The Placental Body in 4D: Everyday Practices of Non-Diagnostic Sonography

Feminist Review 93 (1):64-80 (2009)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Feminist scholars have long argued that the pregnant body is erased – both literally and discursively – from mainstream foetal representations. Janemaree Maher argues that the placenta, as point of distinction and connection between pregnant women and foetuses, has the radical potential to refigure understandings of pregnant embodiment and subjectivity, and offer ‘a way to begin thinking through the impasse of pregnant representation’. Drawing on Maher's notion of the ‘placental body’, this article will examine the place of the placenta in the practice of non-diagnostic 4D ultrasound scanning. The analysis seeks to connect Maher's theoretical perspective, and the rich feminist literature around foetal imaging, with observational data from my study of 4D scans. I will argue that the capacity of 3- and 4D sonography to image the placenta and umbilical cord in a way that is newly intelligible to lay viewers might present an opportunity for thinking differently about the interconnections – material and social – between pregnant women and foetuses and to relocate women as the subjects of their pregnancies.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Visibly Pregnant: Toward a Placental Body.JaneMaree Maher - 2002 - Feminist Review 72 (1):95-107.
The Placental Microbiome: A New Site for Policing Women's Bodies.Saray Ayala & Lauren Freeman - 2016 - International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 9 (1):121-148.
Clinical Research Involving Pregnant Women ed. by Françoise Baylis and Angela Ballantyne. [REVIEW]Elizabeth Victor - 2019 - International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 12 (1):175-179.
Pregnant embodiment: Subjectivity and alienation.Iris Marion Young - 1984 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 9 (1):45-62.
Not One, Not Two: Toward an Ontology of Pregnancy.Maja Sidzinska - 2017 - Feminist Philosophy Quarterly 3 (4):1-23.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-11-24

Downloads
5 (#1,344,576)

6 months
4 (#320,252)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?