Beyond the Natural Body An Archaeology of Sex Hormones

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 body concept; investigating how sex hormones have shpaed 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.Oudshoorn, Nelly is the author of 'Beyond the Natural Body An Archaeology of Sex Hormones', published 1994 under ISBN 9780415091916 and ISBN 0415091918.