Hawthorne, Susan (2008) Somatic piracy and biophallacies: separation, violence and biotech fundamentalism. Hypatia, 31 (4). pp. 308-318.

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Abstract

The bodies, soma,(1) of women have become the raw material for the latest corporate colony. As Mies, Bennholdt-Thomsen, and von Werlhof[Mies, Maria, Bennholdt-Thomsen, Veronika & von Werlhof, Claudia (1988). Women: The last colony. New Delhi: Kali for Women] put it, women are the last colony. From the colonial resource of women's somata, new products are created and old services are extended. New biotech and reproductive business opportunities affect women from all classes and cultures. It affects women undergoing medical procedures: isolated or distinctive genetic populations; women with disabilities; poor and wealthy women; lesbians and heterosexuals. A concept explored in this article is the separation of body parts - somata - from the body. The meaning of soma in Homeric Greek was of the dead body, a body not infused with psychic energy or soul. It refers to a human being, but especially to slaves. Separation, the dissociation of mind and body creates acceptability for the biocures that necessitate removal of somata from women.

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