« Il te faut mener une vie régulière » : prescriptions et rôle du père durant la grossesse (1960-1962)

• Main Authors: Fabien Deshayes, Axel Pohn-Weidinger
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Genre, Sexualité et Société 2017-12-01
• Series: Genre, Sexualité et Société
• Subjects: pregnancy; norms; risks; paternity; social control
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/gss/4107

Drawing on a micro-historical study of the correspondence between a couple of primary school teachers in the beginning of the 1960s, this article analyzes the role of fathers during pregnancy. The combined study of both personal archives (letters) and the contemporary medical discourse (scientific literature, pregnancy guides, press) suggests that fathers-to-be emerge in this historical period as relevant actors of pregnancy: they carefully observe their pregnant wives’ lifestyle and offer medical advice. Whereas recent studies emphasize the increasing influence of medical professions on the supervision of pregnancy throughout the 20th century, this paper stresses the unexplored role that fathers-to-be play in the diffusion of norms concerning maternity, and notably concerning pregnancy.