Ricki Lake and False Binaries

Check out this documentary: http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

This film, produced by Ricki Lake, is an example of some contemporary political work being done around the medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth. The film aims to disprove many culturally popular beliefs in the U.S. about the safety of giving birth in hospitals with doctors versus having a more "natural" birth with a midwife. Its main argument seems to be a call to de-medicalize pregnancy and birthing.

One of the main issues at hand is the notion of choice. In this regard, pregnancy and birthing discourse is closely tied to discourse around abortion rights. The idea of making a choice based on informed consent and personal desires is often juxtaposed to the processes of normalization that are continually acting upon us. This juxtaposition creates a false binary and leads political arguments in directions where differing opinions will inevitably never find common ground. Instead it is useful to think about personal choice and processes of normalization as both constantly at work. Then, the work to be done (aided through the theoretical work of Judith Butler) is to expand the realm of the norms to provide broader accepted opportunities to exert informed personal choices. The work that this documentary does is to present birthing with a midwife as a viable popular option for women to choose. It's downfall is in demonizing the majority of obstetricians and births that occur in hospitals which may alienate some women's "desires" and experiences and thus make them closed-off to the films political project.