“Decolonizing our body”: natural gynecology and the production of knowledge about female body, sexuality and reproductive processes in Brazil

Abstract

Recently, women’s groups have become popularized on the internet and in face-toface meetings in order to share information about sexuality, reproduction, the female body, and their treatment and healing processes. This ideology, generally called “Natural Gynecology”, is based on the criticism of medicalization - which would have removed from women their autonomy over themselves, keeping them susceptible to control over their bodies. Thus, the groups seek to attribute positive values associated with the feminine, keeping unquestioned, however, the primacy of the difference between genders and the notion of a “feminine nature” anchored in a biological body. Based on a documentary analysis of manuals and reference materials collected in two groups of Natural Gynecology, this article examines the relationship between the women’s movements and the Natural Gynecology ideology, analyzing thoughts on the female body, reproductive processes, and sexuality.

Keywords:
natural gynecology; body; nature; medicalization; gender