Maternity and Its Discontents

This article is an ethnographic look at the importance of control of the female body in contemporary U.S. society. Specifically, this article examines how the idea of “getting the body back” is significant in the lives of postpartum women. The authors highlight how pregnancy signifies a state of being out of control, particularly for women involved in the paid labor force, and the struggle to reassert and literally regain particular identities after childbirth is paramount but given less attention. The authors interviewed and observed women in a semiurban area in the Midwest who were pregnant or recently gave birth. They found that for women who already are forced to negotiate boundaries when pregnant, there is a particular imperative to regain ownership of a postpartum body. Drawing upon narratives from these women, this article contributes to discourse on the body and the contradictory messages women receive about the flexibility of identity.