Browsing by Author "Mvune, Mornica Nozipho."
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Item Gender, culture and sexuality : teenage pregnancy in rural KwaZulu-Natal.(2013) Mvune, Mornica Nozipho.; Bhana, Deevia.This qualitative study was conducted at Minenhle High School (pseudonym) in Mgugu, a deep rural area in Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal. It explored the way in which six pregnant young women between ages of 16 and 17 talked about their pregnancies. All the young women emerged from a working class background. The purpose of this study was to investigate why these young women fell pregnant; and the gendered dimensions of pregnancy. Gender-power theory was used to show how male dominance reproduces female submissiveness and influences sexual negotiations and thus increasing vulnerability to unintended pregnancies among young African women. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to produce relevant data for this study. However, the same study finds that some young women see the need to challenge accepted gender norms which often promote and encourage female submissiveness and oppression. Socio-cultural influence emerges whereby these young women have failed to access and use contraceptives due to socially constructed myths regarding the effects of contraceptives and fear of going to the clinic to access contraceptive services since this will reveal to the parents that they (young women) are sexually active; hence viewing sex as secret and clinic as public. The findings of this study also show intergenerational silence on issues of sexuality between these pregnant young women and their parents or caregivers which encourages them to rely on their peers for support, information and advice. This study also found a decline in the value of ukuhlolwa kwezintombi (virginity testing) as a strategy for preserving young women’s virginity, discouraging unintended pregnancies and reducing the rate of HIV infections; due to socio-economic and religious reasons. Findings of this study were used to develop strategies that challenge cultural, gender power imbalances as well as breaking intergenerational silence thus encouraging a healthier and more positive sexuality among young people in Umbumbulu.Item Teenage fathers: culture, sexuality and masculinity in rural KwaZulu-Natal.(2020) Mvune, Mornica Nozipho.; Bhana, Deevia.This study examines teenagers’ experiences of fatherhood and how they understand their responsibilities and perform their roles as fathers. It is based on a qualitative study of 20 teenage fathers at two public high schools in the rural Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. All research participants were black African teenagers who identified as biological fathers. Five focus group discussions and 20 individual interviews were held. Dominant discourse often associates fatherhood with material provision, and motherhood with childcare and nurturing. The purpose of this study was to determine how impoverished teenage fathers living in a socioeconomically marginalised rural area negotiate fatherhood and its expectations, and how they navigate the socially defined standards of masculinity and fatherhood that are often expected of them. Throughout the study I draw on theory of masculinities to show how my respondents used context-specific norms of masculinity to make sense of their identities not only as fathers but also as men or boys. My findings highlight how negotiating fatherhood is a complex process through which teenage fathers uphold and/or oppose dominant forms of masculinity. Participants upheld the notion of father-as-provider and used it to define whether or not they were “real men”. In so doing, they were caught between dual identities of being children and adults simultaneously: While they wanted to be seen as caring and supportive fathers (ideal adult men), upholding dominant forms of teenage masculinity through having multiple partners and partaking in risky behaviour was also important. The crux of their conundrum was the intersectionality of culture, context, and sexual risk—and this constitutes the core of my thesis.