Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. History Dept.

Advisor(s)

Sarah Duff

Second Advisor

Ashton Wesner

Abstract

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have been a valuable tool in allowing many people to have children who previously struggled with infertility. However, feminists have raised the question: what impact do these new reproductive technologies have on women? This thesis investigates the discourse around the social implications of ARTs from the seventies to the present day. Looking at both feminist literature and portrayals of ARTs in women’s magazines, I performed a discourse analysis to track how the perception of the social implications of ARTs has changed over time. I also use a science, technology, and society (STS) studies lens to look at these arguments and show how this could be a tool in shaping the future of ARTs. I will argue that the feminist discourse around ARTs took a more positive turn in recent decades – shifting away from ideas that portray ARTs as taking power away from women to arguments that see ARTs as a way for women to take back control of their infertility experience.

Keywords

assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), sociotechnical imaginary, feminist discourse, history of science, discourse analysis

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