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SUMMARY:Pregnancy centre stage\, please:  Contesting the erasure of pregna
 nt bodies from workplace space - Dr. Caroline Gatrell\, Management School\
 , Lancaster University
DTSTART:20090518T160000Z
DTEND:20090518T173000Z
UID:TALK17758@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:13646
DESCRIPTION:Abstract:\nThe notion of women as either visible or invisible 
 (but never 'the norm') within workplace space has been much debated within
  the context of research on gender and work. In this paper\, I focus on th
 e erasure of the pregnant body from both workplace 'space' and conventiona
 l management texts. Drawing on a study of pregnant workers (using in-depth
  interviews and netnography)\, I show how the absence of the pregnant body
  within conventional management scholarship is mirrored by the erasure\, a
 nd the abjuration of\, the pregnant body at work. I observe how the pregna
 nt body incites fears\, among employers\, of unreliability\, breakdown and
  failure. As the pregnant body expands to accommodate 'other bodies' withi
 n itself\, it threatens leakage in both the metaphorical and the literal s
 ense\, and as a consequence is seen as unstable and hazardous to workplace
  routine.\n\nI demonstrate how negative responses to pregnancy by employer
 s may pressure pregnant women to conceal leakage of any kind. The physical
  symptoms of pregnancy - tiredness\, nausea\, vomiting\, expanding waistli
 nes\, the threat of leaky breasts and breaking waters - must be rendered i
 nvisible within workplace space: literally kept 'off-stage'. Pregnant empl
 oyees are encouraged and/or compelled to conceal their pregnant state by p
 resenting at all times a body which appears 'healthy' and 'reliable' there
 by rendering pregnancy invisible.\n\nThe experiences of pregnant women in 
 my study indicate that the abjuration of pregnancy at work can reach the p
 oint where the basic human needs of pregnant women are ignored. The result
 ing denial of fundamental health requirements of pregnant employees (such 
 as eating lunch) would seem likely to invoke illness even among non-pregna
 nt workers. Thus\, employers' fearful prophecies that pregnant bodies may 
 be prone to poor health and failure would seem to be\, at the same time\, 
 self-fulfilling and self-imposed. If pregnant women are refused permission
  to eat\, work flexibly and attend health appointments\, it seems unsurpri
 sing that some do become ill\, and require time away from work as a result
 .\n\nMy research findings suggest the need to place the pregnant body at t
 he forefront of management scholarship\, as a legitimate topic for study. 
 In the context of both management theory and management practices\, it is 
 time for the pregnant body to be positioned in a positive spotlight: centr
 e stage.\n\nBiography\nMy intellectual project focuses around the maternal
  body and I am engaged in examining changes\, and changing relationships\,
  in the context family practices\, motherhood\, fatherhood and paid/unpaid
  work. I am developing new work on Management and the (im)possibility of t
 he maternal body\, parenting and paid work and the sociology of the manage
 ment of childbirth.\n\nSee: http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/dml/profiles/carol
 ine-gatrell/
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