Telling stories about abortion: abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916–2013

Sisson, Gretchen; Kimport, Katrina

doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2013.12.015

Cited by 50 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Second, we did not ask women to list all sources of stigma in their community. Abortion stigma circulates in a variety of ways, including through state‐sponsored abortion counseling materials containing misinformation about abortion; decontextualized fetal images used by antiabortion groups; and popular culture, including movies and television shows portraying abortions as deadly or dangerous . Determining the most influential sources of abortion stigma among low‐income women requires further research, which may also guide intervention strategies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abortion Stigma Among Low‐Income Women Obtaining Abortions in Western Pennsylvania: A Qualitative Assessment

Gelman

Rosenfeld

Nikolajski

et al. 2016

Perspect Sexual Reproductive

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CONTEXT Abortion stigma may cause psychological distress in women who are considering having an abortion or have had one. This phenomenon has been relatively underexplored in low-income women, who may already be at an increased risk for poor abortion-related outcomes because of difficulties accessing timely and safe abortion services. METHODS A qualitative study conducted between 2010 and 2013 used semistructured interviews to explore pregnancy intentions among low-income women recruited from six reproductive health clinics in Western Pennsylvania. Transcripts from interviews with 19 participants who were planning to terminate a pregnancy or had had an abortion in the last two weeks were examined through content analysis to identify the range of attitudes they encountered that could contribute to or reflect abortion stigma, the sources of these attitudes and women’s responses to them. RESULTS Women commonly reported that partners, family members and they themselves held antiabortion attitudes. Such attitudes communicated that abortion is morally reprehensible, a rejection of motherhood, rare and thus potentially deviant, detrimental to future fertility and an irresponsible choice. Women reacted to external and internal negative attitudes by distinguishing themselves from other women who obtain abortions, experiencing negative emotions, and concealing or delaying their abortions. CONCLUSIONS Women’s reactions to antiabortion attitudes may perpetuate abortion stigma. Further research is needed to inform interventions to address abortion stigma and improve women’s abortion experiences.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abortion Stigma Among Low‐Income Women Obtaining Abortions in Western Pennsylvania: A Qualitative Assessment

Gelman

Rosenfeld

Nikolajski

et al. 2016

Perspect Sexual Reproductive

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“…Although women of all ages access TOP, a cultural stereotype persists that it is primarily undergone by very young women, which may explain our participants' focus on this age group. A causal link between TOP and poor mental health outcomes, including depression and suicide, has been disproved, and yet persists in highly negative public discourse and media portrayals in the UK and elsewhere . The well‐documented stigma surrounding abortion is reflected in our data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy in a remote and rural setting: a qualitative study

Heller

Purcell

Mackay

et al. 2016

BJOG

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Barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy in a remote and rural setting: a qualitative study. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 123(10), pp. 1684-1691. (doi:10.1111/1471 This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/119417/ Methods: Sixteen semi-structured, audio-recorded telephone interviews were conducted by a researcher with women who had consented to be interviewed at their initial assessment. Six stages of thematic analysis were followed to explore themes in and across participant accounts. Main outcome measures: Themes derived from interview transcripts.Results: Four themes emerged relating to barriers to access and experience: (i) the impact of travel for TOP, (ii) temporal factors unique to this population and how they affected women, (iii) the attitude of health professionals, notably general practitioners, as a result of local culture, and (iv) stigma surrounding TOP and the expectation that abortion will be traumatizing. Conclusions:Women in remote and rural areas experience barriers to accessing TOP.Prompt referrals, more providers of TOP and tackling stigma associated with TOP could make delivery of this service more equitable and improve women's journey through TOP.Tweetable abstract: Women in remote and rural areas of Scotland face multiple barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy.

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“…Yet, if these movies are ignored, we risk failing to apprehend the important contributions these texts make to public discourse. Sisson and Kimport (2014) contend that ''representations influence public perception of abortion care and may play a role in the production of social myths around abortion, with consequences for women's experience of abortion.'' Yet, it is also vital to recognize that representations can give voice to feelings and anxieties that stem from sociopolitical pressures.…”

Section: Surviving Political Pressure: Horror Emotion and Abortionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These immanent political tensions are mirrored in popular culture of the period. Indeed, dramatizations of abortion have increased exponentially since the early 2000s (Sisson and Kimport 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Torture Born: Representing Pregnancy and Abortion in Contemporary Survival-Horror

Jones

2014

Sexuality & Culture

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In proportion to the increased emphasis placed on abortion in partisan political debate since the early 2000s, there has been a noticeable upsurge in cultural representations of abortion. This article charts ways in which that increase manifests in contemporary survival-horror. This article contends that numerous contemporary survival-horror films foreground pregnancy. These representations of pregnancy reify the pressures that moralistic, partisan political campaigning places on individuals who consider terminating a pregnancy. These films contribute to public discourse by engaging with abortion as an individual, emotional matter, rather than treating abortion as a matter of political principle or a political ''means to an end.'' This article not only charts a relationship between popular culture and its surrounding political context, but also posits that survival-horror-a genre that has been disparaged by critics and largely ignored by scholars-makes an important contribution to sexual-political discourse. These films use horror to articulate the things we cannot say about abortion.

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Telling stories about abortion: abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916–2013

Cited by 50 publications

References 7 publications

Abortion Stigma Among Low‐Income Women Obtaining Abortions in Western Pennsylvania: A Qualitative Assessment

Abortion Stigma Among Low‐Income Women Obtaining Abortions in Western Pennsylvania: A Qualitative Assessment

Barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy in a remote and rural setting: a qualitative study

Torture Born: Representing Pregnancy and Abortion in Contemporary Survival-Horror

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