DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEB. 15

Rewriting the Abortion Narrative: The Power of Popular Culture

With the Supreme Court poised to radically change or even overturn Roe v. Wade after hearing the Mississippi Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, critical attention is being turned toward the changing ways popular culture depicts abortion. Popular culture is uniquely positioned to offer these narratives, particularly given the research that suggests that the way abortion is depicted in popular culture impacts cultural perceptions of abortion and may even, as Steph Herold has noted, “have very real ‘policy implications,’ particularly in such a politically charged climate.”   

We are currently accepting proposals for essays that deal with popular-culture depictions of abortion in the last 20 years that are changing the narrative about abortion in a wide range of popular culture, including film, television, literature, and music, blogs, podcasts or social media.

Underlying questions of the project include, but are not limited to:

• How can popular culture contribute to the destigmatization of abortion?
• How can popular culture correct misinformation and misunderstanding about abortion?
• How have abortion narratives changed in the last 25 years?
• To what extent might the entertainment industry influence pulic policy pertaining to abortion rights?

Submission Information:  Submit proposals of 300 to 500 words by Feb. 15th to Brenda Boudreau at bboudreau@mckendree.edu and Kelli Maloy at kem25@pitt.edu.  Abstracts should outline the author’s theoretical framework and identify the goals of the essay  Complete essays, of approximately 4000-6000 words, will be due by June 1, 2022.

About the Editors

Brenda Boudreau is a professor and the James M. Hammil Chair of English at McKendree University.  She has published on a wide range of film and television series.  She serves on the Popular Culture Association board and currently serves as the VP of Awards.  

Kelli Maloy is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.  Her publications and areas of research include contemporary writing by Irish women and topics in popular culture.