Marked Women

The Cultural Politics of Cervical Cancer in Venezuela

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Marked Women by Rebecca G. Martínez, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rebecca G. Martínez ISBN: 9781503606449
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: June 5, 2018
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Rebecca G. Martínez
ISBN: 9781503606449
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: June 5, 2018
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

Cervical cancer is the third leading cause of death among women in Venezuela, with poor and working-class women bearing the brunt of it. Doctors and public health officials regard promiscuity and poor hygiene—coded indicators for low class, low culture, and bad morals—as risk factors for the disease.

Drawing on in-depth fieldwork conducted in two oncology hospitals in Caracas, Marked Women is an ethnography of women's experiences with cervical cancer, the doctors and nurses who treat them, and the public health officials and administrators who set up intervention programs to combat the disease. Rebecca G. Martínez contextualizes patient-doctor interactions within a historical arc of Venezuelan nationalism, modernity, neoliberalism, and Chavismo to understand the scientific, social, and political discourses surrounding the disease. The women, marked as deviant for their sexual transgressions, are not only characterized as engaging in unhygienic, uncultured, and promiscuous behaviors, but also become embodiments of these very behaviors. Ultimately, Marked Women explores how epidemiological risk is a socially, culturally, and historically embedded process—and how this enables cervical cancer to stigmatize women as socially marginal, burdens on society, and threats to the "health" of the modern nation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Cervical cancer is the third leading cause of death among women in Venezuela, with poor and working-class women bearing the brunt of it. Doctors and public health officials regard promiscuity and poor hygiene—coded indicators for low class, low culture, and bad morals—as risk factors for the disease.

Drawing on in-depth fieldwork conducted in two oncology hospitals in Caracas, Marked Women is an ethnography of women's experiences with cervical cancer, the doctors and nurses who treat them, and the public health officials and administrators who set up intervention programs to combat the disease. Rebecca G. Martínez contextualizes patient-doctor interactions within a historical arc of Venezuelan nationalism, modernity, neoliberalism, and Chavismo to understand the scientific, social, and political discourses surrounding the disease. The women, marked as deviant for their sexual transgressions, are not only characterized as engaging in unhygienic, uncultured, and promiscuous behaviors, but also become embodiments of these very behaviors. Ultimately, Marked Women explores how epidemiological risk is a socially, culturally, and historically embedded process—and how this enables cervical cancer to stigmatize women as socially marginal, burdens on society, and threats to the "health" of the modern nation.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book What Money Wants by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Patronage and Power by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Absence of Grace by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Evaluation Foundations Revisited by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Police Encounters by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Technology Change and the Rise of New Industries by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book A Classical Republican in Eighteenth-Century France by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Gift of Global Talent by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Varsity Green by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Foreclosed America by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Next Wave by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Shared Society by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book The Colonial Origins of Ethnic Violence in India by Rebecca G. Martínez
Cover of the book Marxism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism by Rebecca G. Martínez
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy