Cultural contexts of reproductive health

Abstract

The anthropology of human reproduction is a dynamic field, generating new methods, types of data, and hypotheses on biological, political economic, and sociocultural factors that mediate human reproduction. Current research incorporates perspectives from anthropology's four main subfields of archeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology to explore: (1) the dynamic effects of interactions among political economy, culture, class, race, and ethnicity on reproduction and reproductive health; (2) cross-cultural patterns of women's and men's experiences with reproductive technologies; and (3) struggles for reproductive rights and reproductive justice within the contexts of global health programs and human rights legislation. Cross-cultural studies of sexuality and reproduction are casting new light on the evolution of sexual norms and behavior, social organization, and family structures. Long underexplored topics of male physiology, sexuality, and cultural concepts of paternity and their influence on human reproductive activities have increasingly become researchers' focus.