ABSTRACT
This section spins all threads of analysis previously presented further by revealing which conditions support the silence that surrounds involuntary childlessness and which circumstances can help break it. It outlines a new theory of silence that brings together different domains of investigation—the sociolinguistic (speech, power, ideology), the sociological (construction of identity, stigma), political communication (media, journalism, politics)—that so far account for overlapping yet separate and partial dimensions of the “silence” phenomenon. By drawing upon additional literature in health and in disability studies—which highlights the broader potential applicability of the model’s mechanisms beyond the case study—this framework extends current explanations by accommodating important aspects: the role of the body in the narrative construction of the self, and the dynamic way in which the physical and emotional states of the body (health and well-being) are both influenced by and respond to the reality in which we live.
