Course:CSIS200/2025/The Monster Inside Women’s Bodies: The Dalkon Shield and the Politics of Reproductive Control

Definition

Term	Definition
Patriarchy	A social system in which men hold primary power, producing patriarchal forces that shape political, economic, and social institutions.
Capitalism	An economic system based on private ownership and profit that produces capitalist forces shaping social, political, and economic outcomes.
Reproductive Autonomy	The right to make decisions about one’s body, fertility, and sexuality without coercion, violence, or discrimination.
Reproductive Control	The ability of individuals, institutions, or governments to influence or restrict individuals' reproductive choices and behaviors.
Intrauterine Device (IUD)	A small, contraceptive device inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy.
The Dalkon Shield	An intrauterine device produced by the A.H. Robins Company in the 1970s with a flawed design that caused severe complications.
One-Child Policy	A Chinese population control policy (1979–2015) that limited most urban couples to only one child and imposed fines for violations.

Introduction

Sketch of a Dalkon Shield IUD

Dalkon Shield is a type of IUD that was introduced by the A.H. Robins company in 1970, which led to many women getting infections and septic abortion, and even death . This tragic event is not only about a technology failure, but also shows the power structure that hides deeply behind the medical company. In Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (3rded.), the author notes that medical science, including medicine, research, and various interventions, is influenced by the social, cultural, and political forces. As a medical device, Dalkon Shield shows the same pattern, which it was affected by the patriarchal and capitalist forces.

From the critical perspective, Dalkon Shield’s story exposes how the company makes the decision that harms women for its profit, and how the medical system that is dominated by men ignores women’s health. Alexander Schmidt, director of the FDA, insists on putting this UID into the market, in order to get the “real data” of its risks . Robins company insists on inventing a tail string that can produce many bacteria, in order to get more profits. In this situation, women become a tool that can save costs and test the risks.

This pattern does not only exist in America. The Chinese also established a policy that restricts women’s reproductive autonomy, the One-Child Policy. By comparing the UID with the policy, this research can help to see how different societies and different institutions affect women’s bodies and reproductive rights. Through analyzing Dalkon Shield’s design and the power behind it, this research will discuss how capitalist and patriarchal forces shaped the Dalkon Shield, and how this affect women’s reproductive autonomy.

Background and Overview

Birth Control poster

In mid-20th century, Americans’ thoughts experienced a big change. They began to discuss contraception, birth control, sexual behavior before marriage, and women’s freedom. In this period feminist movement helped women fight for their bodies’ and reproductive rights, including abortion, and this movement also influenced the medical technology and reproductive policies. Following the social transformations of the 1960s, the Dalkon Shield was introduced. At that time, it was very popular on the market. Beginning in 1971, Robins sold 4.5 million Dalkon Shields around the world, including 2.8 million in the U.S.

The Dalkon Shield

Dalkon Shield’s structure is very simple. In the top of Dalkon Shield is a plastic device shaped like teardrop, and a multifilament string is extended from it. However, this multifilament string is the main reason for the serious medical injuries. Dalkon Shield was originally invented by physician Hugh Davis and electrical engineer Irwin Lerner in 1968. At the beginning, they tried the monofilament strings, but testing result showed that this kind of string is too fragile, so they finally choose a multifilament string called Supramid. In the past, Supramid was used to fix horses’s muscle tendons, and it was formed by many tiny nylon strands and a nylon sheath. Davis and Lerner use this material because they believe it can prevent prevent vaginal fluid from entering the uterus, but they did not seal the sheath correctly, which allowed the bacteria to directly reach the uterus through the sheath. By using this IUD, women were infected by bacteria and suffered from septic abortion. Although during 1970s society paid many attention to these medical devices, the big flaw that Dalkon Shield has, the lack of testing, and the ignorance toward women, made this device become a devil that harm female bodies.

Sexuality as Social Construction

Sexuality, reproduction, and the female body are not just biological facts. They are constructed by society through medical study, culture, and institutional discourse. The case of Dalkon Shield reveals the way that society constructs women’s reproductive bodies as an object that needs monitoring, discipline, and technical management. In the 1960s and 1970s, medical authorities and corporations made contraceptive issues a technical problem. This problem was designed, evaluated, and explained by male male-dominated system. From a patriarchal perspective, female reproductive ability is often constructed as an object that needs to be monitored and managed under the interaction of society and technology. Dalkon Shield was promoted to the market, although it lacks authoritative testing, which shows that companies’ benefits and medical technology can both give significance to the female body. In this context, women cannot completely control their reproductive autonomy. The Dalkon Shield event demonstrates how women’s bodies were built by society, and it also shows the intersectional function of corporate profits, patriarchal forces, and medical technology.

Capitalism in the market

Based on the social construction of female reproductive bodies, the capitalist market constructs and controls women’s bodies through profit-driven practices and regulatory flaws. The invention, production, and promotion of Dalkon Shield clearly show how capitalist forces restrict and control women’s reproductive autonomy. In 1996, scholars Szockyj and Fox noted that under the capitalist system, women’s reproductive rights and abilities are easily influenced negatively, because companies always put profit above the health and welfare of women consumers, and even sometimes ignore the potential risks. Dalkon Shield is a typical example. A.H. Robins Company put its entire focus on the economic profit throughout the whole product life cycle. This IUD did not receive enough clinical trials and laboratory testing, and the company disregarded or neglected the regulatory requirements and procedures. However, Dalkon Shield was still promoted and advertised as a convenient and outstanding contraceptive device. The company's annual report places greater emphasis on financial performance and shareholder returns, while downplaying or even overlooking the serious health problems faced by female users, such as infections, infertility, and septic abortions. In the capitalist market, companies put profit and revenue in the first place, so they try their best to reduce costs. From their perspective, all consumers can become tools that help them gain more money. The product produced in this market loses its original purpose of serving consumers and becomes a sword that harms consumers’ health.

Moreover, at that time the products like silicone breast implants were classified as a medical device rather than a pharmaceutical product. Therefore, these devices could escape the strict government regulation, similar to Dalkon Shield. This regulatory flaw, and the corporate strategies for cost reduction, made female consumers become experimental samples to test the products that were not fully developed. In addition, A.H. Robins Company used a legal approach to make the crisis an economic problem, instead of a public health problem, shifting responsibilities to others. The company only treated this problem seriously and took remedial action when the court issued compulsory requirements. This event clearly demonstrates that the capitalist company puts women’s reproductive health in a dangerous position. The product they promoted made many women lose the ability to give birth, which seriously damaged female reproductive autonomy.

Capitalism kills people, just as the capitalist company A.H. Robins endangered women with the Dalkon Shield.

The main purpose of an IUD is to protect women’s reproductive autonomy. If women's health is neglected for profit, the original purpose of such medical devices is lost. The Dalkon Shield is an IUD that was distorted by capitalism, resulting in the majority of women who used it losing their reproductive rights. Therefore, corporate strategies not only put women’s health in danger but also strengthen the idea that female bodies can be socially constructed as tools for technological management and profit extraction.

Patriarchal forces

In the process of developing, testing, and promoting Dalkon Shield, almost all the crucial decisions and data processing were dominated by men. Dr. Hugh Davis from Johns Hopkins University not only personally inserted the IUD in female patients but also collected and analyzed the data of clinical experiments without the formal informed consent of the women. The official from Robins Company, Dr. Fred Clark, and the salesperson, John McClure, controlled the promotion of the product and advertising strategies. And Thad Earl, who provided financial support and acquired shares, and the company lawyer Robert Cohn, were also involved. Throughout the project, most of the steps were dominated by males. Even though there were many serious problems of severe infection, septic abortion, and even death, the intervention of the regulatory system was slow and limited. The responsibilities for this event were actually in the control of these male experts and senior management. Dalkon Shield clearly shows that the crucial decisions and technologies of the devices for women’s reproductive health and autonomy were almost controlled by men. Female bodies can be constructed or even damaged by patriarchal forces.

From this point of view, Dalkon Shield demonstrates how patriarchal forces can influence medical decisions and society's perception of the female reproductive body. The medical system that was dominated by males regards women’s reproductive abilities as objects that need to be managed, controlled, and monitored, and the motivation from corporate profit reinforced this pattern. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, and supervisors are all under the structure of patriarchy, and put technical efficiency and corporate profit above female health, just like women’s bodies can be freely experimented upon and controlled. Also, this case highlights how patriarchal forces interact with corporate interests and medical authority to shape and constrain women's sexual and reproductive autonomy.

One-child policy in China

One-child policy slogan

In order to control the rapid growth of the population, in the 1970s, China began to carry out the policy of family planning, which both controls the population quantity and also improves the population quality. This policy made China complete the development that experienced by other developed countries experienced over several hundred years in just approximately 20 years. During this period, people could see the one-child policy slogans everywhere on the street, such as “ a low birthrate is a critical step for sustainable development”. Although the policy aimed to control population growth, it directly restricted women’s reproductive autonomy. And it also shows how national power and patriarchal norms promote reproductive control. Similar to Dalkon Shield, this policy restricts women’s bodies, stipulates the number and conditions of children they can have. Women are forced to accept gynaecological examinations, abortion, or even sterilisation. These coercive interventions were planned and enforced by family planning officials. Some women have fled China because they feared they might experience these processes. In this context, from a patriarchal perspective, female bodies are regarded as objects that need management in order to achieve broader social and economic goals. Just like A.H. Robins Company, which put women’s health above profit, the One-child policy put the population control target above female reproductive rights. In both situations, no matter companies or governments, all use women’s bodies as tools that help build a better society and gain more profits. This process reinforces the patriarchy and restricts women’s reproductive autonomy.

Conclusion

All in all, Dalkon Shield demonstrates how capitalism and patriarchy promote and reinforce reproductive control. Its case clearly reveals the problem, the male officials and senior management in A.H. Robins Company put profits above female health, leading to serious injury. And subsequently, the company went bankrupt and posted videos that recall the product. Similarly, the one-child policy restricted women's choices under pressure from both the government and society. Both cases demonstrate that society can shape and control women's bodies, whether through corporate or state mechanisms. They illustrate perspectives explored in Sexuality Studies: sexuality, sexual desire, gender, and sexual behavior are not inherently natural but are regulated by sociocultural norms.

Author Bio

Xinyu Liu (Yuki) is currently a first-year student at the University of British Columbia. She is about to enter her second year and study psychology. She is very interested in how people think and what’s going on in their minds, and she plans to explore this field more deeply in her future studies. Her goal is to become a psychologist or counselor, hoping to help people deal with mental health challenges.

For this project, Xinyu Liu chose the topic of how women’s reproductive autonomy has been controlled under capitalism and patriarchy. She focuses on the Dalkon Shield as her main artifact, aiming to clearly show the struggles women faced in the mid-20th century.