Kristin Francoeur

Reproducing Caste: Savarna Eugenics, Then and Now
'Pro-race' cervical cap
Reproducing Caste: Savarna Eugenics, Then and Now

Today Marie Stopes is better known for her eponymous clinics, which provide contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries…
By Kristin Francoeur
October 3, 2017
Reproducing Caste: Savarna Eugenics, Then and Now
An Unsteadiness of Self: Marriage and Immigration in Authoritarian Times
Marriage and Immigration in Authoritarian Times
An Unsteadiness of Self: Marriage and Immigration in Authoritarian Times

When recently reading about the spouses of H1-B ‘skilled guest worker’ visa holders, certain themes resonate with me. These women discuss how it was not just their CVs that suffered from the forced career break – until 2015, spouses on restrictive H-4 paperwork were forbidden from pursuing employment in the U.S. – but that their core sense of self took a hit.
By Kristin Francoeur
March 5, 2017
An Unsteadiness of Self: Marriage and Immigration in Authoritarian Times
The (Pseudo) Science of Not Trusting Women
An adult female receiving a vaccination that was administered by a public health clinician by way of a jet injector.
The (Pseudo) Science of Not Trusting Women

Medical abortion is a threat to scientific authorities because it is technology easily used without the help of a medical provider. Since there is doubt that women will use the drug safely without supervision (even though they did it before and are still doing it), some think the kinder option is to remove their opportunity to fail.

By Kristin Francoeur
July 1, 2016
The (Pseudo) Science of Not Trusting Women
Abortion ‘Vacations’ and Other Complications – I
A diagram of the female reproductive organs against a blue backdrop
Abortion ‘Vacations’ and Other Complications – I

If I had a dollar every time I heard an opponent of abortion rights say something like “If you remove the option for abortions, women will stop getting them,” it’s safe to say I would go up a tax bracket or two. In many places today, Global South or North, I would need all of those dollars in order to travel a considerable distance for an abortion that may neither be legal nor safe.
By Kristin Francoeur
March 1, 2016
Abortion ‘Vacations’ and Other Complications – I
‘सेक्सी’ और मज़ाकिया महिलाओं से जुडी विसंगतियां
Comedian Aditi Mittal speaking into a mike.
‘सेक्सी’ और मज़ाकिया महिलाओं से जुडी विसंगतियां

क्रिस्टिन फ्रैंकर द्वारा पिछले वर्ष, एआईबी के बदनाम नाकआउट रोस्ट के दौरान कॉमेडियन अदिति मित्तल ने कार्यक्रम के पैनल पर…
By Kristin Francoeur
January 18, 2016
‘सेक्सी’ और मज़ाकिया महिलाओं से जुडी विसंगतियां
Review: The Absurdities of Sexy and Funny Women
Comedian Aditi Mittal speaking into a mike.
Review: The Absurdities of Sexy and Funny Women

At the now infamous All India Bakchod Knockout roast last year, comedian Aditi Mittal told this joke about her fellow…
By Kristin Francoeur
January 4, 2016
Review: The Absurdities of Sexy and Funny Women
Book Review: Birth in the Age of AIDS: Women, Reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India
Book cover. A baby resting on her mother's torso and shoulder looks wide-eyed at the camera. Title of the book "Birth in the age of AIDS" is written in red on top of the photo, and the subtitle "Women, reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India" is written in red at the bottom. Screen reader support enabled. Book cover. A baby resting on her mother's torso and shoulder looks wide-eyed at the camera. Title of the book "Birth in the age of AIDS" is written in red on top of the photo, and the subtitle "Women, reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India" is written in red at the bottom.
Book Review: Birth in the Age of AIDS: Women, Reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India

Cecilia Van Hollen’s 2013 ethnography (published by Stanford University Press) of low caste, low-income women living with HIV in Tamil…
By Kristin Francoeur
December 1, 2015
Book Review: Birth in the Age of AIDS: Women, Reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India
Issue In Focus: Challenging Neo-liberal ‘Equality’ in Consent
A brown woman in a blue top standing amongst a crowd raises a placard that reads in black on a white background, "Keep sex sexy - consent."
Issue In Focus: Challenging Neo-liberal ‘Equality’ in Consent

In an ideal world, this article would read at Tweet-length: “Enthusiastic sexual consent is sexy, and necessary for negotiating unequal…
By Kristin Francoeur
November 1, 2015
Issue In Focus: Challenging Neo-liberal ‘Equality’ in Consent
Review: East Side Sushi (2015)
Sushi on a white plate.
Review: East Side Sushi (2015)

Time: 1hr 47min In English, Spanish and Japanese, with English subtitles “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if…
By Kristin Francoeur
October 1, 2015
Review: East Side Sushi (2015)
Why the Absence of Safe Abortion in the Post-2015 SDGs Matters
Infographic titled, "Banning abortions endangers women's health." Other data given: "222 million women in the developing world have an unmet need for modern contraception"; "47,000 women die yearly...millions more are injured"; "86% abortions take place in the developing world where most abortion laws are highly restrictive."
Why the Absence of Safe Abortion in the Post-2015 SDGs Matters

The eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) have been rightly criticised because they were too narrow, failed to address the…
By Kristin Francoeur
September 1, 2015
Why the Absence of Safe Abortion in the Post-2015 SDGs Matters