Master

ISSN 0256-5004 (Print)

AIMS Journal, 2014, Vol 26, No 2

Hazel Katherine Larkin explores the power of terminology

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that’s all.'

Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

This started as a frustrated rant. As a proud Irishwoman, I could not understand why the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of Dublin maternity hospitals - and only Dublin maternity hospitals - insist on being called 'Master'. It grated on my feminist sensibilities and I took every opportunity I could to introduce the topic into conversation, telling people I felt such a language choice was thoughtlessly insensitive at best and outrageously patriarchal at worst. I decided to conduct a more academic investigation of my own horror at the use of the term and investigate whether the aversion to the term was just my own - or if it was shared by others.

The Patriarchy

Crucial to this discussion is the notion of the patriarchy. As feminists of whatever school or wave or allegiance, we all refer to 'the patriarchy' without, perhaps, pausing to think what we mean by that phrase. So, if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'm going to share with you what I mean when I refer to the patriarchy.

Patriarchy is characterised by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed. Male violence against women is also a key feature of patriarchy.

Whether at home or in the medicalised, industrialised setting of hospital, pregnancy and birth take place in a social context.1 Since men started to nudge their way into childbirth in the 1700s, and then, essentially, 'took over' the area a century later,2 the terminology applied to this most feminine of events has become more technical, more scientific, more patriarchal.

As Jabr tells us 'Colonizers typically have imposed their language on the peoples they colonized, forbidding natives to speak their mother tongues.'3 It's not too much of a stretch to see men as colonisers of bir th. So, when men first decided that childbirth was to become a science, they gave much thought to what exactly they should call their creation. Given that the naming of things is a realm of male preserve - even our most private of personal parts are named for their relationships to men (the word 'vagina' means 'sheath', implying a sheath for a penis) - it shouldn't come as any surprise, that the various alternatives considered included 'male midwife', 'midman' and even(and I find this one hard to pronounce, never mind stomach!) 'androboethogynist'.4 I am reliably informed that that word means 'man helper of women'.5

These terms, however, were rejected for appearing too 'clumsy' or too reminiscent of the female title. That is to say, they were too un-scientific sounding for this new branch of medicine. In the mid-1800s, a British doctor presented us with the word 'obstetrician'. This word is from Latin and means 'to stand before'. Now, if we contrast the word 'obstetrician' - meaning to stand before - with the word 'midwife' which is Middle-German and means 'with woman', the latter is far more comfortable, less judgmental, more wholesome. Personally, in labour, I'd rather have someone 'with' me than 'before' me.


The AIMS Journal spearheads discussions about change and development in the maternity services..

AIMS Journal articles on the website go back to 1960, offering an important historical record of maternity issues over the past 60 years. Please check the date of the article because the situation that it discusses may have changed since it was published. We are also very aware that the language used in many articles may not be the language that AIMS would use today.

To contact the editors, please email: journal@aims.org.uk

We make the AIMS Journal freely available so that as many people as possible can benefit from the articles. If you found this article interesting please consider supporting us by becoming an AIMS member or making a donation. We are a small charity that accepts no commercial sponsorship, in order to preserve our reputation for providing impartial, evidence-based information.

JOIN AIMS

MAKE A DONATION

Buy AIMS a Coffee with Ko-Fi

AIMS supports all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaigns for a system which truly meets the needs of all.

Latest Content

Journal

« »

Issues of trust led to me becoming…

AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 3 By Ryan Jones This is a journal article about trust, and it’s also a journal article about my journey to becoming a volunteer at AIMS. I…

Read more

I trust we can change

AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 3 By Claire Dunn I found myself sitting in the waiting room of a prestigious hospital in West London pondering what lay ahead, for I was on…

Read more

Editorial - Trust and responsibilit…

AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 3 By Alex Smith Welcome to the September 2024 issue of the AIMS journal. The theme for this quarter explores different aspects of trust enc…

Read more

Events

« »

AIMS Workshop: Focusing on Inductio…

Join us for an interactive online AIMS workshop, " Focusing on Induction of Labour ". Tickets are available here https://www.tickettailor.com/events/aims/1322209 Nadia Hi…

Read more

AIMS Workshop: The Foundation Stone…

Join us for an interactive online AIMS workshop: " The Foundation Stones for Supporting the Physiological Process in Pregnancy and Birth ". Tickets available here https:/…

Read more

2024 Migrants’ Maternal Health and…

For all researchers, practitioners and experts by experience interested in migrant maternal health and early childhood research. https://maternityresearch.cityofsanctuary…

Read more

Latest Campaigns

« »

AIMS Letter to Wes Streeting

AIMS has written to Wes Streeting MP, welcoming him to the role of Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. We acknowledge his awareness that maternity services are…

Read more

Involving Service User Voices in Ma…

This is an edited version of an invited talk given by Jo Dagustun, AIMS Campaigns Team, to the International Labour and Birth Research Conference UK, 24 - 26 April 2023.…

Read more

Birth Trauma Inquiry Open Letter in…

We write this letter in response to the recently published APPG Report on Birth Trauma which can be found here The report was extremely moving and we honour the brave con…

Read more