Fatherhood, Reproductive Justice, and Strategic Invisibility of Men

Abstract

Whether it is in the ancient world, the media, or everyday conversations, men often disappear from the stories of harmful and irresponsible behaviors related to sexual activity and/or reproductive justice. Because of this deflection of attention away from men, the burden, accusations, and blame often remain with women. The convenient invisibility of men in these stories obscures their decisions, actions, and accountability. I aim to demonstrate what would happen if one could re-locate and re-place men back in these stories and ask for culpability. This chapter argues that (Catholic) men can construct a better response to reproductive justice by imagining men in genuinely reciprocal relationships. More specifically, it 1) places reproductive justice in its historical context; 2) considers how Catholic teachings can contribute to that conversation via Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia and “genuine reciprocity;” 3) employs an exercise of imagination that reveals double standards and provides men tools (i.e., contact hypothesis) to build empathy in that conversation, and 4) suggests larger intersectional implications and responses for the future.