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Thesis
The Pregnant Man: Navigating Radicalism and Tradition in Queer Kinship
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2011
Abstract
This project addresses narratives by and about female-to-male transsexual Thomas Beatie, who made headlines in 2008 as the first legally-recognized pregnant man. Given the pivotal sociopolitical moment in this country, Beatie's pregnancy is particularly important as new laws that seek to define and narrow marriage and family status are appearing with alarming frequency. Specifically, Thomas Beatie and his pregnancy apparently broaden the existing space of kinship by pioneering a new pathway to family formation for queer people, thus making him a radical figure; however, it appears that the opposite may also be true. Thus, I take up this contradiction between the radical and the non-radical in order to show the way in which Beatie's own narrative about his identity and pregnancy actually resists broadening the meaning of family and adheres to tradition and heteronormativity. As Judith Butler reminds us, a situation's possibility is both formed and limited by the language used to describe it (13), and thus I contend that the radical nature of his act is compromised by Beatie's particular use of language. This thesis, then, ultimately seeks to analyze the way in which a seemingly radical intervention in the patriarchal construction of the nuclear family negates its own potential.
Details
- Title
- The Pregnant Man
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Robin R Blyn (Committee Member) - University of West Florida, College of Arts, Social Sciences, and HumanitiesGregory J Tomso (Committee Chair) - University of West Florida, College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 39
- Copyright
- Permission granted to the University of West Florida Libraries by the author to digitize and/or display this information for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires the permission of the copyright holder.
- Identifiers
- 99380090754106600
- Academic Unit
- English
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida