Date on Senior Honors Thesis
5-2017
Document Type
Senior Honors Thesis
Degree Name
B.A.
Department
English
Degree Program
College of Arts and Sciences
Author's Keywords
pregnancy; language surrounding pregnancy; pregnancy guides; gender norms in pregnancy; surveillance of women's bodies
Abstract
This paper critically analyzes and draws out harmful implications of the language used around pregnancy and women's bodies in the 2016 edition of What to Expect When You're Expecting, using a close reading of the text and multiple interdisciplinary sources. Themes include gender norms and essentialism, heteronormativity, surveillance of women's bodies, and the reduction of women to mere fetal environments.
Recommended Citation
Lancaster, Kirsi, ""What to inspect when you're expecting" : critically examining constructions of women in What to expect when you're expecting." (2017). College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses. Paper 130.
http://doi.org/10.18297/honors/130
Lay Summary
This paper critically analyzes and draws out harmful implications of the language used around pregnancy and women's bodies in the 2016 edition of What to Expect When You're Expecting, using a close reading of the text and multiple interdisciplinary sources. Themes include gender norms, the privileging of heterosexual relationship and gender dynamics, surveillance of women's bodies through medical and self-monitoring, and the reduction of women to mere fetal environments.
