Reclaiming our Narratives

Emerging or Transforming Stories

Emerging or transforming stories—also called counter stories—are narratives that challenge and reframe dominant (stock) stories. These stories offer new perspectives and visions for justice and equity in reproductive health. They emphasize hope, resilience, and collective action. This is where we envision transformative change. Emerging/Transforming stories about reproductive health and justice provide new frameworks for understanding and addressing the complexities of reproductive experiences.

Some Examples of Emerging or Transforming Stories Related to Reproductive Health and Justice include:

Stock Story: Reproductive rights are framed primarily in terms of individual choice and medical access.

Reclaimed Narrative: The Reproductive Justice framework centers the intersections of race, class, gender, and ability in reproductive justice, emphasizing collective rights, access to healthcare, and community empowerment. It reframes reproductive issues as part of broader social justice struggles, particularly in communities of color.

Stock Story: Health interventions are often top-down, prescribed by professionals or organizations.

Reclaimed Narrative: Community-led health initiatives emphasize grassroots leadership and the power of local knowledge. They shift the narrative from experts telling communities what they need to communities creating their own health solutions, often addressing health disparities through culturally relevant, community-based approaches.

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Stock Story: Policies are shaped by political elites and lawmakers who are disconnected from the lived experiences of marginalized communities.

Reclaimed Narrative: Grassroots advocacy reclaims this narrative by highlighting the power of the people in creating policy change. Through organizing and mobilizing communities, policies are pushed that reflect the needs and realities of those most impacted by injustice, such as universal healthcare, housing rights, and environmental justice.

Stock Story: Activism is often depicted as a young, individualistic movement.

Reclaimed Narrative: Intergenerational activism underscores the importance of knowledge passed down through generations, emphasizing how elders, youth, and everyone in between collaborate for long-term social change. It celebrates the legacy of activism and resistance that is nurtured and sustained across generations, especially in communities of color.

Stock Story: Social movements are often framed as national issues without recognizing their global dimensions.

Reclaimed Narrative: Global solidarity movements reclaim the idea that struggles for justice are interconnected across borders. They recognize the shared struggles of marginalized communities worldwide and advocate for transnational solidarity, such as in the fight against imperialism, colonialism, and environmental destruction.

Stock Story: Healthcare is often seen through a purely clinical or individualistic lens within the traditional medical model of care.

Reclaimed Narrative: Holistic and inclusive healthcare models challenge the dominance of biomedical models by incorporating mental, emotional, spiritual, and cultural aspects of health. They emphasize the importance of patient-centered care, cultural humility, and addressing systemic inequalities within healthcare systems.

Stock Story: Online activism is often dismissed as "slacktivism," a less meaningful form of activism.

Reclaimed Narrative: Digital activism and online communities challenge the narrative by proving that online platforms can mobilize millions, raise awareness, and build global movements. Examples include campaigns like #MeToo, which empowered survivors of sexual violence to share their stories and demand change, and social media-based organizing for racial justice.

Stock Story: Healing is often depicted as an individual, clinical journey, separate from the collective or communal.

Reclaimed Narrative: Personal healing and empowerment reclaim the narrative by showing that healing can be a collective, community-oriented process. This perspective emphasizes how individuals reclaim agency over their own lives, often through cultural practices, activism, and community support, challenging the stigma of trauma and promoting resilience.

This video serves as a powerful example of reclaiming the narrative about the history of gynecology in the United States. By centering the experiences of these women, we are able to challenge the dominant, often erased history and reclaim their stories.

Birthworkers share their vision:

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Facilitating Stories