“I’ll Look into This on My Own”: Knowledge and Resistance in Narratives of Contraception among College-Educated American Women

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2018-09-06

Authors

Tully, Hillary

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

For every method, there's a story - the IUD that almost killed her, the male birth control that almost happened, the weight gained and the moods changed. Whether a narrative of personal experience or one heard through the grapevine, stories about contraception illuminate critical issues in reproductive health today. Using ethnographic data deeply colored by ongoing partisan rhetoric around reproductive rights and the body, I discuss the dynamics of power at play in patient experience, the performance of social complaint and institutional critique, and vernacular conceptualizations of health and embodiment in the contraceptive regimen.

Description

Keywords

Birth Control, Contraception, Folklore, Folk Medicine, Narrative, Reproductive Health

Citation