Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Spring 5-15-2020 Relations of Reproduction: Men, Masculinities, and Pregnancy in Dakar, Senegal Richard Powis Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Powis, Richard, "Relations of Reproduction: Men, Masculinities, and Pregnancy in Dakar, Senegal" (2020). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2232. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2232 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Anthropology Dissertation Examination Committee: Shanti Parikh, Chair Talia Dan-Cohen El Hadji Samba Amadou Diallo Ellen Foley Samuel Shearer Bradley Stoner Relations of Reproduction: Men, Masculinities, and Pregnancy in Dakar, Senegal by Richard Powis A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2020 St. Louis, Missouri © 2020, Richard Powis Table of Contents Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2: From Couvade to “Men’s Involvement”: Sociocultural Perspectives of Expectant Fatherhood .................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Research Design and the Context of Dakar ................................................................ 50 Chapter 4: Walk, Work, and Worry: The Materiality of Men’s Prenatal Care ............................ 78 Chapter 5: A Father is Just a Man: Gender, Kinship, and the Entourage ................................... 101 Chapter 6: Prenatal Rhetoric: How the Senegalese State Enlists Expectant Fathers to Aid in the Discipline of Pregnant Subjects .................................................................................................. 125 Chapter 7: USAID and “Men’s Involvement”: How Development Produces Gender ............... 153 Chapter 8: Doing Everything “Right”: Men and Mourning ....................................................... 174 Chapter 9: Conclusion................................................................................................................. 200 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 209 ii Glossary The following are keywords or phrases in the dissertation. All French, Wolof, and Arabic terms are transcribed into the International Phonetic Alphabet. Where appropriate, some terms have more than one pronunciation (i.e. French and Wolof). accouchement humanisé (a.ku.ʃmã.y.ma.ni.ze [French] or a.ku.smã.y.ma.ni.ze [Wolof]): humanized birth (French); a globally institutionalized intentionality of childbirth practices whereby pregnant women are encouraged to develop birth plans with their provider, give birth in partnership with a relative or friend, give birth in comfortable positions, etc. alhamdulillah (al.xam.du.li.la): praise be to God (Arabic) affaire u jiggeen (a.fe.ry.d͡ ʒi.gɛn): women’s business (Wolof) bajen (ba.d͡ ʒɛn): the eldest sister of one’s father (Wolof); a highly respected, very important relative and who often serves an advisory role to her brother’s children Bajenu Gox (ba.d͡ ʒɛ.nu.gɔx): neighborhood bajen (Wolof); a state program that trains highly respected women in rhetorics of reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing so that they can advise their young neighbors; akin to doulas or childbirth educators CFA (se.fa): the currency of Senegal (and much of Franophone West Africa) CPN (se.pe.jɛn): consultation pre-natal (French); prenatal appointment carnet de la santé (kar.ne.dla.sɑ̃.te): workbook or pamphlet of health (French); a book – authored by the state and shaped by global health organizations – given to pregnant women in public hospitals of health information and empty charts in which to keep personal medical records chercher l’argent (ʃɛr.ʃe.lar.ʒɑ̃ [French] or sər.se.lar.zɑ̃ [Wolof]): to find the money (French) comprehension (cɔ̃.pre.ɑ̃.sjɔ̃): understanding (French) cosaan (͡tʃo.san): all that is and ever was (Wolof); generally mistranslated as “tradition” DSME (dɛj.sɛ.mø): Direction de la santé de la mere et de l’enfant (French); the division of MSAS that oversees all state hospitals, health posts, programs, and interventions that deal with maternal and child health (including pregnancy) deellu (de.lu): a euphemism for a child who has died (Wolof), literally means “returned” entourage (ɑ̃.tu.raʒ [French] or ɑ̃.tu.raz [Wolof]): those who surround (French); refers to those who actively support a central figure – in this context, a pregnant woman iii goro (gɔ.ro): a woman’s husband’s mother gris-gris (gri.gri): a magical/spiritual charm that one carries or wears which protects the owner from evil or misfortune, or attracts good luck insh’Allah (ɪn.ʃə.á.la): God willing (Arabic) koleré (kɔ.lə.re): an historical relationship of mutual support between two families (Wolof) MCH: maternal and child health MSAS (ɛm.sas): Ministère de la santé et de l’action sociale (French); Ministry of Health and Social Action marabout (ma.ra.bu): a Sufi Islamic spiritual leader muñ (myñ): patience (Wolof) ndoxantu (n͡ do.xan.tu): night walking (Wolof) ngente (ŋɛn.te): the ceremony for naming a child seven days after the birth (Wolof) njëkke (n͡ d͡ ʒə.ke): the eldest sister (or two eldest sisters) of a woman’s husband (Wolof); “the female husband” PMI (pi.jɛ.mø): Protection materno-infantile (French); Maternal Infant Protection, the French equivalent of MCH tubab (tu.bap): foreigner (Wolof); depending on context, likely refers to white people (ex: garabu tubab: white people’s medicine [biomedicine]) yërmandé (iər.man.de): a sense of pity for someone with a strong urge to act on their behalf (Wolof) iv List of Figures Figure 3.1. Political map of Senegambia, ca. 1800. .................................................................... 53 Figure 3.2. Political map of Dakar, 2013. .................................................................................... 58 Figure 3.3. Aerial Map of Dakar, 1925. ....................................................................................... 58 Figure 3.4. The unites of Parcelles................................................................................................ 61 Figure 6.1. The cover of the Carnet. ........................................................................................... 129 Figure 6.2. The back of the Carnet. ............................................................................................ 131 Figure 6.3. The birthing positions that women are shown and offered at their final CPN. ........ 141 v List of Tables Table 3.1. Research participants who were surveyed with free-listing questions ...................... 66 Table 3.2. Research participants who were formally interviewed (semi-structured) ................. 66 Table 3.3. Research participants who participated in case studies ............................................. 66 vi Acknowledgements Ku am kuddu du làkk (Whoever has a spoon will not be burned.) - Wolof Proverb In memory of Paul Aspelin I have, in the truest sense, written this dissertation in and with the memory of the late Paul Aspelin, Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Cleveland State University. Professor Aspelin taught my first course in anthropology in Spring 2010. He was an old school anthropologist, the kind I fight against so much today, but I know he would’ve appreciated it. He’d done his dissertation research among the Nambikwara in the Brazilian Amazon 30 years after Claude Levi-Strauss, but right when Levi-Strauss’ publications were coming out, which made for some published sparring between the two of them. It all sounded so romantic and all of his students thought he was a legend. Professor Aspelin’s door was literally always open and he rarely shooed anyone away when we wanted to talk. And then when I would ramble for what felt like an hour about how I wanted to start a disaster anthropology project at a Superfund site as an analog for postapocalyptic ethnography, he was patient and kind and nothing but generous.