Heteronormative Discourses and Women's Bodily Subjectivities in Aotearoa-New Zealand

This thesis examines how women’s bodily subjectivities in Aotearoa-New Zealand are discursively constituted through heteronormative norms that privilege slimness and align with male-centred ideals of desirability. While body image research has primarily focused on young, heterosexual, white women, it has often overlooked the relational and power-laden discursive dynamics that shape how women come to know and experience their bodies. This study explores how ideals of bodily desirability are taken up, negotiated, and at times resisted within women’s everyday relational contexts, including romantic, familial, and social interactions. Guided by a feminist poststructuralist framework, the research draws on in-depth interviews with 60 women who self-identify as heterosexual, bisexual, or lesbian. The analysis demonstrates how heteronormative body ideals circulate not only in heterosexual relationships but also within same-sex partnerships and broader peer networks. Contrary to assumptions that same-sex relationships inherently subvert dominant norms, the findings reveal how slimness continues to function as a powerful regulatory ideal across diverse relational terrains. The study also traces how the COVID-19 pandemic reconfigured the discursive sites of bodily regulation — intensifying practices of surveillance, self-monitoring, and conformity within domestic and digital spaces. Across these shifting conditions, slimness persisted as a salient marker of feminine value, reproduced through practices such as interpersonal feedback, shared rituals of care, and embodied self-regulation. This thesis contributes to feminist scholarship by offering a relational and discursive analysis of body image that foregrounds heteronormative expectations as central to the constitution of bodily subjectivity. It challenges individualised and psychologised accounts of body dissatisfaction, advancing a nuanced, intersectional understanding of how gender, sexuality, and social relations shape women’s embodied experiences in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Marwah, Smridhi

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Allen, Louisa
• Meehan, Claire

• Women
• Body
• Sexualities
• Body Image
• Gender Studies
• Heteronormative
• Poststructuralism
• Feminist Studies

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/75542

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/75542