Thesis Defence: Against Awfulization

Sophie Harms, supervised by Dr. Heather Latimer, will defend their thesis titled “Against Awfulization: A Critical Analysis of Representations of Abortion” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – Power, Conflict & Ideas theme.

An abstract for Sophie Harms’s thesis is included below.

Defences are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Registration is not required for in-person defences.

Abstract

This thesis undertakes an examination of abortion awfulization, which refers to the hegemonically assumed understanding of abortion as a necessarily traumatic and negative event (Purcell et al. 2020). This examination occurs in two parts. First, I analyze abortion awfulization as it is employed by North American anti-abortion groups in their marketing materials. I specifically analyze these organizations’ branding materials to examine how their appropriation of “woman-centred” discourse attempts to shape emotional reactions to abortion. I trace the emergence of fetal and gravid imagery to understand how vision and technological advancements have become a primary epistemological vehicle of abortion awfulization. Specifically, I read these materials using Sara Ahmed’s concept of stickiness, which suggests emotions can be attached to objects and ideas, and Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection, which describes the psychoanalytic underpinnings to perceived transgressions of social norms and morals (Ahmed 2014; Kristeva 1982). These joint frameworks elucidate a much-needed counter to abortion awfulization by demonstrating that anti-abortion rhetoric relies on affect to reinforce normative gender roles attached to idealized, compulsory motherhood. Second, to counter how anti-abortion groups weaponize emotion, I analyze non-negative abortion representations, such as those depicted in films (Lady Bird), memes (Repromemes) and websites (Shout Your Abortion). This secondary analysis utilizes feminist humour theory, specifically the use of Cixous’ concept of feminist laughter, to argue that humour and embodied laughter are alternative epistemologies that normalize abortion (Cixous 1975; Marvin 2022). This thesis concludes by recommending an alternative discursive and affective framework to think through and represent abortion, defined as a “reproductive otherwise.” This framework foregrounds alterity and connection beyond hegemonic femininity and compulsory motherhood.