Culture and birth: the technocratic imperative

This aticle was published in the International Journal of Childbirth Education, 9(2):6-7, 1994

Through the act of controlling birth, we disassociate ourselves with its raw power. Disassociation makes it easier to identify with our “civilized” nature, deny our “savage” roots and connection with indigenous cultures. Birth simultaneously encompasses the three events that civilized societies fear–birth, death, and sexuality.