Ona’s Pregnancy and Agency

Women Talking

Ona Friesen’s pregnancy is used to stigmatize her, yet she claims love, choice, and a future for herself and her child.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Pregnancy in Isolation A Pregnancy in Isolation from "Women Talking". A Child Conceived in Violence No Consent Ona Friesen is pregnant after being assaulted while unconscious.

A Pregnancy in Isolation from "Women Talking". A Child Conceived in Violence No Consent Ona Friesen is pregnant after being assaulted while unconscious.

A Child Conceived in Violence No Consent Ona Friesen is pregnant after being assaulted while unconscious. The elders treat her as beyond redemption and plan to give her child to another family. Stigma Disguised as Judgment The colony attributes her independence to Narfa and treats her unmarried pregnancy as evidence against her. Its moral language obscures the violence done to her.

A Disputed Future A Disputed Future from "Women Talking". The Child Is Not the Crime Mariche’s Challenge Mariche Loewen questions whether Ona could hate a child conceived by an attacker.

A Disputed Future from "Women Talking". The Child Is Not the Crime Mariche’s Challenge Mariche Loewen questions whether Ona could hate a child conceived by an attacker.

The Child Is Not the Crime Mariche’s Challenge Mariche Loewen questions whether Ona could hate a child conceived by an attacker. The question makes the mother’s future part of the group’s moral debate. Ona’s Answer Ona says she already loves the child. She insists on the child’s innocence and refuses to let the father’s violence define the child’s worth.

Love Without Security Love Without Security from "Women Talking". Home Reimagined Ona’s Definition Ona says her home is with her mother, sister, and unborn child, wherever they may go.

Love Without Security from "Women Talking". Home Reimagined Ona’s Definition Ona says her home is with her mother, sister, and unborn child, wherever they may go.

Home Reimagined Ona’s Definition Ona says her home is with her mother, sister, and unborn child, wherever they may go. She does not promise security or conventional marriage. Choosing the Child Her answer turns family from a fixed colony structure into a relationship she can carry with her. Departure becomes imaginable as a home-making act.

The Body Under Strain The Body Under Strain from "Women Talking". Pregnancy in the Loft Physical Vulnerability Ona becomes nauseated and fears that her skin cannot stretch further.

The Body Under Strain from "Women Talking". Pregnancy in the Loft Physical Vulnerability Ona becomes nauseated and fears that her skin cannot stretch further.

Pregnancy in the Loft Physical Vulnerability Ona becomes nauseated and fears that her skin cannot stretch further. Her body makes the urgency and risk of travel tangible to the women. Companionship Agata Friesen cares for her, while Salome Friesen later promises to protect her and the baby. The women’s plans are shaped around mutual care.

A Future Carried Away A Future Carried Away from "Women Talking". Mother and Child in Motion Departure Together Ona leaves with the women while pregnant, taking an uncertain future beyond the colony.

A Future Carried Away from "Women Talking". Mother and Child in Motion Departure Together Ona leaves with the women while pregnant, taking an uncertain future beyond the colony.

Mother and Child in Motion Departure Together Ona leaves with the women while pregnant, taking an uncertain future beyond the colony. Her escape rejects the elders’ claim to assign her child elsewhere. August’s Promise August asks Salome Friesen to care for Ona and the baby. The request acknowledges both his love and his inability to protect them by accompanying them.

Spring 2009, after repeated assaults

June 6, 2009, during the forgiveness debate

June 6, 2009, during the argument over leaving

June 7, 2009, during the departure preparations

June 7, 2009, as the women leave Molotschna