Girls’ constructions of love in dating relationships: a narrative study in a rural Kwazulu-Natal secondary school.

Abstract

Premised on the understanding that adolescent girls tend to construct love in ways that make them vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV), this thesis reports on a narrative inquiry that addressed the research question: How might rural schoolgirls' understandings of love in dating relationships influence their vulnerability to gender-based violence? Conducted in a rural secondary school in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa, the study involved 23 girls aged 13-20 across grades 8-11. The study was located within the interpretivism paradigm and framed by social constructionism as the analytical lens. To generate data, the study used three participatory data generation methods: letter writing, collagemaking, and artefact retrieval. Data were analysed using both narrative analysis and thematic analysis. Firstly, the findings highlight six discourses of love that dominate rural schoolgirls' constructions of love, namely: (1) love as a beautiful feeling; (2) love as material care; (3) love as being cherished, belonging, and emotional well-being; (4) love as loyalty and jealousy; (5) love as virginity; and (6) love as sex and childbearing. Secondly, they indicate that the socio-economic context intersects with oppressive systems of power such as unequal gender norms, social class, and patriarchy, and the participants' understandings and performance of femininity. Notably, the participants in this study demonstrated significant agency as they proposed various strategies for addressing GBV in their community. However, some of the strategies they identified seemed to be informed by a desire for further violence, including a proposal to have perpetrators of GBV killed. This thesis concludes that unless we understand GBV as multidimensional and complex, and as produced and reproduced within a particular social and gender order and specific gender regimes characterised by unequal gender norms and endemic violence, the aggression that we seek to address might become entrenched in communities. Thus, interventions that solicit young people's voices on contextually relevant and peaceful strategies, including comprehensive sexuality education, are critical if we are to realise effective GBV prevention and ultimately, its elimination in all spaces.