Parenthood as a Reprieve: The Liminal Moment of Weight Gain Approval

• In Event: 20809 - Section on Sociology of Body and Embodiment: Open Session

Abstract

Fat people regularly experience stigmatization and discrimination due to their body size. I examine the embodied experience of parents as an entry point for how bodies are controlled, shaped, and surveilled in relation to weight. Through in-depth interviews with 40 parents, I find that parents receive and negotiate messages about weight and parenting that link the aesthetics of the body with the instrumental use of the body. The process of becoming a parent, particularly through pregnancy, is a liminal moment in which weight gain is expected and celebrated until an arbitrary time after the baby is born, but only for thin parents. Fat parents face additional barriers to becoming parents, finding that institutional actors, such as doctors and social workers, frame their bodies as reasons for additional surveillance, linking the aesthetic body with the potential to conceive and successfully carry and raise children. Parents’ perceptions of their bodies and embodiment will inform future research about controlling messages of weight.

Author

• Torisha Khonach, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College