Women's Leisure as Resistance to Pronatalist Ideology

Pronatalist ideology embodies the belief that a woman's worth is tied to conceiving and bearing children (Ulrich & Weatherall, 2000). Despite the broadening roles available to women within North America, ideologically, motherhood is still emphasized as their primary social role (Jordan & Revenson, 1999). Given leisure's link with resistance to ideologies, it may be a context for women to resist pronatalist ideology (Shaw, 2001). Little research so far has explored how active creation of leisure spaces, times, and activities may empower or otherwise support women to resist pronatalist ideology. This study, therefore, explored leisure's role as resistance to pronatalist ideology by examining the leisure of women who encountered infertility.