My research this week has been a continuation of my critical review of the materials that you suggested to me and that Professor Riley assigned me in my previous class. I am finding a lot of relevant information and starting to synthesize what I envision being the backbone of my paper’s arguments. I have also started to look at current news articles from both conservative and liberal media sources to see how theory translates into real events in this frightening political climate. I am finding these articles really helpful in connecting the theoretical framework of our neoliberalism readings and my reproductive justice readings to on-the-ground experiences of women today.
new annotated citations:
Traister, Rebecca. “Don’t Let Republicans Erase Vaginas From Women’s Health.” The New Republic. July 31, 2014. Accessed April 10, 2019. https://newrepublic.com/article/118911/reproductive-justice-movement-replacing-word-choice.
This 2014 article in the New Republic was written in response to a New York Times article in which Kellyanne Conway was quoted arguing that “women’s health” does not encompass contraception (or, for that matter, abortion). She makes this point as part of a larger argument that the Republican party should move away from using the language of women’s health–which they claim to support–in their fight against the legality of reproductive services such as abortion. The author argues that, in fact, women’s health surely does encompass all of the many health-related needs and experiences that women navigate throughout their lives. Among other key points, this article’s juxtaposes of the perspectives of women who are on paper very similar except for their political parties. Furthermore, the author delineates the ways in which language, and particularly the language of choice, is crucial in framing issues of reproductive justice. This is relevant to my paper in its critique of the language of choice as well as its argument that the language that “we” use in communicating about these issues is key to how we conceptualize the problems themselves.
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Comments:
Thanks for this, Meghan. However, please remember that you should also provide a critical reflection on your weekly progress.
