Paper short abstract:

Using examples from British Columbia, Canada, I illustrate how butch lesbians, transmen, and genderqueer individuals’ experiences of pregnancy and breastfeeding present uncertainty with gender by challenging the Western cultural norms that equate ‘motherhood’ with femininity.

Paper long abstract:

In Western cultures, when a baby is born with a vagina, it is a cultural expectation that the child will grow-up to become a feminine heterosexual mother. In British Columbia, Canada, I investigated the reproductive experiences and choices of individuals labeled 'female' at birth, but who as adults do not identify as feminine heterosexuals. Through this research, it became evident that despite the increased visibility of and rights pertaining to queers and their families (in Canada), gendered assumptions related to reproduction have not changed. In fact, through interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation, it became clear that "uncertainties of gender" were not socially permitted, but rather erased as such experiences became classified within normative gendered expectations. This was exemplified through the narratives of individuals who when pregnant were recognized as either straight women or beer-bellied men, and who also witnessed people's reaction to their gender-crossing behaviour as they 'switched' from "being viewed or assumed to be a male to a woman who dared feed her child" (Teg, questionnaire respondent). Overall, my paper will argue that while even transgendered people are gaining recognition and rights in Canada, the cultural prevalence of gendered expectations regarding reproduction continue to prevail and be used to make sense out of even 'queer' and 'uncertain' experiences.