The study explored whether South African mothers subscribed to the Western ideology of
intensive motherhood and how this ideology was altered or resisted. Semi-structured
interviews were conducted with ten working South African mothers with a child under
the age of ten. Thematic content analysis revealed that motherhood was largely regarded
as synonymous with womanhood, where the inherent and biological ability to bear
children rendered the mother responsible for intensive efforts in child-raising. As a
result, motherhood was a gendered practice situated within a powerful and normative
ideology of inequality. These themes were discussed in the racially stratified and
gendered context of South Africa from a feminist perspective. The research concluded
with a recommendation that alternative motherhood ideologies, more representative of
the diverse contexts and experiences of mothers, are explored.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/7169 |
| Date | 02 September 2009 |
| Creators | Van Doorene, Sharon |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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