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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Reproductive technologies and the Charter Morton, Chantal
Abstract
Reproductive technologies such as alternative insemination and in-vitro fertilization, and their implementation through surrogacy, have been developed and managed in Canada without enough concern for the interests and needs of women. There is a lack of regulation establishing safety standards and protection for the needs of the women participating. There is also discrimination in determining who shall be allowed access to the procedures. The theoretical basis for the development of the technologies and their discriminatory implementation can be found in the ideologies of motherhood, privacy and notions of formal equality. Woman has been socially constructed by men as an object - an object that is partially defined by her reproductive function. We can only understand reproductive technologies within this context of women's situation - that is, as the 'Other' that men have created. A woman's gendered identity includes the possibility of pregnancy and motherhood. Difference from men based on this biological potential is used to justify inequality. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms may be a means to assert women's rights to control of the technologies. However, the articulation of Charter rights may be constrained by patriarchal assumptions of who should be a mother, notions of public/private that limit Charter applicability and do not recognize state involvement in maintaining a system of inequality, and notions of formal equality that assume that women and men are equal if they are treated as 'the same'. These assumptions remain as potential obstacles to a mobilization of the Charter. In order to challenge the theoretical basis of the development of reproductive technologies it will be necessary to the subordination of women. This will entail the deconstruction of the patriarchal foundations of the social, legal and political systems that identify men as the norm and women as difference. By recognizing and affirming difference in a vision of equality that does not prioritize 'sameness', it will be possible to redefine what motherhood means by including the many experiences of different women. Thus, the technologies will be developed with the interests of women as the primary concern and they will no longer be made available solely to those who conform to the ideologies of motherhood that prioritize heterosexual, middle class women.
Item Metadata
Title |
Reproductive technologies and the Charter
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1991
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Description |
Reproductive technologies such as alternative insemination
and in-vitro fertilization, and their implementation through
surrogacy, have been developed and managed in Canada without
enough concern for the interests and needs of women. There is a
lack of regulation establishing safety standards and protection
for the needs of the women participating. There is also
discrimination in determining who shall be allowed access to the
procedures. The theoretical basis for the development of the
technologies and their discriminatory implementation can be found
in the ideologies of motherhood, privacy and notions of formal
equality.
Woman has been socially constructed by men as an object - an
object that is partially defined by her reproductive function. We
can only understand reproductive technologies within this context
of women's situation - that is, as the 'Other' that men have
created. A woman's gendered identity includes the possibility of
pregnancy and motherhood. Difference from men based on this
biological potential is used to justify inequality.
Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
may be a means to assert women's rights to control of the
technologies. However, the articulation of Charter rights may be
constrained by patriarchal assumptions of who should be a mother,
notions of public/private that limit Charter applicability and do
not recognize state involvement in maintaining a system of
inequality, and notions of formal equality that assume that women
and men are equal if they are treated as 'the same'. These
assumptions remain as potential obstacles to a mobilization of
the Charter.
In order to challenge the theoretical basis of the
development of reproductive technologies it will be necessary to
the subordination of women. This will entail the deconstruction
of the patriarchal foundations of the social, legal and political
systems that identify men as the norm and women as difference. By
recognizing and affirming difference in a vision of equality that
does not prioritize 'sameness', it will be possible to redefine
what motherhood means by including the many experiences of
different women. Thus, the technologies will be developed with
the interests of women as the primary concern and they will no
longer be made available solely to those who conform to the
ideologies of motherhood that prioritize heterosexual, middle
class women.
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Extent |
3578976 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2008-12-18
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0086786
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1992-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.