Potentials of deconstruction - the idea of ectogenesis as a paradoxical feminist utopia

Potenziale der Dekonstruktion von Geschlecht

Abstract

Reproductive technologies have been a key starting point for feminist discourses since their emergence. A central line of conflict here relates to dealing with (gender) difference, which becomes particularly visible in the context of ectogenesis (the outsourcing of pregnancy and birth from the human body). Guided by the question, to what extent ectogenesis as a feminist (utopian) idea offers possibilities for the deconstruction of gender, the present study analyses the theoretical discourse on the topic from the period of 1970 to 2022. Selected feminist texts across different disciplines are examined by using the method of qualitative content analysis, the focus lying on the inherently ambivalent processes of constructing gender. The analysis highlights the relevance of specific notions of body, nature, motherhood, and technologies in the context of ectogenesis, whereby (binary) conceptions of gender are analysed and deconstructed, but also re-solidified. The reproduction of the gender binary - even in apparent efforts to dissolve it - highlights how gender-specific attributions are deeply embedded in a structural level.