Gender and Genetics: Sociology of the Prenatal

209 Pages·2012·0.891 MB·English

by  Kate Reed

Gender and Genetics
Prenatal screening for genetic disorders is becoming an increasingly wide-
spread phenomenon across the globe. While studies have highlighted the
importance of women’s experiences of such screening, little is known about
men’s roles and direct involvement in this process. With a focus on the
experiences of both women and men, this text offers an innovative and pas-
sionate account of the gendered nature of prenatal screening.
Drawing on interview data with pregnant women and their male partners
in a UK city, Reed provides a compelling analysis of maternal and paternal
roles in prenatal screening. Through this analysis, the book raises important
issues around genetics, gender and screening practice. With a focus on the
gendered production of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ genes, the book explores differences
between visual technologies and blood screening. It also explores the gen-
dered nature of genetic responsibility and the impact this has on parenting
roles.
Extending its arguments into other key debates in prenatal genetics –
including a focus on the impact of screening on other types of stratification,
including ethnicity and class – Reed provides an original and comprehensive
analysis of some of the most pressing concerns in the field to date. This book
will be of interest to students and scholars of the sociology of health and ill-
ness, science and technology studies, gender studies, feminist bioethics and
medical anthropology, as well as professionals in the fields of midwifery and
genetic counselling.
Kate Reed is a senior lecturer in Medical Sociology at the University of
Sheffield. She has published broadly across the areas of ethnicity, gender,
social theory and the sociology of health and illness. She is the author of
Worlds of Health (Praeger 2003) and New Directions in Social Theory: Race,
Gender and the Canon (Sage 2006).
Genetics and society
Series Editors: Ruth Chadwick, Director of Cesagen, Cardiff University,
John Dupré, Director of Egenis, Exeter University, David Wield, Director of
Innogen, Edinburgh University, and Steve Yearley, Director of the Genomics
Forum, Edinburgh University.
The books in this series, all based on original research, explore the social,
economic and ethical consequences of the new genetic sciences. The series is
basedintheCesagen,oneofthecentresformingtheESRC’sGenomicsNetwork
(EGN), the largest UK investment in social-science research on the implica-
tions of these innovations. With a mix of research monographs, edited col-
lections, textbooks and a major new handbook, the series is a valuable
contributiontothesocialanalysisofdevelopingandemergentbio-technologies.
Series titles include:
New Genetics, New Social Human Cloning in the Media
Formations Joan Haran, Jenny Kitzinger,
Peter Glasner, Paul Atkinson and Maureen McNeil and
Helen Greenslade Kate O’Riordan
New Genetics, New Identities Local Cells, Global Science
Paul Atkinson, Peter Glasner and Embryonic stem cell research
Helen Greenslade in India
Aditya Bharadwaj and Peter Glasner
The GM Debate
Risk, politics and public Handbook of Genetics and Society
engagement Paul Atkinson, Peter Glasner and
Tom Horlick-Jones, John Walls, Margaret Lock
Gene Rowe, Nick Pidgeon, Wouter
Poortinga, Graham Murdock and The Human Genome
Tim O’Riordan Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy
Growth Cultures Community Genetics and Genetic
Life sciences and economic Alliances
development Eugenics, carrier testing and
Philip Cooke networks of risk
Aviad E. Raz
Neurogenetic Diagnoses. The Power Genetic Testing
of Hope and the Limits of Accounts of autonomy,
Today’s Medicine responsibility and blame
Carole Browner and Michael Arribas-Allyon, Srikant
H. Mabel Preloran Sarangi and Angus Clarke
Debating Human Genetics Regulating Next Generation Agri-
Contemporary issues in public Food Bio-Technologies
policy and ethics Lessons from European, North
Alexandra Plows American and Asian experiences
Edited by Michael Howlett and
Genetically Modified Crops on Trial David Laycock
Opening up alternative futures of
Euro-agriculture Regenerating Bodies
Les Levidow Tissue and cell therapy in the
twenty-first century
Creating Conditions Julie Kent
The making and remaking of
a syndrome Gender and Genetics
Katie Featherstone and Sociology of the prenatal
Paul Atkinson Kate Reed
Forthcoming titles include:
Scientific, Clinical and Commercial Negotiating Bioethics
Development of the Stem Cell The Governance of UNESCO’s
From radiobiology to regenerative Bioethics Programme
medicine Adèle Langlois
Alison Kraft
Barcoding Nature
Claire Waterton, Rebecca Ellis and
Brian Wynne

Gender and Genetics
Sociology of the prenatal
Kate Reed
Firstpublished2012
byRoutledge
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SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
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©2012KateReed
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Reed,Kate,1972-
Genderandgenetics:sociologyoftheprenatal/KateReed.
p.cm.–(Geneticsandsociety)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Geneticscreening–Socialaspects.2.Ethnicity.I.Title.
RB155.65.R442012
362.196'04207–dc23
2011047966
ISBN:978-0-415-55496-1(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-87002-0(ebk)
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For Ruby and Max

Contents
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 Information keeping/seeking 18
2 Gender, choice and time 39
3 Imaging and imagining genetics 59
4 Men, masculinity and decision-making 78
5 Gendering ‘good’ and ‘bad’ genes 96
6 Family, friends and heredity 115
7 Transforming social divisions 138
Conclusion 162
Appendix 181
Notes 183
Bibliography 185
Index 197