Medicalization: A Case Study of Cape Breton Women

This dissertation focuses on the reproductive experiences of Cape Breton women. Using feminism and symbolic interactionism, I explore these experiences by conducting focus group and semi-structured individual interviews with 47 women from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Three major themes emerged from the women's stories. First, women assess their situations and make decisions to maximize their advantages. Second is what I characterize as women's "intensified " pragmatism engendered by their complex socio-cultural environment. Problems of high unemployment, severe pollution and difficult access to health care have contributed to a culture that encourages individuals to expect the worst and to trust only those closest to them. In relation to women's reproductive experiences, this translates into distrust of medical professionals, great reliance on other women, and culturally influenced understandings of normal reproductive processes. Third, the advantages women identify for using medical interventions and treatments are subjective, arising out oflived experiences. For those not privy to the women's experiences or thos