The medicalization of women's everyday life and bodily functions is a globalized process. It occurs when what has been considered a normal biological function or social issue is seen as a medical problem requiring a medical solution. Such medicalization is a key component of the modernization process throughout the world (Illich 1976, Madan 1980), and is a process wherein medical expertise has become “the relevant basis of decision making in more and more settings” (Frank 1992). The term medicalization is also often used to refer to a process of…