Houf Jessica R
Department of Communication, The University of Utah, Languages and Communication Bldg, 255 S Central Campus Dr., Rm 2400, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
J Med Humanit. 2019 Sep;40(3):329-345. doi: 10.1007/s10912-017-9468-y.
The human microbiome is changing the way experts and non-experts think about germs and microorganisms. This essay is a gender analysis of contemporary discourses surrounding the human reproductive microbiome, specifically the vaginal microbiota and the penile microbiota. I first historically situate the human reproductive microbiome within the germ theory of disease. Then, I draw on Heather Paxson's Foucauldian and Latourian concept of microbiopolitics to argue that microbiopolitics is not only about how humans should live with microorganisms; but it also impacts how humans and microbes live together as gendered beings. I illustrate this gendering through two figures: the microbial mother and the independent organ.
人类微生物群正在改变专家和非专家对病菌和微生物的看法。本文是对围绕人类生殖微生物群，特别是阴道微生物群和阴茎微生物群的当代话语的性别分析。我首先从历史角度将人类生殖微生物群置于疾病的病菌理论之中。然后，我借鉴希瑟·帕克森的福柯式和拉图式微生物政治概念，认为微生物政治不仅关乎人类应如何与微生物共存；它还影响着人类和微生物作为有性别的存在如何共同生活。我通过两个形象来说明这种性别化：微生物母亲和独立器官。
