[KS] Re: gynecologists

[Jason Parker]

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Dear Mike,

 From our own "superior" Western Medical worldview (I stress the term 
worldview), it would seem inappropriate for Korean medical practitioners to 
restrain women during child birth. I do not disagree that such a practice 
may be undignified, based on our own standards. But the statement "Who said 
that Koreans are very fond of children and value mothers?" is undeniably 
ethnocentric, especially when viewed in light of the evidence put forward 
by Henny who includes all Koreans when making such an assertion. I will 
however give Henny the benefit of the doubt (something I should have stated 
in my original post) in that I do not think he meant everything his words 
said.

Personally, I feel that the "great" Western Medical profession in the 
United States strips women of dignity and robs them of their autonomy at 
every instance of gestation. It treats childbirth as a medical procedure 
and not a natural process; using fear of the uncertainty of complications 
and birth defects that are statistically rare as the motivation to allow 
doctors to make life choices for them. (PLEASE, I caution you not to infer 
that I believe that all doctors are "evil-white-devils" or that I broaden 
this view to whatever small point some may want to recontextualize my words 
for, because I do not. My commentary is meant for Western medicine as an 
institution.)

Besides, there are Native South American societies that require women to 
give birth while squatting and afterwards continue their daily domestic 
cycle - I suppose those women do not value mothers or are not fond of 
children. Making statements about the overall ethos of a people based upon 
what we conceive of as an unnecessary or outdated medical procedure is akin 
to Hollywood's portrayal of Islamic males as not valuing life as we do 
based on the rash of suicide bombing and terrorist attacks in the 1980s 
without an explanation of the cultural, political and economic context in 
which these actions took place.

Jason Parker


At 12:44 PM 8/29/00 -0500, you wrote:
>REPLY sends your message to the whole list
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>
>Dear Jason:
>
>I am curious about what exactly it was that you found "ethnocentric" about 
>Henny's
>comments?
>
>I actually trained as a Geriatric Social Worker and have had quite a bit of
>experience --both practically and theoretically-- with the issue of "medical
>restraints"; e.g., straight jackets, wrist and ankle immobilizers, bed 
>rails, etc.
>
>The Korean health care system does not exist in a cultural vacuum. (Wasn't it
>Canadians, in fact, who in large measure laid the institutional framework 
>of modern,
>Western medical practice in Korea a hundred years ago or so? Avison of 
>Toronto,
>etc.?)
>
>Given this, it is not, I think, improper to judge contemporary Korean 
>practices in
>the light of contemporary, Western style medical practices generally. If 
>this is not
>the case, why then was the teaching hospital at my local university in North
>Carolina so full of eager residents form Korea?
>
> >From this point of view it is disturbing to hear that, in Korea, the 
> hands of
>pregnant women are mandatorily bound during delivery: the level of risk of 
>injury to
>self --or other-- simply cannot justify such a procedure. (And today the 
>ethical
>justification of intrusive practices of any sort is all about assessing 
>and then
>evaluating relative degrees of risk to self and other.)
>
>As well, I imagine that most biomedical ethicists would concede that the 
>argument
>from ethnocentrism looses out to various arguments based on notions of patient
>"autonomy", "dignity", etc. These latter ideas are --since or indeed 
>because of the
>history of Avison et al. in Korea-- notions that cut ACROSS cultures.
>
>Best,
>
>Mike Goodwin
>(Toronto, CA & College Station, TX)

Jason Parker
Department of Anthropology      Thorne Hall
The Ohio State University       1680 Madison Avenue
200 Lord Hall                   Wooster, OH 44691
124 W. 17th Street              (330) 202-3535
Columbus, OH 43210