Faculty of Science, Center for Science in Society, Victoria University of Wellingtonn, Wellington, New Zealand.
Anthropol Med. 2022 Jun;29(2):141-159. doi: 10.1080/13648470.2020.1778427. Epub 2020 Aug 24.
Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) are increasingly available over the counter as a form of hormonal birth control in India. As use of ECPs is increasing over time, this paper draws on ethnographic research in Dehradun, in Uttarakhand (Northern State) to highlight the everyday material conditions under which women create narrative around choice and agency regarding these ECPs. Women viewed ECPs as better options than abortion, appreciated the sense of empowerment these provided them because they could be consumed in houses where women had limited 'space and privacy;' and finally that ECPs and their advertisements could act as 'agents of social change.' Feminist scholarship on reproduction demonstrates that choice is a form of agency that is enacted within certain constraints. Using this framework, the research here highlights how women create narratives about ideas of contraceptive choice and notions of 'empowerment' when talking about ECPs and their advertisements. In revisiting the dilemma about women's agency and choice, this paper builds on Rosalind Gill's concept of 'critical respect' to propose 'critical ethnographic respect' as an ethnographic tool to help read women's responses and respectfully contextualise the materiality from within which these narratives emerge.
紧急避孕药 (ECP) 在印度作为一种激素避孕方法，越来越多地在柜台销售。随着 ECP 的使用时间的增加，本文借鉴了在北阿坎德邦的德拉敦进行的民族志研究，强调了女性在创造关于这些 ECP 的选择和代理的叙事时的日常物质条件。女性认为 ECP 比堕胎更好，因为这些药物给她们提供了一种赋权感，因为她们可以在那些妇女“空间和隐私有限”的家中服用；最后，ECP 及其广告可以作为“社会变革的推动者”。关于生殖的女权主义学术研究表明，选择是一种在一定限制内实施的代理形式。使用这个框架，这里的研究强调了女性在谈论 ECP 及其广告时如何创造关于避孕选择和“赋权”观念的叙事。在重新审视关于女性代理和选择的困境时，本文借鉴了罗莎琳德·吉尔的“批判尊重”概念，提出“批判民族志尊重”作为一种民族志工具，以帮助阅读女性的反应，并从内部尊重地描绘这些叙事出现的物质性。
