Beyond Body Parts: The Uterus as a Symbol of Self in the USA.

IF 1.2 3区社会学 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY

Medical Anthropology Pub Date : 2025-07-29 DOI:10.1080/01459740.2025.2540527

Ophra Leyser-Whalen

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Utilizing a symbolic interactionist lens in analysis of 16 in-depth interviews with 13 women and three men who had used fertility treatments in the United States, I reveal how the uterus was a powerful symbol for those struggling with infertility as they drew upon cultural norms and co-created meaning through interactions with multiple others. The uterus represented more than a biological body part; it symbolized the cultural power of biomedicine and created biographical disruptions that affected people's self-perceptions as women, mothers, wives, and lovers. Findings further uncover the relationship between science, medicine, culture, and identity and the body.

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超越身体部位：子宫在美国作为自我的象征。

通过对在美国接受过生育治疗的13名女性和3名男性的16次深度访谈，我利用象征性互动主义的视角分析了子宫对那些与不孕症作斗争的人来说是一个强大的象征，因为他们借鉴了文化规范，并通过与他人的互动共同创造了意义。子宫不仅仅是身体的一个生物部分；它象征着生物医学的文化力量，并造成了影响人们作为女性、母亲、妻子和情人的自我认知的传记中断。研究结果进一步揭示了科学、医学、文化、身份和身体之间的关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medical Anthropology Multiple-

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

4.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Medical Anthropology provides a global forum for scholarly articles on the social patterns of ill-health and disease transmission, and experiences of and knowledge about health, illness and wellbeing. These include the nature, organization and movement of peoples, technologies and treatments, and how inequalities pattern access to these. Articles published in the journal showcase the theoretical sophistication, methodological soundness and ethnographic richness of contemporary medical anthropology. Through the publication of empirical articles and editorials, we encourage our authors and readers to engage critically with the key debates of our time. Medical Anthropology invites manuscripts on a wide range of topics, reflecting the diversity and the expanding interests and concerns of researchers in the field.