Governing the Female Body: Gender, Health, and Networks of Power

"This volume is an exciting exploration ... [it] draws together a suitably diverse range of case studies to critically highlight the variety of ways in which gender and the female body are constituted as objects of knowledge and are also subject to government through discourses and practices related to health care ... It demands that the gendered nature of power becomes subject to renewed critical scrutiny." -- Foucault Studies

"This book brings together an important range of contemporary topics and examines an understanding of women's bodies, governmentality, and power through different social processes and concepts with relevant examples ... One of the strongest aspects of this book is its demonstration that women's bodies are subject to powerful discourses within the theaters of health and medicine in institutional settings as well as in everyday life." -- H-Net Reviews (H-Histsex)

"The essays in this collection argue for a richer understanding of personal choice and clearly point to the ways women's choices and understandings of body and 'self' are mitigated by social forces. This is an important work for scholars of women's studies and science and technology studies." -- April Herndon, Winona State University