Productive but not constructive: The work of shame in the affective governance of fat Pregnancy

Abstract

The productivity of shame as an affective-discursive practice implicated in the neoliberal governance of “healthy pregnancy” is examined in the narratives of 27 ethnically diverse, cis-gendered, self-identified fat pregnant people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Shame is identified as a dominant affective-discursive practice produced in response to the problematising medical discourses surrounding the fat pregnant body, leading to the constitution of shamed maternal subjectivities. Seeking reparation in order to restore their maternal identities, participants adopted a range of self-governance strategies. However, fat shaming, while productive in constituting self-governed maternal subjects, was not constructive. We demonstrate how shame induced self-governed action, rather than improving maternal and infant health, instead led to a range of unhealthful behaviours and negatively impacted how participants experienced their pregnancies, emerging maternal selves, and newly born children. We call for attention to affect in feminist governmentality studies of reproduction and fatness.