Date of Submission
Spring 2020
Academic Program
Sociology; Gender and Sexuality Studies
Project Advisor 1
Yuval Elmelech
Abstract/Artist's Statement
This paper is an exploration of the links between conceptions of womanhood, motherhood, and abortion discourse. I examine this link through a case study on Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which are faith-based organizations that aim to intervene in abortion decisions. This case study is rooted in a theoretical framework that posits abortion restrictions as upholding a traditionalistic version of womanhood that centers femininity around motherhood. I find that Crisis Pregnancy Center representatives hold a gender essentialist worldview that defines womanhood as related to innate traits of care-taking, selflessness, and nonviolence, and defines motherhood as instinctual for women. I conclude that this worldview aligns with American hegemonic femininity, and cannot coexist with the belief that women can have abortions without psychological or spiritual repercussions.
Open Access Agreement
On-Campus only
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Downs, Macey Clarice, "Fighting for Women, Fighting for Motherhood, Fighting Abortion: the Role of Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Upholding Hegemonic Femininity" (2020). Senior Projects Spring 2020. 20.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2020/20
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.
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