DOCSLIB.ORG

Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction Du Branch Patrimoine De I'edition

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction Du Branch Patrimoine De I'edition GENDER DREAMS: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER DISAPPOINTMENT AS AN AFFLICTION IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Guelph by ALISON J. DUCKETT In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts June, 2008 © Alison J. Duckett, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-42771-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-42771-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •*• Canada ABSTRACT GENDER DREAMS: THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER DISAPPOINTMENT AS AN AFFLICTION IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES Alison J. Duckett Advisor: University of Guelph, 2008 Professor P. Parnaby On the basis of semi-structured e-mail interviews and online data, this thesis explores the ways in which members of an online health related support group construct gender disappointment as a legitimate illness. While highlighting the way in which computer mediated communication facilitates and allows for social interaction among members, it is argued that the environment of the online health related support group has provided members with a unique opportunity to construct their condition in ways that parallel the emergence of medicalized identities, specifically the discreditable chronic illness identity. Acknowledgements Mary Ann, Sarah and Natasha - Your infallible support means the world to me! Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Sex Selection Entrepreneurship 2 Chapter 2: Literature Review 15 Motherhood and Children: An Overview of Transitions 15 Gender Selection 21 Gender Ideology: Stereotypes and the Construction of Gender Dreams 27 Online Communities 36 Medicalization and the Social Construction of Illness 44 Conclusion 57 Chapter 3: Methodology 59 Content Analysis 63 E-Mail Interviews 64 Ethical Issues 68 Conclusion 70 Chapter 4: Results and Discussion 72 GD Communities 72 The Medicalization of GD 85 Gender Dreams 93 Living with GD 98 Conclusion 119 Chapter 5: Conclusion 121 Limitations of the Research 124 Implications for Future Research 126 Conclusion 128 Works Cited 129 Appendix List of Acronyms 143 Chapter 1: Introduction This thesis concerns the social construction of Gender Disappointment (GD) as an affliction in the context of online communities. Highlighting the significance of Health Related Support Groups (HRSGs) in the process of illness construction via patient to patient communication, it will be argued that through the sharing of experiences in online discourse GD has been conceptually medicalized. The online communities which focus their discussion on GD are located on websites concerning gender selection practices, thus drawing an audience of women who are interested in influencing the gender of their future child; as such, GD is situated within the context of sex selection practices. GD, which refers to the experience of being disappointed that one does not have the child of a desired gender, is a socially constructed phenomena which is based upon the collective experiences of the women who are members of the GD online communities. This group of women communicate their experiences of wanting a child of a certain gender in online discussion groups which are associated with gender selection practices. These women locate the GD online community through their Internet searches for information regarding influencing the sex of the fetus prior to conception. Upon reading the content in the online communities, women recognize commonalities in their personal experiences with desiring a certain gendered child. It is through the women's experiences in the real world, which are communicated online, that they recognize similarities in their experiences and counter their previously held belief that they were the only ones experiencing this collection of emotions concerning the gender of their child. Central in GD is the behaviour of women to attempt to influence the gender of their future child prior to conception; as such, GD is related to 1 gender selection practices, both natural and technological. The introduction to this thesis will consider the advancements in sex selection entrepreneurship in order to situate GD within the present capabilities to choose the gender of one's child and to acknowledge the potential global impact of the Internet marketing of gender selection by means of New Reproductive Technology (NRT). Sex Selection Entrepreneurship The January 26, 2004 cover of Newsweek magazine displayed full cover pictures of a baby girl and a baby boy wearing pink and blue diapers respectively, with the bold headline, "Girl or Boy? Now You Can Choose. But Should You? The New Science of Sex Selection." The inside article which adorns the heading, "Brave New Babies" discusses families who have used the advanced technology to conceive for reasons of genetic disease, infertility and the newly controversial gender selection, stating that, "No longer can science simply help couples have babies, it can help them have the kind of babies they want" (Kalb 2004). This "new science" marks the present advancement in sex selection entrepreneurship which has seen a series of unsuccessful predecessors including ProCare's Gender Choice Kit of the 1980s ("Deception Charged," 1987), the Ericsson method of sperm separation (Thompson 2004), AcuGen's maternal blood test, the Baby Gender Mentor (Kaiser 2005) and GenSelect to name a few.1'2'3 These predecessors 1 The Gender Choice kit was marketed in the United States by ProCare. The kit was available over the counter in drugstores and claimed an 85% success rate which relied upon the position of sexual intercourse and the proximity of conception to a woman's ovulation time in order to predict the sex of the child (Achilles 1995). 2 The Ericcson Method which is available in clinics in the United States uses the albumen column and claims to have produced over 75% boy babies; however, tests of the separated sperm reveal ratios close to 50/50 (Holmes 1993). 3 The Baby Gender Mentor, sold in the United States and utilizing an 'at home' kit, claimed to detect the sex of the fetus from a maternal blood sample as early as five weeks after conception. Upon receiving the 2 which have acknowledged the long held social desire to influence and/or to determine fetal sex have had, for the most part, their promises to help couples choose the sex of babies discredited due to a lack of supportive scientific data. However, despite the failure of these gender selection methods to accurately influence and/or to determine the sex of the fetus, the public's interest in accessing these methods is a testament to the strength of the gender selection market. In 1968, Etzioni predicted that, "If a simple and safe method of sex control were available, there would probably be no difficulty in finding the investors to promote it because there is a mass-market potential. The demand for the new freedom to choose seems well established" (1968:1108). This prediction has been proven true. In a 2007 study, Seavilleklein and Sherwin revealed just how widely gender selection services are marketed, as well as how prevalent and accessible they are on the Internet by searching "sex selection services" in Google which generated hundreds of thousands of websites in April 2004. The desire to influence the sex of a future child and to determine the sex of the fetus during pregnancy has long held interest in North American society.4 The pre­ conception sex selection practices are considered to be 'positive' eugenics involving theories concerning the timing of intercourse with respect to ovulation or the separation of X- and Y-bearing sperm (Achilles 1995). The manipulation of semen to separate sperm for sex selection through Artificial Insemination (AI), as well as natural gender selection methods, have long been in practice. Natural gender selection methods, also kit in the mail, women would send the company a blood sample (Kaiser 2005). The company would determine fetal sex from the sample and would notify the woman via e-mail. In 2005, this kit was banned from entry into Canada. 4 The geographical boundaries of this research are limited to the United States and Canada; therefore, while it is understood that sex selection is of interest in other countries, this thesis focuses on the United States and Canada.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Diagnostics July2008
    WISTA JULY 2008 From the Desk of Chairman Diagnostics : Part 12 - 23 Prenatal tests are performed to detect abnormal conditions or diagnose disease in the fetus before it is born. These tests are intended to find out traits or characteristics of fetus that may have an adverse effect or threaten the pregnancy. Moreover, some parents are at increased risk of having a baby with certain problems and may like to go in for prenatal tests to know about them before the baby is born. It can help parents make decision about health care for their infant as some of the problem are manageable before birth while others can be administered special attention right after delivery. Again having information in advance would prepare healthcare staff better, and parents for delivery of a child with health problem or for the likelihood of a stillbirth. Prenatal testing generally determines such defects as neural tube defects, Down syndrome, chromosome abnormalities, genetic disease, and often includes amniocentesis; chorionic villus sampling; single, double, triple screen test; maternal serum screen, and so on. These tests can be non-invasive or invasive. The Special Feature in the present issue of the WISTA: Diagnostics deals with prenatal diagnosis and gives briefs on the various tests, their implications, risks and benefits. It also covers some recent patents that relate to diagnostic agents for prenatal diagnosis of preterm delivery, fetal infection and fetal damage; methods of detection of genetic disorders; and gene for identifying individuals with familial dysantonomia. The feature on ‘Trials and Testing’ covers six diagnostic products that are at various stages of testing and development.
    [Show full text]
  • The Current Landscape for Direct-To-Consumer
    ANRV353-GG09-09 ARI 30 July 2008 4:18 ANNUAL The Current Landscape for REVIEWS Further Click here for quick links to Annual Reviews content online, Direct-to-Consumer Genetic including: • Other articles in this volume Testing: Legal, Ethical, and • Top cited articles • Top downloaded articles • Our comprehensive search Policy Issues Stuart Hogarth,1 Gail Javitt,2 and David Melzer3 1Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] 2Genetics and Public Policy Center, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC 20036; email: [email protected] 3Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter EX2 5DW, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] by JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY on 10/06/08. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Genom. Human Genet. 2008.9:161-182. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org Annu. Rev. Genomics Hum. Genet. 2008. 9:161–82 Key Words The Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics personalized genomics, government regulation, DNA profiling is online at genom.annualreviews.org This article’s doi: Abstract 10.1146/annurev.genom.9.081307.164319 This review surveys the developing market for direct-to-consumer Copyright c 2008 by Annual Reviews. (DTC) genetic tests and examines the range of companies and tests All rights reserved available, the regulatory landscape, the concerns raised about DTC 1527-8204/08/0922-0161$20.00 testing, and the calls for enhanced oversight. We provide a comparative overview of the situation, particularly in the United States and Europe, by exploring the regulatory frameworks for medical devices and clini- cal laboratories.
    [Show full text]
  • And Genetic Testing for All . . . the Coming Revolution in Noninvasive Prenatal Genetic Testing, 42 Rutgers Law Journal 599 (2011)
    University of California, Hastings College of the Law UC Hastings Scholarship Repository Faculty Scholarship 2011 And Genetic Testing for All . The ominC g Revolution in NonInvasive Prenatal Genetic Testing Jaime S. King UC Hastings College of the Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Jaime S. King, And Genetic Testing for All . The Coming Revolution in NonInvasive Prenatal Genetic Testing, 42 Rutgers Law Journal 599 (2011). Available at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1101 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AND GENETIC TESTING FOR ALL... THE COMING REVOLUTION IN NON-INVASIVE PRENATAL GENETIC TESTING Jaime S. King* For thousands of years, expecting parents have daydreamed of being able to know about their children before their birth. Over the last thirty years, reproductive genetics and assisted reproductive technology (ART) have made significant strides toward fulfilling this desire. A steady stream of technical advances including prenatal screening, invasive prenatal diagnosis, sperm and egg donation, sperm sorting for gender selection, in vitro fertilization, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis have sought to give parents more information about and control over their reproductive practices. However, each of these technologies has significant drawbacks that limit its use to either a very small population or a small number of conditions. As a result, their overall impact on reproduction has been equally limited.' Everything is about to change.
    [Show full text]
  • Are There Missing Girls in the United States? Evidence from Birth Data∗
    Are there missing girls in the United States? Evidence from birth data∗ by Jason Abrevaya† November 2007 Preliminary — please do not distribute or cite ABSTRACT Gender selection, manifested by unusually high percentages of male births, has spread in parts of Asia since the introduction of ultrasound technology. This paper provides the first empirical evidence consistent with the occurrence of gender selection within the United States. Based upon fertility-stopping behavior, the aggregate gender preferences among different races in the United States are documented. Analysis of comprehensive birth data shows unusually high boy-birth percentages after 1980 among later children (most notably third and fourth children) born to Chinese and Asian Indian mothers. Moreover, using maternally linked data from California, Asian Indian mothers are found to be significantly more likely both to have a terminated pregnancy and to give birth to a son when they have previously only given birth to girls. ∗The author is grateful to Jan Christensen, Karl Halfman, and Roxana Killian of the CDHS for their assistance during the data-acquisition process. The California natality data used in this paper can not be released due to a confidentiality agreement with the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). The federal natality data and Census data used in this paper were obtained from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Ken Chay, David Hummels, Jeffrey Kubik, Steve Levitt, and seminar participants at Purdue and Syracuse provided helpful comments. Jack Barron provided invaluable computer assistance. Dudley Poston, Jr. kindly provided data on Chinese and South Korean male-to-female birth ratios.
    [Show full text]
  • Is It Nipd Test Recommended in Usa
    Is It Nipd Test Recommended In Usa Isochimal Nichols deigns plainly while Shane always tellurizes his gunning misprised puffingly, he anastomosed so refractorily. Filbert unstick coherently? Duplicative and well-desired Barney tutors, but Dino gruntingly panegyrizing her blackbirdings. Cell free placental and were several options for pregnant women and vetted using the nipt may occur with excess major issues is recommended for nipt increases the patient education law center: an adult check the The decision to terminate a pregnancy based on a positive result of a prenatal genetic testing is often taken by the parents, because of the devastating nature or their child disease. These issues will become more prominent if NIPT expands into whole genome microarrays or sequencing. If multiple additional anomalies or early IUGR are observed, the prognosis tends to be less favorable to extremely poor. Females with Triple X syndrome may be taller than average, have increased risk of learning disabilities and delayed development of speech and language skills. While GINA has often been dismissed as responding to a nonexistent problem of discrimination based on genetic information, studies have repeatedly shown that such discrimination is not uncommon. Prenatal cellfree DNA screening for fetal aneuploidy in pregnant women at average or high risk: results from a large US clinical laboratory. Ppv in china in a powerful tool and is it nipd test recommended in usa, true at risk of aneuploidy varied by the testing in the analysis for this is undergoing prenatal diagnosis. Down syndrome to women receiving prenatal genetic test results, and a woman who has been involved in litigation involving allegations of genetic discrimination in the workplace.
    [Show full text]
  • 06 Osipenko DHC8 1D2 1..9999
    Diversity in Health and Care 2011;8:37–44 # 2011 Radcliffe Publishing Debate paper Non-invasive fetal sexing: medical test or a new tool for sex selection? Leeza Osipenko BA MSc PhD Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Ala Szczepura MA DPhil (Oxon) Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK What is known on this subject . Certain countries that exhibit a preference for male offspring display worryingly skewed sex ratios at birth in favour of baby boys. There has been widespread use of antenatal ultrasound scanning to enable sex-selective abortion in countries such as India and China, which is now illegal. Non-invasive prenatal tests (based on fetal DNA in maternal blood) are currently used (for clinical purposes) in a small number of women whose babies are at risk of a sex-linked disorder. What this paper adds . Direct-to-consumer marketing of non-invasive fetal DNA tests for social sex determination became available without sufficient consideration for technical performance. Non-invasive fetal sexing is likely to affect sex selection practices in the developing world and Asian diaspora. Corporate responsibility when marketing tests requires the balancing of legitimate consumer needs against unintended consequences. ABSTRACT Recent scientific developments in prenatal testing, If test results are available at 7 weeks gestation, based on fetal DNA in maternal blood, now allow online purchase of products for non-surgical abortion non-invasive fetal sexing in pregnancies at risk of a at home early in pregnancy could also enable some sex-linked disorder. In such cases, these novel non- parents to bypass a health system altogether.
    [Show full text]
  • The Current Landscape for Direct-To
    ANRV353-GG09-09 ARI 30 July 2008 4:18 ANNUAL The Current Landscape for REVIEWS Further Click here for quick links to Annual Reviews content online, Direct-to-Consumer Genetic including: • Other articles in this volume Testing: Legal, Ethical, and • Top cited articles • Top downloaded articles • Our comprehensive search Policy Issues Stuart Hogarth,1 Gail Javitt,2 and David Melzer3 1Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] 2Genetics and Public Policy Center, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC 20036; email: [email protected] 3Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter EX2 5DW, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] by University of California - Berkeley on 04/14/09. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Genom. Human Genet. 2008.9:161-182. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org Annu. Rev. Genomics Hum. Genet. 2008. 9:161–82 Key Words The Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics personalized genomics, government regulation, DNA profiling is online at genom.annualreviews.org This article’s doi: Abstract 10.1146/annurev.genom.9.081307.164319 This review surveys the developing market for direct-to-consumer Copyright c 2008 by Annual Reviews. (DTC) genetic tests and examines the range of companies and tests All rights reserved available, the regulatory landscape, the concerns raised about DTC 1527-8204/08/0922-0161$20.00 testing, and the calls for enhanced oversight. We provide a comparative overview of the situation, particularly in the United States and Europe, by exploring the regulatory frameworks for medical devices and clini- cal laboratories.
    [Show full text]
  • Debate Paper
    University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap This paper is made available online in accordance with publisher policies. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item and our policy information available from the repository home page for further information. To see the final version of this paper please visit the publisher’s website. Access to the published version may require a subscription. Author(s): Leeza Osipenko and Ala Szczepura Article Title: Non-invasive foetal sexing: medical test or a new tool for sex selection? Year of publication: Forthcoming Link to published article: http://www.radcliffe- oxford.com/journals/J18_Diversity_in_Health_and_Social_Care/ Publisher statement: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Diversity in Health and Care following peer review. The definitive version Osipenko, L. and Szczepura, A. (2011). Non-invasive foetal sexing: medical test or a new tool for sex selection? Diversity in Health and Care is available online at: http://www.radcliffe- oxford.com/journals/J18_Diversity_in_Health_and_Social_Care/ Debate Paper Non-invasive foetal sexing: medical test or a new tool for sex selection? Leeza Osipenko, Matrix Evidence, London. Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Ala Szczepura Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK What is known 1. Certain countries which exhibit a preference for male offspring display worryingly skewed sex ratios at birth in favour of baby boys. 2. There has been widespread use of antenatal ultrasound to enable sex selective abortion in these countries, now illegal. 3. Non-invasive prenatal tests (based on foetal DNA in maternal blood) are currently used (for clinical purposes) in a small number of women whose babies are at risk of a sex-linked disorder.
    [Show full text]
  • The Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Industry and the Need for a Holistic Regulatory Approach
    Age of an Information Revolution: The Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Industry and the Need for a Holistic Regulatory Approach MICHELLE D. IRICK* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 280 II. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................... 284 A. The Cruelest Months ................................................................................ 284 III. THE SPARSE LEGAL LANDSCAPE TODAY ............................................................ 289 A. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act: The First Step ................................................................................... 289 B. Federal Agencies and the Lack of Defined Authority .............................. 290 IV. CURRENT SHORTCOMINGS IN INDUSTRY: CONSUMER INTERFACING .................... 292 A. The Government Accountability Office’s Sting Operation ....................... 292 B. Medical History and Risk Prediction ....................................................... 295 C. Inconsistent Risk-Prediction Standards and the Need for Uniformity .......................................................................................... 297 V. THE PROBLEM WITH INTERPRETATION OF GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES ....................................................................................... 299 * J.D. Candidate, University of San Diego School of Law, 2011; B.A., Philosophy, University of California,
    [Show full text]
  • Cell-Free Fetal Nucleic Acids for Non-Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis
    Cell-free fetal nucleic acids for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis Report of the UK expert working group Caroline Wright January 2009 www.phgfoundation.org PHG Foundation Team Dr Caroline Wright* Head of Science Ms Alison Hall Project Manager (Law and Policy) Dr Hilary Burton Programme Director Dr Sowmiya Moorthie Project Coordinator Dr Philippa Brice Head of Knowledge and Communications Dr Gurdeep Sagoo Epidemiologist, MRC Biostatistics Unit Dr Adam Bostanci Lecturer (Social Science), Hughes Hall Centre for Biomedical Science in Society Dr Stephen John Lecturer (Philosophy), Hughes Hall Centre for Biomedical Science in Society * To whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected] © 2009 PHG Foundation The PHG Foundation is the working name of the Foundation for Genomics and Population Health, an independent charitable organisation (registered in England and Wales, charity No. 1118664 company No. 5823194), which works with partners to achieve better health through the responsible and evidence-based application of biomedical science. Disclaimer: the field of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis is extremely dynamic and technology is developing very rapidly; this report is accurate as of 7th January 2009. 2 Cell-free fetal nucleic acids for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis Executive Summary .................................................................. 2 Working Group Representation .................................................... 4 Glossary of Acronyms................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Are There Missing Girls in the United States? Evidence on Gender Preference and Gender Selection∗
    Are there missing girls in the United States? Evidence on gender preference and gender selection∗ by Jason Abrevaya† September 2005 ABSTRACT Gender selection, manifested by unusually high percentages of male births, has spread in parts of Asia since the introduction of ultrasound technology. This paper provides the first empirical evidence consistent with the occurrence of gender selection within the United States. Based upon fertility-stopping behavior, the aggregate gender preferences among different races in the United States are documented. Analysis of comprehensive birth data shows unusually high boy-birth percentages after 1980 among later children (most notably third and fourth children) born to Chinese and Asian Indian mothers. Moreover, Asian Indian mothers are found to be significantly more likely both to have a terminated pregnancy and to give birth to a son when they have previously only given birth to girls. These findings are consistent with a simple dynamic model of the gender-selection decision in the presence of gender preferences. ∗The California natality data used in this paper can not be released due to a confidentiality agreement with the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). The author is grateful to Jan Christensen, Karl Halfman, and Roxana Killian of the CDHS for their assistance during the data-acquisition process. The federal natality data and Census data used in this paper were obtained from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). David Hummels provided helpful comments, and Jack Barron provided invaluable computer assistance. Dudley Poston, Jr. kindly provided data on Chinese and South Korean male-to-female birth ratios.
    [Show full text]
  • “I Contain Multitudes”: Chimeras, Cells and the Materialization of Identities
    “I CONTAIN MULTITUDES”: CHIMERAS, CELLS AND THE MATERIALIZATION OF IDENTITIES A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Aryn Martin August 2006 © Aryn Martin 2006 “I CONTAIN MULTITUDES”: CHIMERAS, CELLS AND THE MATERIALIZATION OF IDENTITIES Aryn Martin, Ph.D. Cornell University 2006 This dissertation traces the biomedical networks through which human chimeras are clinically constituted. Chimeras are organisms in which two or more genetically distinct cell populations co-exist. Unlike their experimentally produced counterparts (often interspecies mixtures), human chimeras arise spontaneously when fraternal twin embryos fuse in the womb. While undoubtedly a rare occurrence, the true incidence is unknown because many chimeras have no visible signs of their composite being. Hence, chimeras are produced in an inadvertent encounter with the laboratory, during blood donation or tissue typing, for example. A subtype of chimerism, called microchimerism, occurs when the second cell population is tiny. The main context in which microchimerism is discussed in biomedical research is cell exchange between women and their fetuses, now thought to be a normal event during pregnancy. Human chimerism has existed since the 1950’s, and microchimerism has become a research theme only in the last decade. Like multiple personality disorder, conjoined twinning and organ transplantation, human chimerism troubles the connection between the individual and the body. Bodies, in these cases, are not neatly contained, which calls into question the inevitability and naturalness of singular embodiment. Chimerism, in particular, offers an analytical vantage point for the examination of genetics and identity in contemporary biomedicine.
    [Show full text]