Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Policy and the pregnant body at work: strategies of secrecy, silence and supra-performance
AU - Gatrell, C J
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - This article considers how women manage their pregnant bodies at work. Through netnographic research and drawing upon feminist discussions of the leaky pregnant body, I examine the experiences of US and UK women who correspond on interactive websites or chat rooms. Drawing upon ‘expert advice’ and the experiences of employed pregnant women in this study, I suggest that the bodily manifestations of pregnancy are taboo in some workplaces. I note how these women did not appear to draw upon policy as a resource for dealing with negative reactions to pregnancy from colleagues and employers. Instead, they tended to adopt strategies of secrecy, silence and supra-performance in order to try and blend in. In the context of these strategies, I demonstrate how women’s attempts to manage and control their bodies are severely compromised during pregnancy, when the body may be leaky and unpredictable
AB - This article considers how women manage their pregnant bodies at work. Through netnographic research and drawing upon feminist discussions of the leaky pregnant body, I examine the experiences of US and UK women who correspond on interactive websites or chat rooms. Drawing upon ‘expert advice’ and the experiences of employed pregnant women in this study, I suggest that the bodily manifestations of pregnancy are taboo in some workplaces. I note how these women did not appear to draw upon policy as a resource for dealing with negative reactions to pregnancy from colleagues and employers. Instead, they tended to adopt strategies of secrecy, silence and supra-performance in order to try and blend in. In the context of these strategies, I demonstrate how women’s attempts to manage and control their bodies are severely compromised during pregnancy, when the body may be leaky and unpredictable
KW - body
KW - pregnancy
KW - secrecy
KW - silence
KW - supra-performance
KW - workplaces
U2 - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2009.00485.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2009.00485.x
M3 - Journal article
VL - 18
SP - 158
EP - 181
JO - Gender, Work and Organisation
JF - Gender, Work and Organisation
SN - 0968-6673
IS - 2
ER -