Dissertation Research: The Social Significiance of Infertility in Beijing, China

本论文研究项目将允许研究生 在文化人类学中， 中国现代女性不孕不育的问题。 学生的 该项目得到了学术交流委员会的批准 与中华人民共和国，监督研究的主要行政机构， 美国科学家在中国 虽然中国政府强调人口控制， 仍然被污名化。 该项目将调查文化 通过研究社会如何 家庭、婚姻、医疗和国家政策制度 影响性别认同的概念和 不孕不育的耻辱。 方法包括参与者 观察，调查，开放式访谈和分析 民俗材料 这项研究很重要，因为高人口增长率 是发展中国家的主要问题。 增加 了解当地关于不孕症的价值观如何受到影响 国家人口控制政策将有助于建议 如何实现人口控制目标。

This dissertation research project will allow a graduate student in cultural anthropology to study the cultural meanings of infertility among modern-day women in China. The student's project is approved by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the PRC, the main administrative body overseeing research by US scientists in the PRC. While the PRC government stresses population control, infertility remains stigmatized. The project will investigate the cultural construction of femaleness and maleness by studying how social institutions of family, marriage, medicine and state policies affect notions of gender identity and the process of stigmatization for infertility. Methods include participant observation, surveys, open-ended interviewing and the analysis of folklore materials. This research is important because high population growth rates are major problems in the developing world. Increased understanding of how local values about infertility are affected by state population control policies will be helpful in advising countries how to achieve their population control goals.