology consequently have taken place. Understanding reproductive technology within sociology explains the cause of its popularity and its subsequent influence in society.
To understand its popularity, the background and history of reproductive technology should be reviewed. John D. Biggers introduced origin and development of reproductive technology through his papers, Ivf and embryo transfer: historical origin and development. In the 1980s, first non-human embryo transfer was experimented. After years of trials and finally in 1959, a Chinese scientist, Chang achieved first success in vitro fertilization (IVF) of rabbits. In 1973, the first human IVF was experimented; however, unfortunately, this experiment resulted in an early miscarriage. Then finally in 1978, Drs. Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards from England attempted human IVF and achieved a successful birth of a girl, named Louise Brown. Since then, IVF became an accepted measure of treating infertility and thus giving births to more than five million. Also, Canada, since that time, has experienced a boom in reproductive technology. The various numbers of proced...
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... birth, I would like to conduct both phone surveys and existing source to collect data.
Reproductive technology’s popularity and its influence can be understood within the area of sociology. An increase in women in the labour market and in the choice of alternative lifestyle, and proliferation and availability of technology were three sociological causes of its popularity. As reproductive technology attained more popularity, sociological consequences such as commercialization of reproduction, gender imbalance, and legal measures regarding reproductive technology surfaced. For the pursuit of this research, if time, opportunities and budgets were sufficient, I would use survey and existing source as my research design. The popularity and influence of reproductive technology could be analyzed from understanding the preceding and consequent sociological phenomenon.
With entering of the 21st century, social life has undergone enormous changes, biomedical technology have seen an unprecedented development. Artificial reproductive technology is an important part in the entire biomedical technology, including artificial insemination, Al, inseminations, IVF, surrogacy, and clone it four ways. As biomedical technology difficulties encountered in the 20th century, like artificial reproductive technology despite already produced, but from the date they are incurred, it is doomed to its controversial. Surrogacy as an alternative reproductive technology, the continuation of the way is not a product of modern times. As the embodiment of modern technology, surrogacy contract appears firstly in the mid-1970s. Time Magazine in 1978 firstly used surrogate mother in the mainstream media to describe another female couple for fertility (Beverly, 1987). S...
When legally introduced to society in 1960, the Pill stirred up a long period of controversy. The availability of the Pill had great impact on women’s health, social life, laws, religion, family, relationships, morality and sexuality. Initially conceived to be highly effective and safe, the Pill left many women with side effects – few which led to several fatalities. Before the Pill was created, many women postponed sex due to the social norm and fear of becoming pregnant before marriage. Families grew large and it was typical for a woman to have multiple children caused by the lack of birth control. Due to regulations, such as the Comstock laws, many people supported the prohibition of the Pill and other family planning practices. However, many women believed in the right to control their own body when it came to procreation. Despite the controversies, the Pill left lasting impacts, such as by opening society to the sexual revolution and...
Subsequently, the provided documents on the birth control movement did show the push and pull factors of the complicated and multifaceted debate. Americas push towards industrial growth, and technology demanded that the subsequent progressive reforms were needed for a society ushering in a new era. At the same time, fear and reluctance to abandon tradition and religious custom acted as the pulling factor. The birth control debate was a complicated and heavily charged debate teemed in religious, social, political, and racial rhetoric. Historical documents help shed new light on the things taken for granted today, even the most seemingly innocuous things like birth control were fought for, so that men and women today could be in charge of their own destinies.
Commercial surrogacy respects the feminist theory as it allows women to be heard and considers their feelings and relationships. Commercial surrogacy overcomes oppression by returning power to surrogates, defeating the patriarchal society and providing autonomy. Commercial surrogacy also tackles the issue of potentially exploiting women by protecting surrogates and, addressing the risks of surrogacy. There are many ethical issues surrounding women and the feminist theory can be a powerful tool in determining moral
“IVF Patient Numbers and Success Rates Continue to Rise." Human Fertlisation & Embryology Authority. Dec. 2007. .
In Thomas B. Edsall’s “The Two Revolutions,” Edsall analyzes these two major revolutions that have transpired in American history: the socio-cultural or rights movement and the technological, scientific, and economic revolution (TSE). The sociocultural revolution involved the rights concerning workingwomen, women’s work and workplace rights, demographic change, sexual freedom and abortion rights. Post-World War II, America faced a race-based freedom movement, which worked parallel to the decay of sexual mores. Further, the “rights” revolution worked inclusively of the contraceptive revolution. The contraceptive revolution was a result of the innovation of antibiotics, surgical abortion, fertility techniques and more, allowing women to delay childbirth and focus on careers, for instance. With sex-based discrimination faltering as a result of this movement, it paved the way for an immense admittance of women into the workforce. Moreover, the resulting developments of this movement were observable in Vatican II (1965), which instigated the modernization of sex roles within the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is clear that the “rights” revolution was not limited to America, but a movement visible throughout the world.
She presents the idea that primitive forms of birth control are no longer ethical in today’s society as their methods would violate various mores that have been set by present day society by saying that that “primitive man have achieved the same results by infanticide, exposure of infants, abandonment of children, and abortion.” She uses examples of seemingly barbaric primitive methods to exemplify that in present times there is a need for a more civilized and humane method of family planning. By using this extreme example, Sanger effectively appeals to ethos to hopefully persuade the audience by showing how the old methods would themselves be contradictory to the set of morals the opposers are trying so hard to hold on to. She also appeals to ethos in the very end of the speech by identifying three separate and conflicting social classes that are based on intelligence and wealth. She describes the first class as being “intelligent and wealthy members of the upper classes who have obtained knowledge of birth control and exercise it in regulating the size of their families.” She then compares the highest class to the mid-level group by saying they they too are “equally intelligent and responsible” but can not gain knowledge and there fore can not plan their families. By comparing the first two alone it appeals to ethics as two groups with equal knowledge and wealth should both have knowledge and control over the size of their families. She ties in the last group by saying that the lowest group is “irresponsible and reckless” and states that this group reproducing in large numbers is bad for society as it will spread disease and the increase in size of this “feeble-minded” group. This in itself is not fair to the other members of society as it makes it more dangerous for the others. She uses the unfairness of this negligence
In the second decade of the twentieth century, the U.S. birth control movement became an important topic among Americans. It was at this time that Margaret Sanger, the eventual founder of Planned Parenthood, became involved in the radical movement for voluntary motherhood and the distribution of contraceptives (Hartmann). As a nurse she assisted poor women in giving birth, and saw the effect of having too many children on the welfare of these women. She also saw the suffering, pain, and death of many women who obtained unsafe, backdoor abortions to escape having more children (Shaw, Lee).
“When a motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become the foundation of a new race." (Margaret Sanger, 1) Margaret Sanger, known as the founder of birth control, declared this powerful statement. It is reality that the rights that are customary for women in the twentieth century have been the product of the arduous physical and mental work of many courageous women. These individuals fought for the right for women to be respected in both mind and body by bestowing on them the rights to protect their femininity and to gain the equivalent respect given to men. A remarkable woman named Margaret Sanger is the individual who incredibly contributed to the feministic revolution that took place in the 1920’s. Her legacy of making the right to use birth control legal for woman is a precedent in history for the foundation of the equal rights battle that is still being fought today. By giving control back to the women in their sexuality, Margaret Sanger also restored confidence in those women who felt that their lives revolved around pregnancy. She has become an influential icon to women all around the world who enjoy the security of birth control that gives them the freedom in their sexuality on a daily bases.
[11] Raymonds, Janice G.. "Reproduction, population, technology and rights." Women in Action Journal. 2:1998 back
Test tube babies have long been stigmatized by society as the unnatural results of scientific dabbling. The words `test tube baby' have been used by school children as an insult, and many adults have seen an artificial means of giving birth as something perhaps only necessary for a lesbian woman, or a luxury item only available to the elite few. The reality is that assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been helping infertile couples have children since 1978.1 The methods of in vitro fertilization, it's variants, and the other ART procedures are ways for persons that would otherwise have no hope of conception to conceive and, in a rapidly growing percentage of cases, give birth to healthy babies. As the technology has developed, the quality and range of assistance has developed as well. At present, the means of assisted reproduction and the capabilities of these procedures has grown at a somewhat dizzying pace. However, thought to the repercussions of the applications of ART are being disregarded to some extent while the public's knowledge and the understanding of embryologists and geneticists surges forward. It is possible given consideration to things such as the morality of these techniques, the unexplored alternative uses of these procedures, and the potential impact they posses that further development is unnecessary and possibly dangerous.
Aldous Huxley’s dystopia Brave New World is more than a warning against the dangers of technology; it is a prediction for the future that rings eerily true. Today we understand that many of the fantastical devices and practices imagined by Huxley are coming to life. Most notable is the practice of in vitro fertilization, something that was a mad scientist’s dream during Huxley’s time, is today a commonplace practice. According to the National Institute of Health, in vitro fertilization is “the joining of a woman’s egg and man’s sperm in a laboratory dish” (Storck). The procedure was first performed successfully in 1978 and since has become widely used today by couples that desire a child and are unable to conceive by “natural” means. The idea of in vitro fertilization originated in the works of British geneticist and Oxford professor JBS Haldane (Milner). Haldane imagined the practice of “ectogenesis”, or pregnancy hosted in an artificial womb, in his 1924 book Daedalus (Rosen). Haldane’s book was the inspir...
While surrogacy is a risky occupation, Prudy believes that women should be able to make that choice for themselves. Especially since in our daily lives we all engage in risky behaviors, such as driving a car or consuming alcohol. As a result, there is little reason to limit a woman’s choice in participating in surrogacy. However, Purdy admits that the current unregulated approach is unacceptable and legislations need to be endorsed in ordered to make the practice safer, since surrogacy will most likely continue to occur whether it is regulated or
When one contemplates the concept of eugenics, few think of modern contraception and abortion when in reality they are one in the same. The American Eugenics Society, founded in 1923, proudly proclaimed that men with incurable “conditions” should be sterilized. However these conditions were often none that could be helped, such as, one’s intelligence, race, and social class (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The purpose of the society was to create the perfect class of men; elite in all ways. Likewise, Margaret Sanger’s feminist, contraceptive movement was not originally founded with this purpose. It was marketed as a way to control the population and be merciful to those yet to be born, again determined also by race and intelligence. The similarities in purpose actually brought the two organizations together to form a “liberating movement” to “aid women” known today as Planned Parenthood (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The name may sound harmless, but the movement hid a darker purpose, to wean out the lower and less educated in order to create a perfect class.
With every new technology that is born, there must be many questions as to whether this technology is beneficial or harmful as well as analyze who is affects. This especially holds true in dealing with the technology of artificial insemination. With the cultural mainstreaming of artificial insemination, there have been many articles written discussing the ethics of such decisions. Most of these articles are written by feminist authors with the purpose of discussing the impact of this new technology on women and how it affects their roles as mothers in society.