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Fertility treatment and organizational discourses of the non‐reproductive female body

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  • Lucia Cervi
  • Joanna Brewis

Abstract

This paper contributes to debates on the intersections between organizations, the body, and reproduction by exploring how the non‐reproductive female body is discursively (re)constructed by organizations which provide fertility treatment, such as private clinics and fertility magazines. Organization studies has neglected the non‐reproductive body, despite a fair amount of research on its reproductive counterpart, especially pregnant and maternal bodies. Equally, these discussions privilege the employment relationship – for example, how women are enjoined to manage their bodies at work – whereas we concentrate on the marketplace, or the field of fertility treatment, and the organizations therein. These organizations, while focused on reproducing bodies, also influence, compound, and challenge notions of the bodies they are involved with. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis of texts produced by UK fertility organizations, we present three discourses of the non‐reproductive female body that (re)generate subject positions where the absence of reproduction is a medical condition, an emotionally distressing experience, and something that needs to be cared for. Our argument suggests how the texts can operate as a form of Foucauldian governmental biopower, emphasizing how they hail the infertile female subject.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia Cervi & Joanna Brewis, 2022. "Fertility treatment and organizational discourses of the non‐reproductive female body," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 8-27, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:1:p:8-27
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12733
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carolyn Hunter & Nina Kivinen, 2016. "Constructing Girlhood: Abject Labour in Magazine Offices," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(6), pages 551-565, November.
    2. Emily T. Porschitz & Elizabeth A. Siler, 2017. "Miscarriage in the Workplace: an Authoethnography," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 565-578, November.
    3. Williams, Simon J., 1997. "Modern medicine and the "uncertain body": From corporeality to hyperreality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1041-1049, October.
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