Latina/x Abortion Narratives in Popular Culture

Abstract

Television plays an instrumental role in people’s lives. Of the many experiences I shared with my family growing up were evenings in front of the TV, watching telenovelas, sitcoms, or movies. On the one hand, telenovelas hyperbolized what it meant to be Latin American — in my case, Mexican — and on the other hand, popular American sitcoms in the 1980s and 1990s did not reflect families like mine — predominantly Spanish-speaking and immigrant.30 During my formative years, nuanced representations of Latinas/xs were few and far between.31 I remember watching Dirty Dancing (1987) with my mom as a teenager and asking her what happened to Penny. My mom could not find the words to explain an abortion, let alone an illegal one that led to Penny’s injuries. While Penny is not a Latina/x character, it was revealing to see that abortion was depicted in such a negative light, and it was telling that my mom would not tell me what happened to Penny. My interest in knowing more about the representation of abortion on screen nonetheless led to uncomfortable conversations with my mother, a Mexican immigrant with a Catholic upbringing. Ultimately, those conversations influenced me to ask more questions about abortion representations on the small screen: Where are the Latina/x stories about abortion (care) or reproductive decisions beyond pregnancy and motherhood? How do these representations challenge traditional and stigmatized representations, pointing to more inclusive experiences? What do representations (or the lack thereof ) on the small screen mean for Latina/x popular culture and stories? Now that we are in the post-Roe moment following the SCOTUS decision on Dobbs, we need abortion-positive representations across all aspects of life more than ever, especially for people of color and marginalized communities.