Proposing love on the way to school: mobility, sexuality and youth transitions in South Africa

Hampshire, Kate; Porter, Gina; Mashiri, Mac; Maponya, Goodhope; Dube, Sipho

doi:10.1080/13691058.2010.522255

Cited by 30 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Although collectively these areas of research provide a wealth of important information about the challenging environments in which girls become women, the focus on risk sometimes obscures girls’ everyday ‘non-risky’ lived experiences. In addition to highlighting these experiences, we also build on literature on young women’s framing of the process of becoming a woman in South Africa today, and the social meanings attached to the manner in which womanhood is attained (Bhana 2016; Bhana and Patttman 2011; Edin et al 2016; Graham 2016; Hampshire et al 2011; Harrison 2008; Pattman 2005). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Behaving well’: the transition to respectable womanhood in rural South Africa

Sennott

Mojola

2016

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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Few studies on the transition to adulthood in Africa analyse young people’s own definitions of the events that confer adult status, and how adulthood is actually attained. This paper examines the experience of transitioning to womanhood in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, drawing on interviews with 18 women aged 18–39. Three primary experiences characterised this transition: puberty and emerging body awareness, spending time with boys, and having a child. More important than the timing of these experiences, however, was whether women ‘behaved well’ and maintained respectability as they transitioned to adulthood. Behavioural standards reinforcing ideal femininity were focused on dress, manner, and talk, and were particularly stringent for mothers. Our findings emphasise the value of emic models of adulthood for understanding how youth experience this transition and provide an important counter-narrative to the literature focused primarily on the risk African youth face during this period of change in the life course.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Behaving well’: the transition to respectable womanhood in rural South Africa

Sennott

Mojola

2016

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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“…Young girls interviewed in the 24-site study in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa confided (especially to the peer researchers) a range of problems from catcalling and jeering by men to being groped when on public transport and actual rape [14] (pp. 184-186), [120]. Especially in locations with high HIV/AIDS prevalence, rape is clearly life-threatening.…”

Section: Travel Safety and Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting Young People’s Mobility and Transport Needs: Review and Prospect

Porter

Turner²

2019

Sustainability

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This paper reviews published and grey literature on young people’s daily transport and mobility experiences and potential, with the aim of identifying major research gaps. It draws on literature across a range of disciplines where interest in mobilities has expanded significantly over the last decade (transport studies; social sciences, notably geography and anthropology; health sciences). We focus particularly on young people from poorer households, since poverty and mobility intersect and interact in complex ways and this needs closer attention. Although youth transport issues are set in their global context, the focus on poverty encourages particular attention to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially countries in Africa and Asia. Key themes include education, employment, travel safety and the role of mobile technology. This review demonstrates how young people’s travel experiences, needs and risks are embedded in power relations and vary with gender, age and location. It also points to the scale and range of uncertainties that so many young people now face globally as they negotiate daily mobility (or immobility). Significant research gaps are identified, including the need for more in-depth action research involving young people themselves (especially in Asia), and greater attention to the impact of mobile technologies on travel practices.

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“…Learning interventions seemed to engender increased confidence and social networks among some female participants (Jere 2012). In both of these grants, however, discussion of the delivery of support to poor families and students was Porter's study further noted that these domestic burdens translated into poor attendance and concentration rates for girls at primary and junior secondary school levels, although paid work for boys was more likely to lead to school drop-out (Porter, Hampshire et al 2011. In the Pridmore study too, the salience of gender was noted in differentiated access and learning patterns, as well as drop-out rates, for male and female students.…”

Section: Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Girls walking to school in Malawi and South Africa expressed fear of rape, particularly when passing through wooded areas, and there was a close correlation between journey time to school and fear of rape ). Girls' bodies were constructed as 'weak', when contrasted with boys who could 'at least...run away', and thus girls felt themselves to be, in the words of one 12 year old girl in South Africa "under a lot of pressure" (Hampshire, Porter et al 2011), both to look good and 'dress nice', but also to resist unwanted sexual advances and maintain their families' reputations. The discussion of girls' resistance and attempts to challenge these protectionist constructions of gender, for example through the use of mobile phones by young women in South Africa, also adds knowledge to emerging debates around gender and technology .…”

Section: Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…problematised, highlighting that 'quick-fix' solutions for gender equality may not work, particularly in contexts of normalised gender inequalities, or corruption.A number of studies also looked at access questions, but with a scope that broadened what was explored to include learning and gendered experiences in the classroom. The Porter study, which drew on a substantial range of data collected with innovative child-focussed research methodologies in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, particularly focussed on the gendered impact of mobility on children's lives, and the significance of daily mobility as a factor influencing the work-education nexus(Porter, Hampshire et al 2011). The transport gap was shown to have profound effects on girls' lives, as they were more likely than boys to have porterage responsibilities, including for water and firewood, but less likely to be remunerated for this work.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Gender Evidence Synthesis Research Award (ESRA)

Bradshaw¹,

Linneker²,

Nussey³

et al. 2015

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Series  There was limited engagement with the concept of rights across the studies and reproductive health rights were generally reduced to reproductive health services with a focus on maternal health outcomes rather than the women themselves.  Intimate partner violence was another under studied issue and given the importance of violence against women and girls for poverty, well-being, health, education and equality outcomes this needs to be addressed.  Harmful 'cultural' practices such as forced and early marriage, FGM, trafficking and bonded labour were little considered.  Transactional sex emerged as important for many women's livelihoods, and the openness to discussing this suggests it is an important area for future research.  Unpaid and paid care work was little discussed explicitly for adult women, but was recognised as reducing girls' life choices and chances.  Gendered mobility and access issues emerged as important, but technology and transport generally remain neglected areas in gendered research.  While women's employment was well covered, women's entrepreneurship and barriers to this, especially in times of financial crisis, was less discussed.  The rise of 'new poor' was documented in a number of countries and contexts but there was little gendered analysis of this.  Only a small number of studies looked at poverty and gender within the changing environmental context, and there was only one study on 'disasters' and one on climate change adaptation.  None of the studies analysed the effectiveness of international policy to improve gender equality and women's well-being. Recommendations  The awards have demonstrated there is an openness to collecting disaggregated data, and this needs to be built on to promote greater gender analysis of the differences noted. Subsequent calls might make clearer what is expected in 'good' gendered research and ensure the ability of the proposers to provide this. The inclusion of a 'gender analysis of findings' section in the EoAR would raise the profile of gender within the Joint Fund.  Some of the issues that are yet to be addressed by the Joint Fund highlight the need for a feminist analytical framework and also the need to ensure gender means the inclusion of both women and men in the studies.  If a future call seeks to explicitly address the gaps in knowledge identified, it would need to promote gender from being one of the cross cutting issues to being a central overarching research question.

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Proposing love on the way to school: mobility, sexuality and youth transitions in South Africa

Cited by 30 publications

References 46 publications

‘Behaving well’: the transition to respectable womanhood in rural South Africa

‘Behaving well’: the transition to respectable womanhood in rural South Africa

Meeting Young People’s Mobility and Transport Needs: Review and Prospect

Gender Evidence Synthesis Research Award (ESRA)

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