Pregnancy as a Temporary Disability: An Analysis of Sexism, Ableism, and Identity in Pregnancy Discourse

Pregnancy is a particularly perilous time for self-identity as the individual navigates a changing body and sense of self in a society that still looks on women and femininity critically. As pregnancy is a biologically female condition, it is viewed as part of the feminine identity and is therefore affected by sexist ideologies that exist in society. The strong and conflicting discourses experienced by people both in and out of pregnancy makes it an ideal focus of a critical discourse analysis about gender and society. In addition, ableist theories, social theories of disability in particular, can further highlight the prejudices and challenges faced by pregnant people in workplaces that struggle to adapt to the requirements of those who are not able-bodied. 

 

This study, therefore, aims to combine feminist and ableist theories in order to identify the key discourses found in narratives concerning problems with pregnancy in the workplace and determine to what extent pregnancy is viewed as a temporary disability in the context of employment. This could either by pregnant individuals themselves or by those who occupy the same working space as them through these key discourses. 

 

The data used in the study are discussion threads about pregnancy in the workplace on the British parenting forum website Mumsnet. A critical discourse analysis approach with a post-structuralist feminist stance is used to uncover sexist and ableist discourses present in these online narratives. The ideological underpinnings of the identified key discourses relate to the social issue of sexism and ableism in the workplace, and the negative social views of the pregnant identity at work in modern British society. 

 

These key ideological discourses are pregnancy as a burden, law and protection, the weakness and sexualisation of the female body, and the ideal mother. The analysis shows that the dominant discourses found in the narratives within the discussions on Mumsnet indicate that pregnancy is often viewed as a temporary disability in the workplace and that this can contribute to the experience of discrimination. 

 

The results of this study show the intersection between sexist and ableist discourses and ideologies in relation to pregnancy and how they can affect pregnant individuals in the workplace. The data and analysis indicate that pregnant women can experience discrimination related to the hyper-femininity and sexualisation of the female body, as well as the assumption they are a burden in the workplace.