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Claiming the Abortion Narrative: A Qualitative Exploration of Mainstream and Social Media Reflections on Abortion

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Global Perspectives on Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse

Abstract

Popular culture representations of abortion reflect and reinforce powerful narratives about reproductive health and womanhood. Critical evaluation of how traditional media—such as film, television, and print—have depicted abortion illustrates the ways in which cultural representation can reinforce negative social myths of abortion. This includes the myth that abortion is rare and dangerous, as well as contributes to the overall stigma surrounding abortion. Additionally, these traditional forms of media often reinforce hegemonic perspectives, with minimal representations of poor women or women of color who are more likely to experience undesired pregnancy and abortion.

Since the introduction of Facebook in 2004, social networking has emerged as an important form of communication and a transformative popular culture medium. The impact of social media on public opinion and framing of pregnancy and abortion is yet to be elucidated. However, given their popularity and participatory nature, social media platforms—like Twitter and Facebook—have been evaluated as tools for public health research and in targeted sexual health education interventions. This chapter critically evaluates key media representations of abortion in traditional and social media over the past 10 years. From this analysis, a theoretical framework for understanding how social media has transformed cultural representations of abortion to create a counter-narrative to traditional media conceptualizations will be generated. Case studies of how abortion has been considered in social media will be used to provide examples of how social media has been used to normalize abortion, galvanize political action, and increase women’s ability to seek safer abortion care. Ultimately we conclude that, through their participatory nature, social media platforms have the potential to challenge traditional media representations of abortion and can serve as empowering platforms for political and feminist pro-choice activism.

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Suggested Reading

  • Hanschmidt, F., Linde, K., Hilbert, A., Riedel-Heller, S. G., & Kersting, A. (2016). Abortion stigma: A systematic review. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 48(4), 169–177. doi:10.1363/48e8516.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, L. H. (2012). Stigma and abortion complications in the United States. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 120(6), 1472–1474.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson, G., & Kimport, K. (2014). Telling stories about abortion: Abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916–2013. Contraception, 89(5), 413–418.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, W., Turan, J. M., White, K., Stringer, K. L., Helova, A., Simpson, T., & Cockrill, K. (2016). Social norms and stigma regarding unintended pregnancy and pregnancy decisions: A qualitative study of young women in Alabama. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 48(2), 73–81.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Natalie Whaley

  2. High Point University, High Point, NC, USA

    Jenn Brandt

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  1. Natalie Whaley
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  2. Jenn Brandt
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Correspondence to Natalie Whaley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. San Juan, USA

    Shonali Choudhury

  2. Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

    Jennifer Toller Erausquin

  3. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Mellissa Withers

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Whaley, N., Brandt, J. (2018). Claiming the Abortion Narrative: A Qualitative Exploration of Mainstream and Social Media Reflections on Abortion. In: Choudhury, S., Erausquin, J., Withers, M. (eds) Global Perspectives on Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60417-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60417-6_10

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