"In this study, published in October in Gender & Society, I interview mothers who reject recommended vaccines for their children... These mothers care about their own children and aim to make the best decisions for them, which they believe requires questioning medical information, educating themselves from sources they see as more reliable (and independent from medical or public health sources), and actively managing their children’s lives...
my research explores how vaccine resistance is a form of privilege that allows mothers to reject professional recommendations and opt out of state law without fear of repercussion. How do mothers’ explanations reflect their access to privilege and what might be the costs of other families?...
Mothers who reject vaccines are not “loons” as popular media would suggest. They spend considerable time and resources deciding what their children need and how to protect them. Yet they do so from a perspective that treats vaccines as a technology for individual consumption that mothers should assess and decide independently whether to use. This ethos—reflecting neoliberal goals that individuals behave as informed consumers responsible for their own health—lies in sharp contrast to the tenets of public health that expect individuals to accept minimal risk to protect those among them who are most vulnerable."
https://gendersociety.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/neoliberal-mothering-and-vaccine-refusal/
Really interesting and informative
(credit to JL)
No comments:
Post a Comment