‘Why is the chubby guy running?’: Trans pregnancy, fatness and cultural intelligibility

White, F.R., Pearce, R., Riggs, D., Pfeffer, C. and Hines, S. 2024. ‘Why is the chubby guy running?’: Trans pregnancy, fatness and cultural intelligibility. Journal of Applied Philosophy. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12772

Title‘Why is the chubby guy running?’: Trans pregnancy, fatness and cultural intelligibility
TypeJournal article
AuthorsWhite, F.R., Pearce, R., Riggs, D., Pfeffer, C. and Hines, S.
Abstract

Since the late 2000s trans pregnancy has received increasing public and academic attention and stories of the ‘pregnant man’ have become a media staple. Existing research has critiqued such spectacularization and the supposed tension between maleness, masculinity and pregnancy that underpins it. Extending that work, this article draws on interview data from an international study of trans reproductive practices and analyzes participants’ experiences of being, and expecting themselves to be, perceived in public space not as spectacularly ‘pregnant men’, but as fat men.
As a starting point we take the experience of one participant whose heavily pregnant participation in a 5k race prompted the question ‘why is the chubby guy running?’. Using Judith Butler’s concept of the cultural intelligibility of gender, we ask why the question asked was not, ‘why is the pregnant guy running?’ We further consider the degree to which pregnant trans people manage their unintelligibility within the matrix of pregnancy, fatness and trans/gender and how this reveals the limits of gender intelligibility itself.

Keywordstransgender
pregnancy
fat
embodiment
intelligibility
JournalJournal of Applied Philosophy
Year2024
PublisherWiley
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12772
Publication dates
Published online05 Nov 2024
ProjectTrans Pregnancy: An International Exploration of Transmasculine Practices and Experiences of Reproduction
FunderESRC

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