University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Weighty matters: Negotiating 'fatness' and 'in-betweeness' in early pregnancy

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 11:59 authored by Meredith NashMeredith Nash
Feminist scholars have comprehensively examined why women suffer from body image woes (see Bordo, 1993). On the surface, it seems strange to think that pregnant women fear ‘fat’. After all, pregnancy is a time when women are supposed to gain weight. This article draws on longitudinal narrative data to examine experiences of weight gain and ‘fatness’ in early periods of pregnancy among women in Melbourne, Australia. Informants’ accounts demonstrate that they constantly feared that their pregnant corporealities would be ‘misread’ when they were not unambiguously ‘pregnant’. The concept of ‘in-betweenness’ is critical in challenging socio-cultural and biomedical representations of maternal weight gain and for understanding how women feel about their bodies over the duration of pregnancy. Narratives highlight the need for multiple pregnant corporealities.

History

Publication title

Feminism and Psychology: An International Journal

Volume

22

Pagination

307-323

ISSN

0959-3535

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Sage Publications Ltd

Place of publication

6 Bonhill Street, London, England, Ec2A 4Pu

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 SAGE

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in human society

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Categories

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC