Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

English (Literature)

Department or School/College

Literature

Committee Chair

Kathleen Kane

Committee Co-chair

Louise Economides

Commitee Members

Elizabeth Hubble

Keywords

reproductive justice, feminist dystopia, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center, Roe v. Wade, abortion, pregnancy

Subject Categories

American Literature | Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

This thesis highlights the parallels between contemporary U.S. culture and legislation (particularly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade) and two pieces of feminist speculative fiction: Louise Erdrich’s novel Future Home of the Living God and Leni Zumas’s Red Clocks. Through a rhetorical analysis of political and cultural discourse, legislation, and the two novels, utilizing the frameworks of theorists such as Catharine MacKinnon, Michel Foucault, and Stacy Alaimo, I investigate the similarities in legislation, culture, rhetoric, and atmospheres of reproductive dystopian fiction and our current political environment after the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center (2022) overturned the (minimal) abortion protections established by Roe in 1973. Some of the ideas explored include fetal personhood, anti-abortion policies, surveillance of female bodies, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), teen pregnancy, physicians and obstetrician-gynecologists, and reproductive justice. I argue that legal restrictions on abortion and other reproductive healthcare services have implications beyond women and pregnancy, calling into question the autonomy, privacy, and agency of U.S. citizens and beyond. Additionally, this thesis intends to demonstrate the ways in which feminist dystopian fiction, in particular, serves as a warning to current and future generations about the path their society is following.

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© Copyright 2026 Erin R. Walden