TY - JOUR

T1 - Pregnant pauses : agoraphobic embodiment and the limits of (im)pregnability.

AU - Davidson, Joyce

PY - 2001/9

Y1 - 2001/9

N2 - Drawing upon Robyn Longhurst's recent research on the embodied experiences of pregnant women in public places and her own empirical research on agoraphobia (fear and avoidance of social space), the author investigates the commonalities and possible synergies between the phenomenology of these two apparently disparate conditions. She argues that both pregnancy and agoraphobia might usefully be understood in terms of an experiential intensification of the problems associated with maintaining a stable self-identity by women in contemporary Western society. In both cases, subjects experience a heightened awareness of socially problematic aspects of womanhood and raised sensitivity to the feeling of being 'out of place' in the social sphere.

AB - Drawing upon Robyn Longhurst's recent research on the embodied experiences of pregnant women in public places and her own empirical research on agoraphobia (fear and avoidance of social space), the author investigates the commonalities and possible synergies between the phenomenology of these two apparently disparate conditions. She argues that both pregnancy and agoraphobia might usefully be understood in terms of an experiential intensification of the problems associated with maintaining a stable self-identity by women in contemporary Western society. In both cases, subjects experience a heightened awareness of socially problematic aspects of womanhood and raised sensitivity to the feeling of being 'out of place' in the social sphere.

U2 - 10.1080/09663690120067357

DO - 10.1080/09663690120067357

M3 - Journal article

VL - 8

SP - 283

EP - 297

JO - Gender, Place and Culture

JF - Gender, Place and Culture

SN - 0966-369X

IS - 3

ER -