The Moral Valence of Intentionality and the Modern Reproductive Subject

ABSTRACT

Critical appraisals of adolescent pregnancy invoke the neoliberal valuation of rational action as moral obligation. Adolescents are portrayed as autonomous modern subjects and expected to demonstrate the virtue of responsibility through the use of biomedical contraceptives. Drawing on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork focusing on adolescent pregnancy in a small, semirural community outside of Tijuana, Baja California Norte, Mexico, I elucidate the moral landscape within which assertions of intentionality might acquire meaning in the context of adolescent pregnancy. I argue that the stakes involved in normative evaluations of female sexuality and reproduction at my fieldsite are shaped by past and contemporary experiences of EuroAmerican imperialism and are superimposed upon moral scaffolds laid by EuroAmerican colonialism.

KEYWORDS:

• Mexico
• agency
• intentionality
• neoliberalism
• pregnancy
• reproduction

Acknowledgments

I am very thankful for the support and guidance of my advisor Thomas Csordas throughout my fieldwork and graduate training. I am also especially grateful to Saiba Varma, whose mentorship provides the optimal combination of unreserved, candid critique and supportive encouragement. Most importantly, I am grateful to the women described in this article and countless others who shared their thoughts, experiences, and insights with me throughout my time in la colonia.

Notes

1. See Núñez and Klamminger (2010) for a detailed analysis of the political, social, and economic context of the colonia.

2. As per anthropological convention, all names used in this text are pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of my interlocutors.

3. The gerundive form of salir adelante.

4. See also Cahn (2008) for a discussion of the relationship between consumerism and middle class respectability and Napolitano (2002) on the transmission of hegemonic class values through soap operas.

Additional information

Funding

No external funding was provided for this research.

Notes on contributors

Morgen A. Chalmiers

Morgen A. Chalmiers is an MD/PhD candidate at the University of California San Diego, where she conducts ethnographic research on women’s experiences of reproductive healthcare using the tools and theoretical lens of psychological anthropology. Her research and clinical work are informed by the paradigm of reproductive justice and a commitment to integrating the insights of intersectional feminist ethnography into healthcare practice and policy through interdisciplinary collaboration. She can be reached via email at [email protected] and at P.O. Box 850215, Amman 11185, Jordan.