Over the Moon: Extended-Cycle Contraception and the Recent Evolution of Medicine and Womanhood

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dc.contributor.advisorGeorges, Eugeniaen_US
dc.creatorJones, Laura Kathrynen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-03-08T00:34:49Zen_US
dc.date.available2013-03-08T00:34:49Zen_US
dc.date.issued2011en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation is based on seventeen months of ethnographic fieldwork that followed the development and diffusion of extended-cycle hormonal contraception, or birth control that is designed to eliminate monthly bleeding. It encompassed several sites and multiple constituencies: a clinical trial, documented medical conferences, users, potential users, and refusers of the pharmaceuticals, along with key academic and popular proponents of their adoption. Extended-cycle contraception is a critical topic because this new generation of pills, IUDs, shots, and implants is not only refiguring the length of women's cycles, but it is also augmenting the extent to which its users' bodies are medicalized, or subjected to a type of manipulation and regulation that was previously impossible. No longer just for pregnancy prevention, these regimens are increasingly touted as elective enhancement technologies that may improve on the human design, on the one hand, and as crucial preventative medicine for diseases such as reproductive cancers, on the other hand. Remarkably, these pharmaceuticals are as socially complex as they are chemically--they may facilitate the renegotiation of constructions of womanhood, nature, and progress.en_US
dc.format.extent214 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationJones, Laura Kathryn. "Over the Moon: Extended-Cycle Contraception and the Recent Evolution of Medicine and Womanhood." (2011) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70282">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70282</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.digitalJonesLen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/70282en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectHealth sciencesen_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental scienceen_US
dc.subjectSocial sciencesen_US
dc.subjectHormonal contraceptionen_US
dc.subjectBirth controlen_US
dc.subjectMedicalizationen_US
dc.subjectMenstruationen_US
dc.subjectMenstrual suppressionen_US
dc.subjectExtended-cycle contraceptionen_US
dc.subjectCultural anthropologyen_US
dc.subjectMedicineen_US
dc.subjectWomen's studiesen_US
dc.titleOver the Moon: Extended-Cycle Contraception and the Recent Evolution of Medicine and Womanhooden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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