The Changing Shape Of Pregnancy In New Zealand Women's Magazines: 1970–2008

Author:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This article examines the representation of pregnant embodiment in thirteen New Zealand women's magazines published between January 1970 and December 2008. It offers a theoretical focus on postfeminism, media, and embodiment, and situates their conjuncture within cultural, demographic, and labour market trends. Magazine representations of pregnancy concurrently illustrate the degree to which discourses surrounding pregnancy have shifted, and the continued association of motherhood with feminine success. Monthly and weekly publications were sampled and a visual analysis undertaken of images and spreads. Over nearly four decades, substantial changes were found in the normative or extraordinary status of pregnancy, the appearance and display of the pregnant body, the frequency of representations, the association of pregnancy with celebrity, and its dissemination through celebrity culture. Changes in the status of pregnancy parallel larger social changes, in particular the increase in delayed childbearing amongst white, middle-class women. Pregnancy images were also influenced by changes in the format and substance of women's magazines, the advent of celebrity culture, and the emergence of a maternity market.

This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit: