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medicine child birth

The Woman in the Body
Martin wrote the book Woman in the Body that was released in August 1, 2001 released by Beacon Press. In this book Martin examines how American culture sees the process of reproduction. Emily Martin uses fieldwork to structure her arguments throughout this book. One key focus is the metaphor of economy that she analyzes in depth. She does this in order to show her readers that the social structure of the world she is examining is dependent on this metaphor in order to function efficiently.

Labor
The most notable element that she produced in this book is the idea of seeing the woman as a machine that is there to create a product. Martin explains how the women's body is used over and over again in order to produce a child (product). Martin explains that this metaphor of labor dehumanizes the experience. The women is not taken into account for as a human being but her uterus is only seen as a tool that allows doctors to get closer to producing a new product. “Uteruses produce ‘efficient or inefficient contractions’, good or poor labor by the amount of ‘progress made in certain periods of time. ’” The women being there only for mechanical reasons creates a dichotomy that connects women to their bodies, while men are more connected with their head. Men are delivering these babies and are thus in control of the situation. This metaphor of labor is also reproduced in hospitals by making it an economical situation. The idea of scheduling appointments to have a baby is an attempt to have this experience done in the fastest manner so that it is convenient for the doctor, as well as the company as a whole. In attempt to be as efficient as possible, hospitals’ focus is not on the experience of the woman in labor but creating a predictable experience that gets a woman out in ample amount of time and to continue to work as a machine and produce the product.

Premenstrual Syndrome
Emily Martin describes the relationship between premenstrual syndrome and the work place. She focuses on the idea that every single person experiences this time of month differently but examines that the Marxist way of thinking interferes with how an employer adapts to this situation. “An owner's profit is based on how much value can be squeezed out of laborers' work, the amount of time laborers would have to work and what they did (down to the precise movements of their hands and bodies) would be con- trolled by factory owners. Martin argues this idea is what needs to be changed. People are not black and white, situations occur but the fact that people are driven to produce the most they can in the shortest amount of time is the thing that needs to be changed. Martin does not propose that only women need to be treated better but all people in the workforce need to be accommodated- the young, the old, and the sick.

Feminist Movement

Language
Not only has the movement came to change the language into gender neutral but the feminist movement has had brought up how people use language. Emily Martin describes the concept of how metaphors are gendered and ingrained into everyday life. Metaphor are used in everyday language and has become a way that people describe the world. Martin explains that these metaphors structure how people think and in regards to science can shape what questions are being asked. If the right questions are not being asked then the answers are not going to be the right either. For example, the aggressive sperm and passive egg is a metaphor that felt ‘natural’ to people in history but as scientist have reexamined this phenomenon they have came up with a new answer. “The sperm tries to pull its getaway act even on the egg itself, but is held down against its struggles by molecules on the surface of the egg that hook together with counterparts on the sperm's surface, fastening the sperm until the egg can absorb it.” This is a goal in feminism to see these gendered metaphors and bring it to the public’s attention. The outcome of looking at things in a new perspective can produce new information.

Women’s Health
Historically there has been a need to study and contribute to the health and well being of a woman that previously has been lacking. Schiebinger addresses that the common biomedical model is not enough anymore and there is a need for a more boarder model to ensure that all aspects of a woman is being cared for. Schiebinger describes 6 contributions that must occur in order to have success. Political movement, academic women studies, affirmative action, health equality act, geo-political forces, and professional women not being afraid to talk openly about women issues. Political movements come from the streets and is what the people as a whole want to be seen changed. An academic women study is the support from universities in order to teach a subject that most people have never encountered. Affirmative action enacted is a legal change to acknowledge and do something for the times of neglect people were subjected to. Women’s Health Equity Act legally enforces the idea that medicine needs to be tested in suitable standards such as including women in research studies and is also allocates a set amount of money to research diseases that are specific towards women. Geo-political forces can improve health, when the country is not at a sense of threat in war there is more funding and resources to focus on other needs, such as women’s health. Lastly, professional women not being afraid to talk about women's issues moves women from entering into these jobs and preventing them for just acting as men and instead embracing their concerns for the the health of women. These six factors need to be included in order for there to be change in women’s health.

Scientist

Woman in science
Historically women were not encouraged to participate in science but after passing of legislation such as the Equal Rights Amendment the number of women receiving degrees in science has increased. The percent of women entering into science are usually intertwined with engineering stats but the combination of the percentages shows the low numbers that are involved. The number of science and engineering doctorates awarded to women rose from a mere 7 percent in 1970 to 34 percent in 1985 and in engineering alone the numbers of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women rose from only 385 in 1975 to more than 11000 in 1985. These improvements in legislation helps to filter women into the education but there is still an inequality within the profession.

The inequality prevails into the professional setting in ways such as starting position inequality and income inequality. According to Eisenhart and Finkel women experiences, even when they have equal qualifications, are that they start in lower-positions while men are granted tenure track positions. This later predicts an inequality of tenures positions as scientist in universities, “as of 1989 65 percent of men and only 40 percent of women held tenured positions.” Income conflicts occur when median annual salaries for full-time employed civilian scientists, “salary for men is $48,000, and that for women is $42,000.”