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Speaking across the divide: a Functional Grammar analysis of feminist and masculist reproductive rights rhetoric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2011

Lia Alexandra Mandaglio
Lia Alexandra Mandaglio*
Affiliation:
George Washington University Law School
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

This article applies Systemic Functional Grammar and Critical Discourse Analysis to assess the linguistic choices of feminist and masculist reproductive rights rhetoric. It explains these methodologies and provides a discursive history of the reproductive rights movement. Publications of advocacy groups and the mass media are analysed as data of current rhetorical trends. These interpretations conclude that female-affirmative rhetoric offsets contemporary feminist efforts by marginalising men and excluding considerations of paternity. This article suggests that in solely emphasising women's procreative rights, such feminist rhetoric potentially renders women to the role of primary parental agent, reinforces traditional sex-stereotypes, and incites inter-sex antagonism.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 47 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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