Am I still a woman? : hysterectomy and gender identity / Jean Elson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elson, Jean, 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Identity.

Women.

Hysterectomy--Psychological aspects.

Hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy--Patients--Psychology.

Human body--Social aspects.

Human body.

Patients.

Psychology.

Physical Description:

ix, 254 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2004.

Summary:

Recent scientific findings regarding the potential dangers associated with hormone replacement therapies brings renewed attention to the relationship between women's bodies and gender identity. In "Am I Still A Woman? Jean Elson offers the testimony of women who have thought deeply about this issue as a result of gynecological surgery. For the women in this book, gynecological surgery for benign conditions proved to be a crisis that prompted questions about the meanings of sexual and reproductive organs in relation to being female and feminine. Is a woman who no longer menstruates still a woman? What about a woman who can no longer bear children? Elson looks closely at the differences in responses to understand the impact of surgery and lost fertility on sexuality and partnerships as well as the steps some women take to deal with a sense of a stigmatized identity. Whether they reconceptualized their old nations of what it means to be a woman or put a new focus on making themselves attractive, they made conscious efforts to reclaim their female identity and femininity. This book provides a wealth of insight into the choices women make regarding gynecological surgery and maintaining their sense of themselves as women.

Contents:

1 "To Have and Have Not": Perspectives on Hysterectomy and Oophorectomy 1

2 "Hormonal Hierarchy": Stratified Stigma Following Hysterectomy 30

3 An "Ovary Prosthesis"? The Meanings of Estrogen Replacement Therapy 47

4 "Badge of Femininity"? Menstruation 70

5 "Women's Work"? Motherhood and Gender Identity 90

6 "Feel Like a Woman"? Sexuality and Gender Identity 123

7 Biographical Work and Impression Management: Maintaining and Reclaiming Gender Identity 154

8 "Am I Still a Woman"? 171

Postscript: The Issue of Medical Necessity 192.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-247) and index.

ISBN:

1592132103

1592132111

OCLC:

52214847