Culture as a discursive resource opposing legal abortion
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Sigcau, Nomakhosi , Luwaca, Pumeza
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6293 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014721 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2010.492211
- Description: The notion of ‘culture’ features in the abortion literature to explicate, first, contestation of the meaning of abortion (as in the ‘culture wars’ about abortion), second, the normalisation of abortion in certain countries (as in ‘abortion culture’), third, the response of women to abortion within a particular social milieu and fourth, cross-cultural variability in attitudes towards and experiences of abortion. What is missing is an exploration of how ‘culture’ may be deployed as a discursive resource to oppose legal abortion. In this article, we report on a study conducted in a rural area of South Africa. We conducted focus group discussions utilising hypothetical vignettes to stimulate talk. Although, inconsistencies were evident in participants’ talk, in the context of cultural discussions, abortion was constructed as killing and inevitably destructive of cultural values and traditions. Abortion was equated with colonialist interventions and as something that should be opposed in the preservation of culture. Furthermore, cultural opposition to abortion was rooted in fears around the breakdown of gendered and generational power relations. Examples of how culture may be used in everyday interactions to induce shame and negative experiences are also discussed.
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- Date Issued: 2011
‘Adolescence’, pregnancy and abortion: constructing a threat of degeneration
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Adolescent Development Gender identity Gender studies
- Language: English
- Type: Book
- Identifier: vital:545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014341 , https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13691058.2013.774523
- Description: Why, despite evidence to the contrary, does the narrative of the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy, abortion and childbearing persist? This book outlines a critical view of "teenage pregnancy" and abortion, arguing that the negativity surrounding early reproduction is underpinned by a particular understanding of adolescence. The book traces the invention of "adolescence" and the imaginary wall that the notion of "adolescence" constructs between young people and adults. It examines the entrenched status of "adolescence" within a colonialist discourse that equates development of the individual with the development of civilisation, and the consequent threat of degeneration that is implied in the very notion of "adolescence". Many important issues are explored, such as the ideologies and contradictions contained within the notion of "adolescence"; the invention of teenage pregnancy as a social problem; the construction of abortion as the new social problem; issues of race, culture and tradition in relation to teenage pregnancy; and health service provider practices, specifically in relation to managing risk. In the final chapter, an argument is made for a shift from the signifier "teenage pregnancy" to "unwanted pregnancy". Using data gathered from studies from four continents, this book highlights central issues in the global debate concerning teenage pregnancy. It is suitable for academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students of health psychology, women’s studies, nursing and sociology, as well as practitioners in the fields of youth and social work, medicine and counselling.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2011