Psychology, Department of
ORCID IDs
Rachel L. Dyer https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0073-3442
Date of this Version
2023
Citation
Published in Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2023
DOI: 10.1177/03616843231173673
Abstract
Women-centered anti-abortion rhetoric, grounded in ostensibly positive beliefs that pregnant people are precious objects who must be protected from having abortions, has proliferated anti-abortion activism and legislation. However, abortion stigma, marked by negative perceptions of people who terminate pregnancies, is the most widely used theoretical tool for understanding the social and psychological implications of abortion. In this article, we first integrate these two seemingly contradictory perspectives on abortion through the lens of ambivalent sexism theory. We then argue that ambivalent sexism paves the way for objectifying perceptions and treatment of pregnant people; specifically, our typology of reproductive objectification provides a tool for exploring how the abortion decision-making of pregnant people is undermined. Through this lens, abortion decisions can represent a subversion of these portrayals and treatment by affirming people who seek and have abortions as whole human beings. Throughout, we aim to counter White supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy, which have marked public discourse and psychological research on abortion. Finally, using this reproductive objectification framework, recommendations for clinicians and researchers are provided.
Included in
Community Psychology Commons, Health Policy Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Science and Technology Policy Commons, Social Justice Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Women's Health Commons
Comments
Copyright © 2023 Rachel L. Dyer, Olivia R. Checkalski, and Sarah J. Gervais. Published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission