An exploration of womens Reproductive and sexual autonomy in Select feminist speculative fiction

Abstract

The oppression and victimization of women continue to this day. Women s subjugation newlinebased on their sexuality and reproductive capabilities is a daunting factor that affects newlinewomens overall well-being. Such issues that affect women s personal choices are newlinequestioned across various feminist narratives. Feminist speculative fiction is one such newlinecompelling genre which challenges the hegemonic structures that victimise women and newlinetheir bodies. The thesis aims to analyze the select feminist speculative fiction viz., newlineBumped (2011) by Megan McCafferty, Future Home of the Living God (2017) by newlineLouise Erdrich, Daughters of the North (2007) by Sarah Hall, Mya Robarts The V newlineGirl (2014), Jennie Melamed s Gather the Daughters (2017) which explore the social newlineinstitutions that target women s sexuality and reproductive ability for the propagation newlineof their political and social agendas. Further, the study aims to interpret the challenges newlinethe characters face, the problems related to women s bodily integrity and the exercise newlineof agency against the oppressive forces. The radical feminist analysis helps to interpret newlinethe texts from the concepts of male supremacy that controls female bodies and sexuality newlineand helps to get into the roots of women s personal problems. The purpose is to newlineshow that the dystopian worlds depicted in the texts indicate the extremity of reproductive newlinecoercion and sexual violence against women that happens and stand as a prophetic newlinewarning of what is to come if the current violence persists. newline newline