Yummy Mummy? : (Re) Appearance of the maternal body in popular women’s magazines in New Zealand By Deborah Taylor A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at the Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Enormous and heartfelt thanks to my wonderful supervisor, Dr Sue Jackson, without whose encouragement and enthusiasm for my research topic this thesis would never have begun. Sue’s belief in my ability to see this through – despite my many false starts at this ‘qualitative’ analysis – has kept me going, even when it all felt too much. Her depth of knowledge and willingness to explain concepts again (and again and again) until I had grasped what was, for me, a totally new way of seeing the world speaks volumes of her abilities as teacher, supervisor and mentor. Sue’s wisdom, guidance and boundless support has buoyed me through what has often been a turbulent time as I learned to wrestle with the octopus that eventually has became this thesis. I have learnt so much, Sue, thank you. Big thanks also to all my friends/supporters: Karen, you’re a great ‘mate’, you are such a good example of how to deal with study and all that life brings, and still smile, I am still following you – now just a few steps behind; Mary, thanks for all your encouraging words and teaching me that life (and family) continues after thesis; my lab buddy, Amanda, for timely distractions and making me laugh no matter what; and all my patient friends who have listened to me rattle on about my topic over these last few years, put up with my lack of availability to do ‘stuff’ and encouraged me from the sidelines. Finally I want to thank my wonderful family: Peter, for being so patient and encouraging whatever my mood, taking up the slack at home, for your wonderful editing skills, clear thinking, and most of all for believing in what I am doing – you are my rock; and to my girls Claire, Ellie and Maddie, for putting up with all my time away from home and my preoccupied mind when I was there, you guys are my inspiration to keep going, and yup you are about to get your mother back! II ABSTRACT Images and detailed descriptions of the postnatal maternal body have become more common in popular women’s magazines than they have in the past. Although researchers generally accept that popular media’s representations of the female body contribute to body image concerns among some women, there has been little research that has focused on the recent media constructions of the maternal body or the effects of this increased visibility. This is an important area of research as there are indications that media representations of the postnatal body, in particular body size, are beginning to have negative affects on women’s wellbeing in pregnancy and after childbirth. This thesis examines how women’s bodies are being represented in popular culture when they become mothers, and what discourses these representations make available to new mothers. The research involved analysing references to the maternal body found in a convenience sample of popular NZ women’s magazines. The research, framed within feminist post- structuralist theories, used thematic analysis and discursive analytic tools to explore textual and visual representations of the maternal body found in the magazines. Three major constructions of mothers emerged from the analysis; these were ‘sexy’, ‘healthy’ and ‘labouring’ mothers. Women who, through ‘body work’ such as diet and exercise, had lost weight and dressed glamorously were depicted as sexy, healthy and praised for their efforts. Mothers who regained a slender, glamorous appearance were often referred to as ‘yummy mummies’. Women who lost ‘too much weight’ were considered to be ill and were individually pathologised as having psychological problems. Mothers were encouraged to diet and exercise as soon as possible after childbirth, with scant reference to possible health concerns for mother or baby, and were targeted by the diet industry. Postfeminist and neoliberal discourses of empowerment, choice and self-care were used to promote and justify these images of mothers. Findings suggest appearance of new mothers was emphasised wherein the ‘undisciplined’ normal maternal body was denigrated as dull, unattractive and unworthy. Analysis indicated that a new cultural imperative for women to return to slenderness as soon as possible is being evoked. Given the new media pressures being imposed there is a clear need for research with new mothers themselves. Such research will illuminate a period in women’s lives that had previously slipped below the radar of culturally prescribed strict beauty standards, but is now under the glare of the media spotlight. III TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………………….... II ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………. ...III TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………………...IV CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 6 Making the maternal body visible: Celebrity mothers............................................................................. 6 Sexualising the postnatal body: Yummy Mummy..................................................................................... 9 The Yummy Mummy Industry ................................................................................................................ 11 Embodiment of yummy mummy: pregnancy .......................................................................................... 14 Embodiment of yummy mummy: post birth............................................................................................ 18 THE CURRENT STUDY ................................................................................................................................. 19 ORGANISATION OF THIS THESIS .................................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY 22 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................... 22 Post-structuralism & Social Constructionism ....................................................................................... 22 Discursive Approaches .......................................................................................................................... 23 Foucaudian Discourse Analysis ............................................................................................................ 24 Foucault and Feminist Analysis ............................................................................................................ 26 Analytic methodology ............................................................................................................................ 28 Thematic analysis .................................................................................................................................. 29 Photographs .......................................................................................................................................... 30 METHOD ..................................................................................................................................................... 30 Ethics ..................................................................................................................................................... 30 Research Process................................................................................................................................... 31 Analytical Process ................................................................................................................................. 33 REFLEXIVITY ............................................................................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER THREE “WOW! ANGE’S HOT POST BABY BODY”: SEXY MOTHERS 37 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 37 Sexuality in motherhood: Sex and the six week check-up...................................................................... 37 Sexuality, motherhood and ‘new femininities’....................................................................................... 40 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................ 42 Sexy new mothers................................................................................................................................... 43 Angelina Jolie:“Hot post baby body” vs the ‘good mother’ ............................................................................. 43 Geri Halliwell: All vanity has gone out of the window...................................................................................... 45 Yummy Mummies?................................................................................................................................. 49 Kate Hudson: Golden Goddess.......................................................................................................................... 49 Reader’s Stories: Now she loves her size 10 figure ........................................................................................... 51 Yummy Mummies: Bikini babes............................................................................................................