The Power of the Pregnant Body: Perspectives of Agency and Autonomy in Pregnancy

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on pregnancy, examining two dominant discourses: “the pregnant body as foetal containment” and “the pregnant body as illness”. A third discourse, which looks at the complex ways in which the pregnant body is used as a site of agency and autonomy, is also presented. Rather than viewing the pregnant body as solely a condition which compromises women’s subjectivity and places them within strict boundaries of societal structures, this overview argues for seeing the more complex and nuanced ways in which women negotiate power through their bodies and considers how the pregnant body is a site of agency for women.