ABSTRACT
This chapter considers symbolic and political meanings of fear within characterizations of pregnant and birthing women in contemporary Western culture, and examines aspects of these representations that are understood as 'normal' and as 'pathological'. It discusses birth fear include the construction of normative femininity in pregnancy and birth, particularly the identification and elevation of fearfulness as a 'natural' feminine trait, informed by the cultures and practices of modern Western maternity culture and reinforced through the multiple channels of social life. Such constructions have the corollary of undervaluing dimensions of femininity that challenge fear and fragility and support an empowered experience of pregnancy and birth. The chapter provides the dominant conceptions of normative – fearful – femininity in birth can be challenged by developing an understanding of pregnancy and birth as inherently powerful embodied experiences. This involves the identification of strength and authority as legitimate characteristics for women within these quintessentially female experiences, representing empowered, rather than compromised, femininity.
