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- Title
Maternity swimwear: A tool of female agency.
- Authors
Weigle, Elizabeth Anne; Medvedev, Katalin
- Abstract
Maternity swimwear is one of the least researched garment types despite its ability to create a unique affective experience for women during gestation. It contains as well as exposes and liberates the changing female form during pregnancy. The study explores the history of this 'second skin' and illuminates how it relates to sociocultural ideals and human agency. It also investigates the changing perceptions of pregnancy and how maternity wear evolved into maternity fashion. It briefly reviews American women's attitudes towards sports, primarily swimming, and discusses some of the controversies surrounding the most famous swimwear type, the bikini, before refocusing on maternity swimwear. The authors examine the role of maternity swimwear in helping the historically secluded private female body transition into a visible and public body and postulate the harmony created between swimsuit, mother and child, particularly whilst submerged in water. They suggest that the bathing suit enables women to take charge of their pregnant bodies and new identities and conclude that maternity swimwear is a significant tool of female agency.
- Subjects
BATHING suits; MATERNITY clothes; SOCIOCULTURAL factors; PREGNANCY; FEMINISM; MATERIALISM; PREGNANT women
- Publication
Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, 2024, Vol 11, Issue 3/4, p439
- ISSN
2050-0726
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1386/fspc_00119_1