Stephanie’s presentation is called, “The Whore of Babylon: Mythemes in Contemporary Reproductive Politics”
The Whore of Babylon is a diabolical female figure in the Book of Revelation, the final book of the canonical Bible. Throughout history this image has been used metaphorically to communicate a threat. The focus on the Whore as a woman and mother infuses the female body with apocalyptic significance and reinforces stereotypical gender roles. This presentation traces how a fundamentalist mythological interpretation of the Whore of Babylon enters into current reproductive politics that aim to bolster moral codes of female procreation. Focusing on religious imagery associated with the Whore of Babylon in conversation with contemporary socio-political discourses, the project identifies three mythemes: False Religion and Deception, Empire, and Monstrous Births. Attentive to the reciprocating relationship between story and culture, this study shows how these mythemes form a mythological narrative important to meaning-making in contemporary American reproductive dialogues. A feminist critique exposes how the appearance of these themes in anti-abortion discourse influences cultural ideas about gender, sexuality, and reproduction manifesting in public policies that police female reproduction.
About Stephanie:
Stephanie Zajchowski, PhD(c) holds a MA in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute (PGI) and a certification in Spiritual Direction from Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. Her doctoral dissertation, The Mythology of the Whore of Babylon in Contemporary Reproductive Politics, examines how religious narrative moves beneath the surface of current reproductive politics and emphasizes the importance of reclaiming the female power in the myth of the Whore placing the authority over procreation back within the domain of the procreative body. Stephanie has presented papers at the Association for Women in Mythology (2016), the American Academy of Religion Western Regional Conference (2017), and the Popular Culture Association National Conference (2017, 2019). Her publications appear in PGI’s Mythological Studies Journal (2014) and Between: Literary Journal (2015, 2016). Stephanie lives in Texas. She has worked in corporate marketing at Southwest Airlines, as a docent for the Dallas Museum of Art, and in communications and ministry assistance for the United Methodist Church. Her academic interests focus on the reciprocating relationship between culture and story.