Constructing “Normality” in a Context of Inequality: Women on Fetal Development
Drawing from longitudinal interviews with sixty-four pregnant women in the greater New York City metropolitan area, this paper documents the two cultural logics that characterized women’s view of, and participation in, “normal” fetal development. In the enhancement logic, women understood the fetus as a “project,” one which was in need of constant evaluation and deliberate action on the part of mothers and, to a lesser degree, fathers. Women who subscribed to the entrustment logic believed that fetal development had an inherent momentum that required little to no intervention on the part of mothers. Women who most consistently subscribed to the enhancement logic tended to be the most privileged and the most educated women in my sample, while women who most consistently subscribed to the entrustment logic tended to be low-income and Latina. I conclude with a discussion of how these two logics extend our thinking about medical compliance and mothering practices in pregnancy.
Danielle Bessett received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from New York University and her B.A. degree in English from Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, MA). Her research interests include: reproduction; medical sociology; family; the body; gender; representations of reproduction in popular culture; and qualitative research methods.
Dr. Bessett is a faculty affiliate of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department.
