Affiliation:
1. University of Texas, Austin, USA
Abstract
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) have been the subject of contentious debate on all sides of the political spectrum. In response, many have created various IUD-related texts that are not only controversial, but allude to apocalyptic themes. Apocalyptic discourse has previously been studied in relation to religion, mass media, the environment, and masculinity. The feminist or even feminine style apocalypse, however, has yet to be explored. Widespread feminist movements use the apocalyptic genre to communicate dystopian urgency about women's reproductive rights. Simultaneously, alternative medicine movements are a source of persuasive texts that both co-opt feminist themes while making use of apocalyptic genre to deter women from certain birth control methods. This chapter analyzes feminist texts in the alternative medicine movement through the Instagram accounts positioned against IUDs to evidence how the feminist apocalyptic genre functions. Greater implications for apocalyptic genre, medical discourse, and feminist symbolism will be addressed.
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