Reconstructing Babylon: Essays on Women and Technology

by H. Patricia Hynes (Editor), Gena Corea (Contributor), Janice G. Raymond (Contributor)

This anthology offers a feminist critique of technology, including environmental destruction and reproductive technology.

Contents:
Lead contamination : a case of "protectionism" and the neglect of women / H. Patricia Hynes
Lesotho and Nepal : the failure of Western "family planning" / Nellie Kanno
How the new reproductive technologies will affect women / Gena Corea
Of eggs, embryos, and altruism / Janice G. Raymond
Who may have children and who may not / Gena Corea
In the matter of Baby M : judged and rejudged / Janice G. Raymond
The international traffic in women : women used in systems of surrogacy and reproduction / Janice G. Raymond
Biotechnology in agriculture and reproduction : the parallels in public policy / H. Patricia Hynes
Industrial experimentation on "surrogate" mothers / Gena Corea
Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, State of Michigan / Janice G. Raymond
Junk Liberty / Gena Corea
Depo-Provera and the politics of knowledge / Gena Corea
Maud Matthews and the Philisiwe Clinic / H. Patricia Hynes

Genres: Feminism

206 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Octavia Cade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic, though the title is really a misnomer. I came into it expecting a general study of women and science, but it isn't that at all. The focus is much narrower - the collected essays here focus on women and medicine, with a very strong emphasis on women and reproductive health. A couple of chapters wander away from this: there's a fascinating one on the development of a rural Black clinic in apartheid South Africa (back when this book was written apartheid still existed) and an absolutely infuriating one on lead poisoning. The rest tend to focus on women's experiences with things like contraception and surrogacy. It's all very well researched and referenced, and the weight of evidence is clear: women's health is all too frequently almost irrelevant to the researchers tasked with promoting it. Economic and value-driven judgements about race and poverty are far more the drivers of research goals and policy, and the shoddy research done to support things like Depo-Provera is laid out clearly and is honestly shocking. I mean, this isn't the first book I've read that explores feminism and medicine, and frankly they all tend to be horrifying... this is no different.

Because it is a few decades old now, it's hard not to read this book and assess the validity of the predictions of some of the authors. Some have proved a little off the mark - though I suppose there's still time - but the concern that women from underdeveloped countries would be used increasingly as surrogates for wealthy first world families has been spot on.