This paper examines the discourse of pain and pain relief in the advice texts given to future mothers through the public health clinics in Sweden. The aim of the study is to explore how the concepts of “natural” and “normal” shapes the prevailing methods and perspectives in the texts. I use critical discourse theory as it is articulated by Norman Fairclough by using the three dimensional model, combined with the theory about gender performativity. The discourse of “natural” birth constitutes a socio-cultural norm throughout a variation of cultures which shapes and regulates women’s decision making regarding options of pain relief and delivery methods when giving birth. The “natural” discourse has been (re)produced in the feminist critique of the medicalisation, and consequently the pathologisation, of pregnancy. Recent studies has shown that the “natural” discourse can be seen as a gender constituting process that can lead to reproducing traditional ideals about femininity and motherhood. By analysing how the public healthcare system articulate the norms regarding pregnancy and giving birth in regards to these two different discourses, and what the potential effects are of the discourse in question, it opens up to a discussion about the equality of health and gender.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-374012 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Bartolini, Alma |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Sociologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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