How Public Narratives Impede Reproductive Justice: Reform for the Chemical Body Burdens of Children Erica Albino Course: Interdisciplinary Senior Seminar Professor: Maria Kromidas, Community and Social Justice Studies Student: Erica Albino Essay: How Public Narratives Impede Reproductive Justice: Reform for the Chemical Body Burdens of Children
Assignment: Students in this course were tasked with developing a project that is intended as the culmination of their undergraduate education and representative of their political, professional, and personal interests in their fields of study. Students choosing to write a traditional
academic thesis selected their own topic aligned with the broad course theme (Spring 2021 theme: Radical Care), and developed the project through a series of steps throughout the semester.
Abstract The responsibility of fetal and infant development has been historically framed as belonging to the individual, childbearing woman. Public narratives assert that disparities in health outcomes would be improved from reforms in mothers’ lifestyle and behaviors, with the media continually emphasizing “precautionary consumerism” as a means to ameliorate the dangers of chemical body burdens and their associated health risks (Mackendrick, 2014). However, this account does not take into consideration the economic, educational, and cultural dynamics that intersect with maternal and infant health. A growing body of scholarship, critique the hegemonic view of mother as
autonomous bearer of health outcomes. This thesis contributes to this body of critical scholarship by exploring how women navigate chemical exposure risks, demonstrating how individualist approaches are not conducive to addressing and mitigating the hazards. I argue that public narratives about health risks disempower women and function to mystify the larger forces responsible for these health risks. The way we understand and manage chemical burdens through individualistic consumerist methods put marginalized women in a double bind – unprotected and unable to access these “solutions.” Based on my analysis of nongovernmental organization’s strategies to impact these issues and interviews with mothers, I argue that a 51
