This article explores the circulation of #MyBodyMyChoice in a series of deeply divisive political debates – abortion rights and mask wearing during COVID-19. We trace the appropriation of this slogan for differing ideological purposes, and its shifts from collective political action concerning pro-choice to the rights of individuals to refuse to comply with mask mandates. Underpinning the values of each is a white liberal racism that operates to uphold dominant gender, class and economic structures.
Agard-JonesV (2013) Bodies in the system. Small Axe17: 182–192.
2.
GillR (2017) The affective, cultural and psychic life of postfeminism: A postfeminist sensibility 10 years on. European Journal of Cultural Studies20(6): 606–626.
3.
LappéMJeffries HeinRLandeckerH (2019) Environmental politics of reproduction. Annual Review of Anthropology48: 133–150.
4.
Laster PirtleW (2020) Racial capitalism: A fundamental cause of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic inequities in the United States. Health Education & Behavior47(4): 504–508.
5.
MendenhallE (2022) Unmasked: COVID, Community, and the Case of Okoboji. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
6.
PriceK (2010) What is reproductive justice? How women of color activists are redefining the pro-choice paradigm. Meridians10(2): 42–65.
7.
RobertsDE (1999) Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. New York: Vintage.
8.
RossLSolingerR (2017) Reproductive Justice: An Introduction. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
9.
ValdezN (2021) Weighing the Future: Race, Science, and Pregnancy Trials in the Postgenomic Era. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
10.
ValdezNDeomampoD (2019) Centering race and racism in reproduction. Medical Anthropology38(7): 551–559.
