This book, the first of its kind, provides a multi-disciplinary, empirical account of pregnant embodiment and how it fits into wider sociological and feminist discourses about gender, bodies, 'fitness', 'fat', feminism, celebrity and motherhood. This study draws on original qualitative data based on interviews with pregnant women, their partners, and maternity industry professionals including maternity designers. The voices of pregnant women are located at the centre of a range of competing social discourses to reveal what the author describes as 'postmodern' pregnancy, an experience that highlights the contradictions inherent in being a contemporary woman in the West: Eat junk food but do not get fat. Wear 'sexy' clothing but be a 'good' selfless mother. Be 'fit' but do not exercise too much. 'Postmodern' pregnancy features as an ambivalent and uncertain experience, with women constantly negotiating the boundaries of both femininity and motherhood in a neo-liberal socio-political and economic context that both promotes and constrains their 'choices'.

Item Type:	Authored Research Book
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Sociology
Research Field:	Sociology not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in human society
UTAS Author:	Nash, M (Associate Professor Meredith Nash)
ID Code:	80357
Year Published:	2012
Deposited By:	Sociology and Social Work
Deposited On:	2012-10-30
Last Modified:	2018-01-09
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