Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, PhD

Associate Professor
Program
Communication Studies
Research project title

New Grammars for Reproductive Justice

Research description

New Grammars for Reproductive Justice is a co-authored book project that explores how feminist health care providers and advocates are negotiating the complexities of gendered language in pregnancy, childbirth, and family formation. Informed by interviews with health care providers and advocates, New Grammars will provide readers with a recent history of the struggle over gender and language, taking into account the intersecting systems of oppressions and histories faced by differentially marginalized communities. Drawing from current research in transgender studies, feminist studies, and rhetoric, this project makes use of the reproductive justice framework developed by women of color to analyze ongoing debates among reproductive rights and justice advocates on language use and inclusivity. This project invites readers to consider how health care providers and advocates might think through and beyond current vocabularies that bind gender to reproduction in narrow ways.

Undergraduate minimum qualifications

Curious, driven, strong communication skills and commitment to reproductive rights/justice. Upper-level undergraduate course work in communication studies, gender/women's/sexuality studies, or related fields.

Undergraduate role

Students will participate in collecting and evaluating primary data from interviews with feminist health care providers and advocates. Students will have opportunities to develop independent research on related topics.