Fridays at Newcomb: "Why Representations of Vasectomies (a.k.a. “the Snip”) Matter for Reproductive Justice"

Speaker: Jenna Vinson, PhD

Bio: Jenna Vinson is an associate professor of English at University of Massachusetts Lowell specializing in feminist rhetorical studies. Her mixed-methods, interdisciplinary research addresses issues of reproductive (in)justice and community-identified needs. Her latest book, Stop Saying Snip! The Rhetoric of Vasectomy (2026), explores why few men in the U.S. get vasectomies. Vinson's first book, Embodying the Problem: The Persuasive Power of the Teen Mother (2017), challenges the pathologizing discourses of teenage pregnancy and investigates the creative strategies some young mothering women use to resist negative representations of their lives. Vinson’s articles have appeared in journals such as Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric, the Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Feminist Formations, and more. She has also published chapters in edited collections such as Inclusive Aims: Rhetoric’s Role in Reproductive Justice, Mother-Blame Game, and the 21st Century Motherhood Movement.