“You’re Affecting Multiple Generations... No Pressure”: Maternal Risk and Neoliberalism fueled by Pseudo-Science

• In Event: 4113 - Gender, Sexuality, and Medicine (Cosponsored with the Section on the Sociology of Sex and Gender)

Abstract

What messages are women receiving about their own bodies and reproductive health? How are these messages different based on class, race, and institution? Drawing on four months of fieldwork in two different organizations created for maternal health, I analyze pre-conception and pre-natal classes to demonstrate the emergence of neoliberal mothering- an increased responsibilization the mother- and risk through pseudo-science. Viewing risk as not only environmental toxins but also as maternal stress, the womb, and the mother herself, these institutions show how the surveillance of women is increasing with more focus on maternal health. I argue that these institutions use their own forms of pseudo-science to buttress their conceptualization of risk in order to increase responsibility on women as mothers. I also suggest that these messages are vastly different based on populations served, which is important for investigating the influence of pseudo-science to increase neoliberal mothering.

Author

• Ashley F. Kim, Vanderbilt University