- Title
- Representations of the subject ‘woman’ and the politics of abortion: an analysis of South African newspaper articles from 1978 to 2005
- Creator
- Macleod, Catriona I, Feltham-King, Tracey
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2012
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/446286
- Identifier
- vital:74487
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2012.685760"
- Description
- A key element in cultural and gender power relations surrounding abortion is how women who undergo an abortion are represented in public talk. We analyse how women were named and positioned, and the attendant constructions of abortion, in South African newspaper articles on abortion from 1978 to 2005, a period during which there were radical political and legislative shifts. The name ‘woman’ was the most frequently used (70% of articles) followed by ‘girl/teenager/child’ (25%), ‘mother’ (25%), ‘patient’ (11%) and ‘minor’ (6%). The subject positionings enabled by these names were dynamic and complex and were interwoven with the localised, historical politics of abortion. The ‘innocent mother’ and the bifurcated ‘patient’ (woman/foetus) positionings were invoked in earlier epochs to promote abortion under medical conditions. The ‘dangerous mother’ and woman as ‘patient’ positionings were used more frequently under liberal abortion legislation to oppose and to advocate for abortion, respectively. The positioning of the ‘girl/teenager/child’ as dependent and vulnerable was used in contradictory ways, both to oppose abortion and to argue for a liberalisation of restrictive legislation, depending on the attendant construction of abortion. The neutral naming of ‘woman’ was, at times, linked to the liberal imaginary of ‘choice’.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (15 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Culture, Health and Sexuality, Macleod, C.I. and Feltham-King, T., 2012. Representations of the subject ‘woman’ and the politics of abortion: an analysis of South African newspaper articles from 1978 to 2005. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 14(7), pp.737-752, Culture, Health and Sexuality volume 14 number 7 p. 737 2012 1464-5351
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
- Hits: 72
- Visitors: 75
- Downloads: 4
Collections
Macleod, Catriona Ida (Distinguished Professor)
Gender Action Forum (GENACT)
SDG 05. Gender Equality
RU Department of Psychology
SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities
SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Representations of the subject ‘woman’ and the politics of abortion.pdf | 714 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |