‘My baby and this mom body’: examining post-partum bodywork through stroller fitness

Abstract

This article, based on ethnographic research, discusses the ways in which women exercise their class privilege in order to facilitate their membership in a postpartum stroller fitness class so as to be fit for their new maternal role. Privilege is linked to capital, a powerful social construct and an important resource which governs lifestyle practices and endows individuals with distinction in particular cultural fields. Feminist theory has explored the concept of capital and its relationship to women’s cultural practices and experiences. Utilising these theoretical frames, this analysis situates fitness and body image at the intersection of social class and gender, and suggests that stroller fitness classes allow postpartum women to acquire, demonstrate, convert, and reproduce particular forms of gendered capital. Specifically, this article details the nuanced mechanisms through which participants develop and deploy social and physical capitals in order to construct their new ‘mom body’ which operates as a visible illustration of social class privilege and the aptitude and ability to be a good wife and mother.