Fighting Against Erasure: the Case of the Black, Childfree and Professional Woman in South Africa
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Fighting against erasure: The case of the black, childfree and professional woman in South Africa. Sizakele Marutlulle A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, March 2020 Declaration I, Sizakele Marutlulle, Student Number N0215264, declare that ‘Fighting Against Erasure: The Case of the Black, Childfree and Professional Woman in South Africa’ is my own work and that all the sources I have used/quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Signature…………………………………………… Sizakele Marutlulle Date…………………………………….. i Dedication To Khumbuzile ‘Dal’okuhle’ Marutlulle, who gave me life. ii Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Melissa Steyn, South African Research Chair in Diversity Studies and my Supervisor, who championed this work from the beginning and was unrelenting in her support throughout. I also place on record my profound gratitude to Dr T – to whom I am greatly indebted for his sincere guidance and unwavering encouragement through every phase of this journey. I thank the narrators who trusted me with their stories. I also extend my gratitude to all the members of my ‘tribe’, for their unceasing encouragement and support. iii Abstract Previous studies have reflected on childfreeness as a growing reproductive choice. What has been lacking in literature is an understanding of childfreeness in Africa in general and among black childfree professional women (BCPW) in particular. This research examined the erasure and lived-experiences of black childfree professional women in South Africa. It also problematised the conflation of woman with mother, and the extent to which such conflation embeds pronatalist cultural imperatives of femininity as well as traditional gender roles. This study investigated the lived-experiences of seven (7) childfree women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and these were analysed using thematic analysis. The women’s upbringing, values, beliefs, and internal locus of control emerged as cornerstones in their decision to reject motherhood and embrace childfreeness. Their resilience anchored this choice and their resistance enabled them to withstand the negative consequence of childfreeness within a culture that valorises motherhood. Their experiences of social exclusion and ‘Othering’ supported findings of other studies. However, a pointed experience of demonization by black mothers in particular was a key and unique discovery. The findings present childfreeness as agentic decision-making - an activist and feminist stance that challenges as well as broadens the concepts of womanhood, diversity and reproductive freedom. In totality, the study offers new understanding of BCPW and suggests that this unconventional yet legitimate reproductive choice may advance the decoupling of motherhood from feminine identity in ways that are liberatory for all women. The social acceptance of childfreeness as an expression of one of the many diverse feminine experiences accessible to all women, could augur well for the ultimate achievement of reproductive justice. iv Contents Declaration .............................................................................................................................. i Dedication ............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Rationale for this research ............................................................................................... 4 1.3 Research questions ........................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Aims and objectives ......................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Anticipated contribution of this Study ............................................................................. 6 1.6 My point of entry ............................................................................................................. 7 1.7 Overview of Chapters ...................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 11 THEORETICAL POSITIONING ............................................................................................ 11 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Feminist Theory ............................................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 First-Wave Feminism.............................................................................................. 13 2.2.2 Second-Wave Feminism ......................................................................................... 13 2.2.3 Third-Wave Feminism ............................................................................................ 15 2.2.4 The Fourth Wave of Feminism ............................................................................... 20 2.3 Feminist perspectives on motherhood ........................................................................... 32 2.3.1 Motherhood Perspectives in the First Wave of Feminism ...................................... 33 2.3.2 Motherhood perspectives in the Second Wave of Feminism .................................. 34 2.3.3 Motherhood perspectives in The Third Wave of Feminism ................................... 39 2.3.4 Black feminist perspective on Motherhood ............................................................ 43 2.4 Intersectionality.............................................................................................................. 44 2.5 Identity Theory............................................................................................................... 49 2.6 Gender Theory ............................................................................................................... 52 2.7 Critical Diversity Theory ............................................................................................... 54 2.8 The Question of Affect .................................................................................................. 61 2.9 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................ 64 THE CHILDFREE CHOICE: GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND MEANING .......................... 64 v 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 64 3.2 The childfree choice: attitudes and trends ..................................................................... 64 3.2.1 Choice and practice ................................................................................................. 65 3.2.2 Characteristics of the Childfree .............................................................................. 67 3.2.3 Different forms of childlessness ............................................................................. 68 3.2.4 Decision- making, motives and the continuum of childfreeness ............................ 69 3.2.5 The pull and push of motherhood ........................................................................... 71 3.3 Pronatalist Views ........................................................................................................... 73 3.3.1 The Value of Children (VOC) ................................................................................ 74 3.3.2 The child and manhood ............................................................................................... 76 3.4 Stereotypes of the childfree ........................................................................................... 76 3.4.1 Stigma ..................................................................................................................... 76 3.4.2 Stereotypes .............................................................................................................. 77 3.5 Privilege and Power ....................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 4: 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