Colen: II Contested reproduction · The idea of the body as a machine firmly established the male body as the prototype of this machine (Martin, 1987, Davis-Floyd: 1990, 1994). · This is seen as a significant departure from the ideas propounded in medical texts from the ancient Greeks up until the eighteenth century that described male and female bodies as fundamentally similar. · Though women had hitherto been conceptualised as embodying the same genitals as men inside their bodies, thus relegating women to `a lesser version of the male body' . · Any deviations from the male prototype became valid grounds for viewing female biology as `abnormal', defective and as untenable as nature itself, thus in need of manipulation by man. · The demise of the midwife and the rise of male-attended mechanically manipulated birth followed close on the heels of the wide cultural acceptance of the female body as a defective machine. Birth of medical domain:
Just before his death, he makes his son John promise to care for his stepmother and three half-sisters. Mr. John Dashwood initially intends to keep his promise and treat his female relatives generously, but his wife Fanny, a narrow-minded and selfish woman, convinces him to leave them only five hundred pounds apiece. Fanny moves into Norland immediately following Mr. Henry Dashwood's death and becomes mistress of the estate, relegating John's stepmother Mrs. Dashwood and half-sisters Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret to the status of mere visitors. Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, visits Norland for several weeks and develops a strong attachment to Elinor Dashwood. Edward is the eldest son of a man who died very rich; now his entire fate depends upon his mother's will. Although he is shy and not particularly handsome, he has an open, affectionate heart. His mother and sister want him to distinguish himself and
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