124265 KO Critical Media Analysis (2022W)

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld since 1973, no longer exists. In this class, we will try to break down what this ruling means and how it came about.

Terminations of pregnancies, abortions, are typically discussed from two opposed perspectives: As a deeply personal medical decision regarding a pregnant person’s reproductive health (#MyBodyMyChoice) or as a morally and ethically reprehensible, anti-life stance (wherefore anti-abortion activists present themselves as #ProLife).

After the successful completion of this course, students will be able to critically examine the discursive struggle for reproductive rights in a post-Roe v. Wade world, as they will have learned how to appropriately use a toolbox of genre-specific methods of cultural analysis (e.g. semiotic analysis, mis-en-scène analysis for moving images, uncovering contradictory positionings with the help of broader sociopolitical context (historical and legal background, class/gender/race/ability etc.). Ultimately, we will go beyond the frames of #ProChoice and #ProLife and arrive at discussing abortions in terms of #ReproductiveJustice, a framework, which moves beyond the individual level of choice to include questions of access to reproductive services, but also contraception, sex education, health care, living wages, housing and protection from domestic violence.

Our class will deal with questions like: What is the history of reproductive rights in an Anglophone context? What does feminism have to do with the right to abortion? („The personal is political.“) How is the struggle for reproductive rights represented online? How are (felt) activist communities formed online around hashtags like #ProChoice #ProLife or #ReproductiveJustice? How is affect used in discussions of reproductive rights? What are the downsides of an activism rooted in vulnerability and visibility? Based on our class readings, students will learn how to notice and scrutinise cultural markers of difference like race, gender, class, sexuality, body type, ability/health, and age in a variety of different media and online contexts. By introducing students to key texts in gender, media and cultural studies, as well as to the deeply unequal access to reproductive services and providing them with a toolkit for cultural analysis, students will be able to discuss the struggle for reproductive rights in an informed, intersectional way after they have completed this class.

Please note: In this class, we will touch upon questions of bodily autonomy, sexual violence and intersectional structural discrimination. Please be aware of the challenging context of this class when signing up for it.