Before the baby comes
Boulet, Elsa
Before the baby comes - 2018.
28
Qualitative analysis of working-class women’s pregnancies is useful in shedding light on class and gender dynamics during the period leading up to birth. Pregnancy intervenes in everyday lives that are structured by social relations, which it simultaneously exposes and crystalizes. Class socialization and gender dynamics within the couple, in conjunction with a subordinate employment situation, lead to the reassertion of these women’s dominated position while they are pregnant. Their assignation to maternity and domestic work is re-enforced and their position as worker is weakened. This crystallization of domination during pregnancy nonetheless leads to a degree of protest from the women concerned.
Before the baby comes - 2018.
28
Qualitative analysis of working-class women’s pregnancies is useful in shedding light on class and gender dynamics during the period leading up to birth. Pregnancy intervenes in everyday lives that are structured by social relations, which it simultaneously exposes and crystalizes. Class socialization and gender dynamics within the couple, in conjunction with a subordinate employment situation, lead to the reassertion of these women’s dominated position while they are pregnant. Their assignation to maternity and domestic work is re-enforced and their position as worker is weakened. This crystallization of domination during pregnancy nonetheless leads to a degree of protest from the women concerned.
Réseaux sociaux