ABSTRACT
By juxtaposing contemporary hormonal birth control advertisements with naturopathic discourses about women’s hormones, this chapter argues that accurate information about hormonal birth control from alternative practitioners is a powerful form of activism—activism by accuracy. This chapter also explores how alternative and naturopathic discourses provide powerful counter-narratives to existing doxastic beliefs about hormonal birth control by providing patients with accurate hormonal and physiological health information. Furthermore, examining doxa that exist beneath the surface of current medical discourses on hormonal birth control (e.g., prioritizing effectiveness to prevent pregnancy over hormonal health) exposes how doxa persist and the rhetorical work they accomplish.
