The social role of pregnancy
Date
1985
Authors
Jamieson, Joan Margaret
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Abstract
Although pregnancy is an important and common event, the social experience of being pregnant has not been well researched by sociologists. This neglect originates, in part, from the androcentric bias of social sciences in general. As a female experience, pregnancy has either been deemed unworthy of study, or has been so closely identified with being female as to seem inseparable.
When pregnancy has been researched, the focus has usually been upon deviant or pathological aspects of the reproductive process, with only scant attention to the normal pregnancies which are common life events for most women. As an alternative to this perspective, recent research has centered on pregnancy as a normal process, and has been concerned with the subjective experiences of the women themselves.
The objective of the present research was to explore the acquisition of the social identity associated with pregnancy, to determine the norms of this social role, and to present a typology for adherence to the pregnancy role . 43 women from the Greater Victoria area were interviewed in depth during t he third trimesters of their pregnancies.
To outline the means t he women used to acquire their socially pregnant identities, Berger and Luckmann's theory of the social construction of reality was used. This theory states that reality is produced by human activity and must be internalized by a society's members for that society to function. By correctly interpreting the physical signs and symptoms of pregnancy, the women proceeded from only being physiologically pregnant to also feeling and acting pregnant. The reality of being pregnant was thus constructed through a social process.
After the women realized their pregnancies, they usually became more comfortable in the role of "pregnant woman" and performed norms of the role. These norms were identified through an inductive approach. To be considered part of the pregnant role, a given behavioural expectation: had to be mentioned by at least eighty percent of the women. 22 norms were discovered, which were divided into 5 categories: medical, prenatal, birthing, postnatal, and positive/negative response norms. The medical and prenatal norms were those which the women were aware of, or engaged in, during their pregnancies. The birthing and postnatal norms consisted of intentions and preparations for the future. The positive/negative response norms involved the response of others to the pregnancies.
Although there was considerable consensus on norms concerning pregnancy, fundamental differences became apparent in the way in which women thought about their experiences.
A typology based on these differences suggested three Types of women: the Romanticist, the Conformist, and the Realist. The basic distinguishing characteristic among these Types was their definition of pregnancy as a singular experience: the Romanticist defined being pregnant as special; the Conformist defined being pregnant as scripted ; and the Realist defined being pregnant ambivalently, with some special and some ordinary aspects.
While obtaining the objective of the research, to outline the social role of pregnancy, the implications of the study revealed numerous unanswered questions which require further investigation, the most prominent of these being the serendipitous discovery of three values of childbearing. For the women in this group, childbearing is largely voluntary and the reproductive process is seen as being a shared and natural experience.