Women's roles and reproduction: the changing picture in Canada in the 1980's

The social roles of women have always been affected by their reproductive roles. Recently in Canada, as well as elsewhere, several challenges to traditional thinking about women's roles and reproduction have emerged. These challenges have called into question the models typically used to analyze women's roles as well as the very ways women are defined. Four of these challenges are discussed here including the shift in control over reproduction, childbearing as work, the changing traditional family and the appearance of new reproductive technologies. In each area, the traditional sociological approach is contrasted with the feminist perspective.