Abstract
Recognising the impact that fictional stories can have in shaping viewers’ beliefs about abortion in the United States, I analyse unplanned pregnancy storylines in four popular television shows (Jane the Virgin, The Fosters, Riverdale, and Pretty Little Liars) with large young adult and adolescent audiences to critique how this issue is contextualised for this specific viewing demographic. The unintended pregnancy of each character is part of a larger, complex, and highly dramatic storyline that includes sex outside of a monogamous relationship, murder, rape, and forced or accidental insemination. Additionally, dialogue in two of the four shows does not include the word ‘abortion’. Pregnancy is shown as a punishment for bad behaviour in all four shows. Lastly, three of the five (60%) characters decide not to have an abortion, challenging the findings of current research where abortion is the most frequent pregnancy outcome. These findings imply that shows with large adolescent and young adult viewing audiences are more likely to show adolescent and young adult women choosing parenting over abortion, while simultaneously supporting and challenging existing research on abortion portrayals in television shows.
Highlights
In 1962, The Defenders was the first American television program to include an abortion plot (Sisson, 2017)
It is only recently that abortion narratives have appeared outside of the drama genre (Sisson and Kimport, 2014), prompting researchers to ask: what is the narrative purpose of any abortion depiction, and how do different genres contribute to a range of purposes? (Sisson, 2017: 1)
To help answer this question, I examine abortion narratives in four television shows (Jane the Virgin, Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters) on The CW and Freeform in order to understand how this highly controversial and divisive issue is presented for this specific viewing demographic. This is a feminist narrative that focuses on the individual abortion experiences as expressed by the women and adolescent girls in the shows included in this study, all of which are based in the United States
Summary
In 1962, The Defenders was the first American television program to include an abortion plot (Sisson, 2017). To help answer this question, I examine abortion narratives in four television shows (Jane the Virgin, Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters) on The CW and Freeform (both American broadcasting networks with large adolescent and young adult audiences) in order to understand how this highly controversial and divisive issue is presented for this specific viewing demographic. This is a feminist narrative that focuses on the individual abortion experiences as expressed by the women and adolescent girls in the shows included in this study, all of which are based in the United States. Both shows use the term ‘abortion’ only a handful of times and not until well after the procedure has taken place, following the same trend as Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars, and leaving one blogger to ask, ‘why won’t anyone say abortion?’ (Puchko, 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
