Beyond the Natural Body

The hormonally-constructed body has become such a dominant way of conceptualizing bodies that it is often assumed to be a natural phenomenon. This book traces the scientific development of the hormonal body concept and examines the mass production of hormones as drugs, including the pill.

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It is now impossible to imagine a world without sex hormones. Women all over the world take hormonal pills to control their fertility and estrogen and proges­terone have become the most widely used drugs in the history of medicine. But why has the female rather than the male body become increasingly subjected to hormonal treatment? Nelly Oudshoorn challenges the idea that there exists such a thing as a natural body and shows how concepts such as the hormonal body assume the appear­ance of natural phenomena by virtue of the activities of scientists, rather than being rooted in nature. Beyond the Natural Body tells the fascinating story of scientists' search for the ovaries, testes and urine required to develop the hormonal concept; investigating how sex hormones have shaped our understanding of sex and the body, trans­forming science and medicine and ultimately redefining the relationship of women to reproduction. Nelly Oudshoorn concludes by evaluating the mixed blessings of the hormonal revolution.