“It’s Not about Health; It’s about Sex, Pumpkin”: Reproductive Autonomy, Medicalization, and Contraceptive Rhetoric in the Wake of the War on Women

Author

• Alyson Lise Guthrie

Date of Award

2013

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Master's Paper

Degree Awarded

Master of Arts (MA)

Program

English

Department

English

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Birmingham, Elizabeth

Description

The purpose of this study is to better understand the ways in which contemporary women describe their contraceptive needs in the wake of the war on women, primarily in the context of the Sandra Fluke and Rush Limbaugh controversy. After surveying contemporary American women, this study aligns with previous research in finding that the majority of participants describe their contraceptive needs in a variety of ways, but primarily as a means for planning, preventing, or delaying pregnancy. However, women who were not in committed relationships were much more likely to cite medical reasons for their contraceptive use, and much less likely to cite preventing pregnancy than their peers in committed relationships.

Recommended Citation

Guthrie, Alyson Lise, "“It’s Not about Health; It’s about Sex, Pumpkin”: Reproductive Autonomy, Medicalization, and Contraceptive Rhetoric in the Wake of the War on Women" (2013). English. 47.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/english/47

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/23062