"We were having conversations that weren't comfortable for anybody, but we were feisty" : re-conceiving student activism against reproductive oppression in Calgary and Lethbridge during the 1960s and 1970s
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Date
2015
Authors
Patton, Karissa
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
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Publisher
Lethbridge, Alta : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of History
Abstract
This thesis examines student activism against reproductive oppression in Calgary and Lethbridge during the 1960s and 1970s. The purpose is to highlight the strong and multi-facetted character of student activists’ fight against reproductive oppression, including issues of sexuality and marriage, birth control, (hetero)sexual liberation, reproductive rights, women’s health, and daycare. Using reproductive justice as an analytic lens, relevant articles published in student newspapers from the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal Junior College, and Lethbridge Junior College are used as sources in addition to eight in-depth, semi-structured oral history interviews conducted with five narrators. My research revises conventional perspectives on student activism in Canada during these decades to determine student activism as intergenerational and multi-facetted. Additionally, my thesis challenges the representations and perceptions of Alberta as religiously, politically, and socially conservative emphasizing the significance of student activism that existed and thrived in the province during this era.
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Keywords
reproductive rights , activisim , students , gender , reproductive justice , reproductive oppression , Calgary , Lethbridge , Alberta , 1960s , 1970s , birth control , abortion , daycare , sexual liberation , generation , intergeneration