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Medicalizing the Female Body: Deconstructing How the United States Uses Hysterectomies as a Method of Perpetrating Pronatalist and White Supremacist Ideology

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This thesis will examine the implications behind a higher than average hysterectomy rate in the United States, particularly for women of color and women with lower incomes. It also examines barriers placed on persons trying to obtain a hysterectomy, such as those who are younger and therefore, considered be within…

This thesis will examine the implications behind a higher than average hysterectomy rate in the United States, particularly for women of color and women with lower incomes. It also examines barriers placed on persons trying to obtain a hysterectomy, such as those who are younger and therefore, considered be within the "ideal" demographic for reproduction. This is viewed through both a Critical Race Theory and Reproductive Justice framework. The goal of this research is to determine possible reasons behind disparities in hysterectomy demographics and evaluate how these reasons are influenced by the ideologies of white supremacy, pronatalism, population control, and the medicalization of female bodies integrated into the United States medical system. Understanding the reasons behind these disparities is the first step in deconstructing embedded racism and eliminating unconscious healthcare provider bias in order to provide true equitable care. Exploring the historical context of these embedded values is also essential to understand how they are placed into effect today. This thesis takes into account and evaluates both statistical and phenomenological data in order to understand the full scope of the lived impact. It also provides possible solutions and methods for combating the issues outlined for patients, healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions as well as suggestions on how to take this research further.
ContributorsHiryak, Meghan Elizabeth (Author) / Anderson, Lisa (Thesis director) / Vega, Sujey (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
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U.S. Immigration Policy: Sustaining Racialized Inequalities Through “Illegality” and Education

Description
Through an interdisciplinary American Studies approach, this thesis examines access to education and immigrant “illegality” as tools of racial domination by investigating colonial legacies and structural inequalities linked with immigration policy. Providing a background on the political formation of immigrant “illegality”, this research focuses on how race relations have influenced…

Through an interdisciplinary American Studies approach, this thesis examines access to education and immigrant “illegality” as tools of racial domination by investigating colonial legacies and structural inequalities linked with immigration policy. Providing a background on the political formation of immigrant “illegality”, this research focuses on how race relations have influenced immigration policies, as well as political efforts to exclude racialized and minoritized groups from lawful immigration, naturalization, and national belonging. These historic texts shed light on overarching connections between the racialized policy construction of immigrant “illegality” and the role of education in nation building and class conservation. Comprising three analytic chapters; the first historicizes how education was used as a tool of the nation-state in the early formation of U.S. territories, the second chapter applies discourse analysis to link contemporary political rhetoric with color-blind ideologies. The third analytic chapter is a critical review of existing quantitative findings on the effects of legal status on educational attainment for Mexican and Central American immigrants and their descendants living in the United States. Challenging the dominant narrative around immigrant “illegality”, this work highlights the racist formation and continued application of unequal access (to both education and citizenship), further demonstrating how structural inequalities remain racialized.
ContributorsOlsen-Medina, Kira (Author) / Yellow Horse, Aggie (Thesis advisor) / Vega, Sujey (Committee member) / Diaz McConnell, Eileen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021