The Phenomenology of Gravidity: Reframing Pregnancy and the Maternal through Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Derrida

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The Phenomenology of Gravidityexplores the particularity ofwomen's engagements withgestation,linking the denial of certain embodied experiences of pregnancyto genderoppression. Employingthe term 'gravidity' to namethe metaphysical condition of having conceived,Lymer developsa theory of maternity that emphasises theinteractive natureofgestation,highlightingthe necessity for women to choose to become maternal as an important factorin optimalfoetal development. Critically drawing on bonding and attachmenttheory, Lymerrethinks debates aroundabortion, adoption and surrogacy which ignore theethical and practicalimplications of an understanding of gestation that is necessarily interactive and embodied, challenging the view of the pregnant woman as apassive container.Through an engagement with the work of Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Derrida, The Phenomenology of Gravidity offers an ethicalfeminist framework for a hospitality of gravidity which welcomes the place of the pregnant mother in all her guises, while highlighting the medical, legal and ethical consequences of failing in this welcome.

Reviews

'a clear, well-written, comprehensible account of the phenomenology of pregnancy, breaking new ground and leading into innovative practical directions especially regarding adoption and surrogacy' -- Dr. Denise Russell, Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy, University of Wollongong
'Lymers strikingly perceptive book dismantles images of the pregnant mother as a passive container providing hospitality to a foetus, and reveals graviditythe actual experience of bearing a childas a complex, bodily, affective, interactive becoming of mother and child together. An highly original contribution to feminist, phenomenological discussions of pregnancy (Diprose, Guenther, LaChance Adams), with important implications for medicine, law and policy'. -- David Morris, Chair & Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University
After conception, a woman is in the state of gravidity; this exciting and significant book explores that embodied and affective experience. Lymer theorises a multiplicity of gestational experiences, and explains how their denial is critical in womens oppression. It challenges tropes of hospitality and maternity, develops the woman-foetal relation as a prototype of being, and investigates the ethics of gravidity. -- Marguerite La Caze, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Queensland.
"Lymer brings the work of Derrida, Merleau-Ponty and Levinas to bear on the question of the relationship between the gestational human body and the foetus. In doing so, she provides novel insights into the ethics of gestation and pregnancy, and throws significant light on the position of the maternal body in law, philosophy and medicine." -- Catherine Mills, Associate Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies, Monash University

Author Bio

Jane Lymer is a research fellow in Philosophy at the University of Wollongong, Australia.