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https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2013/07/pregnancy-and-social-interactions.html

Disembodying Women: perspectives on pregnancy and the unborn

-The human fetus as an engineered construct of modern society

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/how-do-we-normalize-pregnancy/ -Showing that pregnancy didn’t happen right after giving birth -Many symptoms/problems come with pregnancy (gestational diabetes, hypertension, paranoia) that are still considered as a shame

Pregnancy is considered as the essence of the maintain of the human race. We need women to make humanity persist through time, which makes them an important component of our society. Women are so important that their body tend to be seen as a collective property, “a commodity reproducing the raw materials of society”.

https://qz.com/759987/our-modern-obsession-with-pregnancy-is-just-another-attempt-to-control-womens-bodies/ https://www.elle.fr/Societe/News/A-qui-appartient-le-corps-des-femmes-enceintes-3097024

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/opinion/sunday/get-the-epidural.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

https://parenting.nytimes.com/pregnancy/natural-birth

Who owns the pregnant body ?

The notion of rites of passage was first introduced by ethnographer, Arnold Van Gennep. It is an individual's passage from a group to another, that is usually accompanied by a ceremony. Van Gennep distinguishes three stages in a rite of passage: separation, liminality and aggregation. Separation is when the individual leaves his or her initial group. Then, liminality comes as "between and betwixt" stage, where the individual has left his old group but hasn't joined the new one. Moms-to-be experience a very confusing stage of liminality. They are teared between their old life and their future as mothers, and all the responsabilities that motherhood implies. Pregnant women usually feel an anxiety and a fear during this floating moment when they are "pre-moms": new subjects come up such as breasfteeding, childbirth. Pregnant women also have new activities such as childbirth classes or reading baby books. . This anxiety during the liminal stage is amplified by the changing behavior of people, that reminds moms-to-be that they are entering a new sphere of the society.

Changing behaviors usually come with uncomfortable remarks from random strangers just like "drink more water", or touching the belly. This constant attempt of being nice may also be seen as a crossing of the social boundaries, explained by an attempt to domesticate the pregnant body. It is a way to regulate and put rules over women who are providing the "raw materials of society". Thus, the pregnant body is not an individual property anymore, it belongs to the society through a series of constraints, rules, beliefs and traditions, that makes it a special element in the society.

Pregnancy has a sacred character: arbitrary rules and constraints are an expression of the sacred social status of pregnant women.. Depending on the ethnicity and religion, a pregnant women must obey to rules that are supposed to protect her as a fragile body. She must be preserved from evil spirits just like in Jamaica, where Duppies can steal the fetus' spirit if the mother moves too much. There are also many alimentary constraints that are not scientifically proven to be harmful for the baby. For instance, in many African countries, pregnant women are not supposed to eat pineapple, so that the baby doesn't get a scratchy skin, like the fruit.. Society forces moms-to-be to act for their baby's wellbeing, no matter what is costs on their physical and psychological freedom. This can be seen with the obsession of natural childbirth. Choosing an epidural or a C-section has almost become a shame.. Sometimes for medical reasons, women can't have a natural childbirth. They usually feel anxiety and shame because they think their body is not able to do the most basic action of pregnancy. But this pression about natural childbirth comes essentially from society, because in general thoughts, what is natural is automatically better.

Also, today, women are not only supposed to act good for their babies' wellbeing. They are also supposed to look good and stay fit. Pregnancy has in fact, become an attribute of sexiness because of Hollywood's conception of it. After being hidden and considered as a shame during the nineteenth century, pregnancy has gained freedom on TV screens, and Hollywood through its romcoms sells a sexy and attractive image of pregnancy, which is far from reality. . Moreover, Hollywood stars are also embracing the sexy pregnancy through magazine covers (More Demi Moore in 1991), looking more stunning than ever. Not to mention how getting back in shape after pregnancy has become important. This sexualisation of the pregnant body is well illustrated by the MILF (Mother I'd like to fuck) phenomenon, that is increasing on Pornographic websites.

Pregnancy is then the liminality stage of a rite of passage, which is motherhood. With all these social constraints whether it is on their habits, actions or way of looking, pregnant women loose the control of their body for the sake of social power. In addition to the hormonal effects over their body such as nausea, they also have to respect rules and codification from the society. In this way, some women feel alienated from their pregnant body . In other terms, it is not about living pregnancy anymore, it is about performing it as pregnant women don't have any biologic, psychologic or sociologic power over their bodies.

Conclusion

To round it up, we can say that pregnancy has a bivalent link to power. On one hand, it exerts a symbolic power in our world: it is the humankind's keeper. In that sense, it has been celebrated and sacred since the dawn of time. On the other hand, this symbolic power can be supplanted by other conceptions of gestation, making pregnant bodies 'objects' of power. Medicine made pregnant bodies their guinea pigs, whereas society wants took it over with codifications. Nations and states understood the power of pregnancy and know what they are playing for, which made them highly control it for economical and geopolitical reasons.

Conclusion

Do pregnant women own power ? --> No

Philosophically, power exerts a hold over something or someone. Weber would say that power is "the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance”. Pregnancy is one of the phenomena that has always fascinated and challenged our conceptions of life: women are the keepers of the human specie renewal. Thus, pregnant women are supposed to be the power holders of the humankind. But many disciplines like medecine, biology, sociology, anthropology or politics, have given to pregnancy variable conceptions, that makes us question if pregnancy is really empowering women.

Giving birth empowers women. Women are the keepers of the human specie renewal. Thus, pregnancy defines a great part of the women role in the society. Pregnancy has also a political and economic role in the State and can be influenced by medias and government which retains most of the power. Pregnancy in human is characterized by a very long time until giving birth compared to the other apes, and also by the immense pain that accompanies it which can be lethal. The World Health organisation estimates that 830 women in a year die of complications during pregnancy or childbirth. Pregnancy empower the women body but also can lead to its death by giving birth which is a striking contrast. We can see that pregnancy is intrinsically linked to power and thus, can be studied in many disciplines in order to understand better this relation.

Part my

The notion of rites of passage was first introduced by ethnographer, Arnold Van Gennep. It is an individual's passage from a group to another, that is usually accompanied by a ceremony. There are three stages in a rite of passage: separation, liminality and aggregation. Moms-to-be experience a very confusing stage of liminality. It is a "between and betwixt" stage, where the individual has left his old group but hasn't joined the new one. "Pre-moms" are teared between their old life and their future as mothers. Pregnant women usually feel anxiety during this floating moment. It is amplified by the people's changing behavior.

Changing behaviors usually come with inappropriate actions like touching the belly. This constant attempt of being nice may also be seen as a crossing of the social boundaries, explained by an attempt to domesticate the pregnant body. It is a way to regulate and put rules over women who are providing the "raw materials of society".

Pregnancy has a sacred character: arbitrary rules and constraints are an expression of the sacred social status of pregnant women.. Depending on the ethnicity and religion, a pregnant woman must obey to rules that are supposed to protect her fragile body. Society forces moms-to-be to act for their baby's wellbeing, no matter what is costs on their freedom. For instance, choosing an epidural or a C-section has almost become a shame.. This pressure about natural childbirth comes just because in general thoughts, what is natural is automatically better.

Also, today, women are not only supposed to act good for their babies' wellbeing. They are also supposed to look good and stay fit. Pregnancy has in fact, become an attribute of sexiness because of Hollywood industry. It has gained freedom on TV screens through romcoms. They sell a sexy and attractive image of pregnancy, which is far from reality. . Stars are also embracing the sexy pregnancy through magazine covers (More Demi Moore in 1991).

Pregnancy is then the liminality stage of a rite of passage, which is motherhood. With all these social constraints, pregnant women loose the control of their body for the sake of social power. In this way, some women feel alienated from their pregnant body . In other terms, it is not about living pregnancy anymore, it is about performing it.