South African government responses to Trump's Global Gag Rule: Silence, ignorance, and avoidance
- Ndabula, Yanela, Macleod, Catriona I, du Plessis, Ulandi, Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Authors: Ndabula, Yanela , Macleod, Catriona I , du Plessis, Ulandi , Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441299 , vital:73875 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183241229046"
- Description: In 2017, Donald Trump signed the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), thereby reinstating the Global Gag Rule. The policy restricted all United States foreign funding from abortion-related activities. Little research reports the responses of recipients of this bilateral assistance. The study documents the South African government's responses to the PLGHA. We accessed Hansard parliamentary debates, interviewed four parliamentarians alongside one government official, and reviewed a USAID-funded initiative developed while the policy was in effect. We analysed the data using interpretive content analysis through a global social policy and gendered coloniality lens. Our research documents silence, ignorance, avoidance, and possible over-interpretation of the PLGHA within the South African government. The colonialist politics of global redistribution created the grounds for gendered regulation, resulting in a fundamental undermining of reproductive rights. Ironically, the solution – advocacy and parliamentarian briefing regarding sexual and reproductive issues – is generally led by civil society, the bodies weakened by the PLGHA.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
- Authors: Ndabula, Yanela , Macleod, Catriona I , du Plessis, Ulandi , Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441299 , vital:73875 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183241229046"
- Description: In 2017, Donald Trump signed the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), thereby reinstating the Global Gag Rule. The policy restricted all United States foreign funding from abortion-related activities. Little research reports the responses of recipients of this bilateral assistance. The study documents the South African government's responses to the PLGHA. We accessed Hansard parliamentary debates, interviewed four parliamentarians alongside one government official, and reviewed a USAID-funded initiative developed while the policy was in effect. We analysed the data using interpretive content analysis through a global social policy and gendered coloniality lens. Our research documents silence, ignorance, avoidance, and possible over-interpretation of the PLGHA within the South African government. The colonialist politics of global redistribution created the grounds for gendered regulation, resulting in a fundamental undermining of reproductive rights. Ironically, the solution – advocacy and parliamentarian briefing regarding sexual and reproductive issues – is generally led by civil society, the bodies weakened by the PLGHA.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
Teaching comprehensive sexuality education in a traumatized society: recognizing teachers as sexual, reproductive, and mental health frontline workers
- Macleod, Catriona I, du Plesis, Ulandi
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , du Plesis, Ulandi
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441316 , vital:73876 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1276299"
- Description: Research on school-based sexuality education in South Africa, taught within Life Orientation (LO), has mainly focused on learners’ responses, how teachers approach the subject, and the curriculum content. Critiques have included heteronormative biases, an emphasis on danger, disease and damage, a reinforcement of gendered binaries, and the lack of pleasure or well-being discourses. In contrast, our research focused on the unexpected moments teachers experience, i.e., the ethical, emotional or psychological challenges they encounter in their interactions with learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , du Plesis, Ulandi
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441316 , vital:73876 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1276299"
- Description: Research on school-based sexuality education in South Africa, taught within Life Orientation (LO), has mainly focused on learners’ responses, how teachers approach the subject, and the curriculum content. Critiques have included heteronormative biases, an emphasis on danger, disease and damage, a reinforcement of gendered binaries, and the lack of pleasure or well-being discourses. In contrast, our research focused on the unexpected moments teachers experience, i.e., the ethical, emotional or psychological challenges they encounter in their interactions with learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
The nexus between COVID-19 and sexual and reproductive health of adolescents: Bringing adolescents ‘home’
- Kangaude, Godfrey, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: Kangaude, Godfrey , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434171 , vital:73036 , ISBN 9781032671420 , https://www.routledge.com/COVID-19-and-the-Right-to-Health-in-Africa/Durojaye-Mahadew/p/book/9781032671420?_ga=1281847179.1711584000
- Description: The devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus is well-documented. The disease was less severe among young people than in the older population. The effect on adolescents was primarily due to government measures to curb the pandemic, including lockdowns that disrupted social, education, and health services and diverted resources away from sexual and reproductive health. Young people lost or had limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and comprehensive sexuality education. They experienced the loss of financial and emotional support and parental care because of sick adults and caregivers. Young persons also lost time with friends and in developmental tasks associated with adolescence, such as exploring intimate relationships and forming identities outside the home. Government-imposed lockdowns and isolation measures revealed how being home can be problematic for young people, despite the concept of ‘home’ suggesting safety, security, and nurturance. Of particular concern were sexual and gender-based violence in the home and the increase in teenage pregnancies. In this chapter, we engage with the notion of home and how all institutions with which the adolescent interacts, especially family and school, should be a ‘home’: A place of belonging and acceptance because adolescence is a critical time for the emergence of sexual identity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
- Authors: Kangaude, Godfrey , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434171 , vital:73036 , ISBN 9781032671420 , https://www.routledge.com/COVID-19-and-the-Right-to-Health-in-Africa/Durojaye-Mahadew/p/book/9781032671420?_ga=1281847179.1711584000
- Description: The devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus is well-documented. The disease was less severe among young people than in the older population. The effect on adolescents was primarily due to government measures to curb the pandemic, including lockdowns that disrupted social, education, and health services and diverted resources away from sexual and reproductive health. Young people lost or had limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and comprehensive sexuality education. They experienced the loss of financial and emotional support and parental care because of sick adults and caregivers. Young persons also lost time with friends and in developmental tasks associated with adolescence, such as exploring intimate relationships and forming identities outside the home. Government-imposed lockdowns and isolation measures revealed how being home can be problematic for young people, despite the concept of ‘home’ suggesting safety, security, and nurturance. Of particular concern were sexual and gender-based violence in the home and the increase in teenage pregnancies. In this chapter, we engage with the notion of home and how all institutions with which the adolescent interacts, especially family and school, should be a ‘home’: A place of belonging and acceptance because adolescence is a critical time for the emergence of sexual identity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
Violence against women who sell sex in eastern and southern Africa: a scoping review
- Macleod, Catriona I, Reynolds, John H, Delate, Richard
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441380 , vital:73881 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231160847"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441380 , vital:73881 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231160847"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024
Abortion Services and Reproductive Justice in Rural South Africa
- du Plessis, Ulandi, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434081 , vital:73030 , ISBN 9781776148738 , https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Abortion-Services-and-Reproductive-Justice-in-Rural-South-Africa/?K=9781776148776
- Description: Despite progressive legislation, abortion service implementa-tion and access in South Africa’s rural areas is challenging and directly affects low-income communities. This book urges an intervention for safe and accessible abortion services that does not compromise costs or confidentiality within a repara-tive reproductive justice framework. South Africa’s progressive abortion legislation was hailed as transformative in terms of reproductive health and rights. Despite this promise, many challenges persist resulting in a lack of services, especially in rural areas where distances and transport costs are a factor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434081 , vital:73030 , ISBN 9781776148738 , https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Abortion-Services-and-Reproductive-Justice-in-Rural-South-Africa/?K=9781776148776
- Description: Despite progressive legislation, abortion service implementa-tion and access in South Africa’s rural areas is challenging and directly affects low-income communities. This book urges an intervention for safe and accessible abortion services that does not compromise costs or confidentiality within a repara-tive reproductive justice framework. South Africa’s progressive abortion legislation was hailed as transformative in terms of reproductive health and rights. Despite this promise, many challenges persist resulting in a lack of services, especially in rural areas where distances and transport costs are a factor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Comparative situational analysis of comprehensive abortion care in four Southern African countries
- Macleod, Catriona I, Reuvers, Megan, Reynolds, John H, Lavelanet, Antonella, Delate, Richard
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reuvers, Megan , Reynolds, John H , Lavelanet, Antonella , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441199 , vital:73865 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2217442"
- Description: We report on a comparative situational analysis of comprehensive abortion care (CAC) in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia. We conducted systematic literature searches and country consultations and used a reparative health justice approach (with four dimensions) for the analysis. The following findings pertain to all four countries, except where indicated. Individual material dimension: pervasive gender-based violence (GBV); unmet need for contraception (15−17%); high HIV prevalence; poor abortion access for rape survivors; fees for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services (Eswatini). Collective material dimension: no clear national budgeting for SRH; over-reliance on donor funding (Eswatini; Lesotho); no national CAC guidelines or guidance on legal abortion access; poor data collection and management systems; shortage and inequitable distribution of staff; few facilities providing abortion care. Individual symbolic dimension: gender norms justify GBV; stigma attached to both abortion and unwed or early pregnancies. Collective symbolic dimension: policy commitments to reducing unsafe abortion and to post-abortion care, but not to increasing access to legal abortion; inadequate research; contradictions in abortion legislation (Botswana); inadequate staff training in CAC. Political will to ensure CAC within the country’s legislation is required. Reparative health.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reuvers, Megan , Reynolds, John H , Lavelanet, Antonella , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441199 , vital:73865 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2217442"
- Description: We report on a comparative situational analysis of comprehensive abortion care (CAC) in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia. We conducted systematic literature searches and country consultations and used a reparative health justice approach (with four dimensions) for the analysis. The following findings pertain to all four countries, except where indicated. Individual material dimension: pervasive gender-based violence (GBV); unmet need for contraception (15−17%); high HIV prevalence; poor abortion access for rape survivors; fees for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services (Eswatini). Collective material dimension: no clear national budgeting for SRH; over-reliance on donor funding (Eswatini; Lesotho); no national CAC guidelines or guidance on legal abortion access; poor data collection and management systems; shortage and inequitable distribution of staff; few facilities providing abortion care. Individual symbolic dimension: gender norms justify GBV; stigma attached to both abortion and unwed or early pregnancies. Collective symbolic dimension: policy commitments to reducing unsafe abortion and to post-abortion care, but not to increasing access to legal abortion; inadequate research; contradictions in abortion legislation (Botswana); inadequate staff training in CAC. Political will to ensure CAC within the country’s legislation is required. Reparative health.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Directive counselling undermines “safe” abortion
- Mavuso, Jabulile M-J J, Macleod, Catriona I, du Toit, Ryan
- Authors: Mavuso, Jabulile M-J J , Macleod, Catriona I , du Toit, Ryan
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434096 , vital:73031 , ISBN 97817936442138 , https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793644213/Sexual-and-Reproductive-Justice-From-the-Margins-to-the-Centre
- Description: Sexual and Reproductive Justice: From the Margins to the Centre offers new insights and perspectives on sexual and reproductive justice. The thought-provoking and diverse contributions in this volume — which range from indigenous approaches to sexual violence to gender-affirming primary and mental healthcare — extend sexual and reproductive justice scholarship, and spark critical questions, novel thinking, and ongoing dialogue in this field.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Mavuso, Jabulile M-J J , Macleod, Catriona I , du Toit, Ryan
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434096 , vital:73031 , ISBN 97817936442138 , https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793644213/Sexual-and-Reproductive-Justice-From-the-Margins-to-the-Centre
- Description: Sexual and Reproductive Justice: From the Margins to the Centre offers new insights and perspectives on sexual and reproductive justice. The thought-provoking and diverse contributions in this volume — which range from indigenous approaches to sexual violence to gender-affirming primary and mental healthcare — extend sexual and reproductive justice scholarship, and spark critical questions, novel thinking, and ongoing dialogue in this field.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Governing pregnancy in the Global South: the case of post-apartheid South Africa
- du Plessis, Ulandi, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441212 , vital:73867 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2023.2249943"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441212 , vital:73867 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2023.2249943"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Male peer talk about menstruation: Discursively bolstering hegemonic masculinities among young men in South Africa
- Macleod, Catriona I, Glover, Jonathan M, Makuse, Manase, Kelland, Lindsay, Paphitis, Sharli A
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makuse, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441253 , vital:73870 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makuse, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441253 , vital:73870 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
The binary order of things: A discursive study of nursing students’ talk on providing, and learning about, LGBT patient care
- Pinto, Pedro, Macleod, Catriona I, Nhamo-Murire, Mercy
- Authors: Pinto, Pedro , Macleod, Catriona I , Nhamo-Murire, Mercy
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441343 , vital:73878 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2048163"
- Description: Against the backdrop of the healthcare inequities and maltreatment facing LGBT patients, recommendations have been made for the inclusion of LGBT health topics in nursing curricula. Based on data collected in focus group discussions with South African nursing students, we complicate the assumption that training focused on health-specific knowledge will effectively reform providers’ prejudicial practices. Findings reveal ambivalence: silence and discrimination versus inclusive humanism. Participants drew on discourses of ignorance, religion, and egalitarian treatment to justify their inadequacy regarding LGBT patients; while doing so, however, they deployed othering discourses in which homophobic and transphobic disregard is rendered acceptable, and “scientifically” supported through binary, deterministic views of sexuality and gender. Such “expert” views accord with Foucault’s notion of “grotesque discourse.” We conclude with a discussion of the findings’ implications for nursing education; we call for the recognition and teaching of binary ideology as a form of discursive violence over LGBT lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Pinto, Pedro , Macleod, Catriona I , Nhamo-Murire, Mercy
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441343 , vital:73878 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2048163"
- Description: Against the backdrop of the healthcare inequities and maltreatment facing LGBT patients, recommendations have been made for the inclusion of LGBT health topics in nursing curricula. Based on data collected in focus group discussions with South African nursing students, we complicate the assumption that training focused on health-specific knowledge will effectively reform providers’ prejudicial practices. Findings reveal ambivalence: silence and discrimination versus inclusive humanism. Participants drew on discourses of ignorance, religion, and egalitarian treatment to justify their inadequacy regarding LGBT patients; while doing so, however, they deployed othering discourses in which homophobic and transphobic disregard is rendered acceptable, and “scientifically” supported through binary, deterministic views of sexuality and gender. Such “expert” views accord with Foucault’s notion of “grotesque discourse.” We conclude with a discussion of the findings’ implications for nursing education; we call for the recognition and teaching of binary ideology as a form of discursive violence over LGBT lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Integrating child rights standards in contraceptive and abortion care for minors in Africa
- Kangaude, Godfrey D, Macleod, Catriona I, Coast, Ernestina, Fetters, Tamara
- Authors: Kangaude, Godfrey D , Macleod, Catriona I , Coast, Ernestina , Fetters, Tamara
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441242 , vital:73869 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.14502"
- Description: Minor girls in Africa face challenges in accessing high-quality contraceptive and abortion services because laws and policies are not child-friendly. Many countries maintain restrictive laws, policies, or hospital practices that make it difficult for minors to access contraception and safe abortion even when the pregnancy would risk their life or health. Further, the clinical guidelines on contraceptive and abortion care are silent, vague, or ambiguous regarding minors' consent. African states should remedy the situation by ensuring that clinical guidelines integrate child rights principles and standards articulated in child rights treaties to enable health providers to facilitate full, unencumbered access to contraceptive and abortion care for minor girls. A sample of clinical guidelines is analyzed to demonstrate the importance of explicit, consistent, and unambiguous language about children's consent to ensure that healthcare workers provide sexual and reproductive health care in a manner that respects child rights.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Kangaude, Godfrey D , Macleod, Catriona I , Coast, Ernestina , Fetters, Tamara
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441242 , vital:73869 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.14502"
- Description: Minor girls in Africa face challenges in accessing high-quality contraceptive and abortion services because laws and policies are not child-friendly. Many countries maintain restrictive laws, policies, or hospital practices that make it difficult for minors to access contraception and safe abortion even when the pregnancy would risk their life or health. Further, the clinical guidelines on contraceptive and abortion care are silent, vague, or ambiguous regarding minors' consent. African states should remedy the situation by ensuring that clinical guidelines integrate child rights principles and standards articulated in child rights treaties to enable health providers to facilitate full, unencumbered access to contraceptive and abortion care for minor girls. A sample of clinical guidelines is analyzed to demonstrate the importance of explicit, consistent, and unambiguous language about children's consent to ensure that healthcare workers provide sexual and reproductive health care in a manner that respects child rights.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Male Peer Talk About Menstruation: Discursively Bolstering Hegemonic Masculinities Among Young Men in South Africa
- Macleod, Catriona I, Glover, Jonathan M, Makusem, Manase, Kelland, Lindsay, Paphitis, Sharli A
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makusem, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426502 , vital:72358 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makusem, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426502 , vital:72358 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Refining youth sexualities empowerment programmes: The development of the Masizixhobise Toolkit based on a critical sexual and reproductive citizenship framework
- Macleod, Catriona I, Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434158 , vital:73035 , ISBN 9781003139782 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003139782-15/refining-youth-sexualities-empowerment-programmes-catriona-ida-macleod-sarah-moore
- Description: Youth sexualities programmes frequently focus on empowering young people in relation to sexual decision-making and interactions. Within these programmes, however, empowerment is mostly equated with the individualised concepts of self-efficacy and agency to the exclusion of interpersonal and social (i.e. collective) components. Resultantly, the social justice aspects of empowerment may be overlooked. Noting this, some researchers have argued for the adoption of a broader, integrative conceptualisation of empowerment. Macleod’s and Vincent’s critical sexual and reproductive citizenship (CSRC) framework provides such a conceptualisation. This framework draws from feminist re-workings of the principles of citizenship and applies these to understandings of CSRC. Based on this framework, key issues for consideration in programmes are: sexual and reproductive citizenship as status and practice; situated agency; differentiated universalism; the interweaving of the private and public; and the politics of recognition, redistribution and reparation. This chapter discusses the development of a programme refinement toolkit based on a CSRC framework, named the Masizixhobise Toolkit; how the elements outlined above were operationalised into questions; an illustrative example; and the partnership formed with a youth empowerment non-governmental organisation in developing the toolkit.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Moore, Sarah-Ann
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434158 , vital:73035 , ISBN 9781003139782 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003139782-15/refining-youth-sexualities-empowerment-programmes-catriona-ida-macleod-sarah-moore
- Description: Youth sexualities programmes frequently focus on empowering young people in relation to sexual decision-making and interactions. Within these programmes, however, empowerment is mostly equated with the individualised concepts of self-efficacy and agency to the exclusion of interpersonal and social (i.e. collective) components. Resultantly, the social justice aspects of empowerment may be overlooked. Noting this, some researchers have argued for the adoption of a broader, integrative conceptualisation of empowerment. Macleod’s and Vincent’s critical sexual and reproductive citizenship (CSRC) framework provides such a conceptualisation. This framework draws from feminist re-workings of the principles of citizenship and applies these to understandings of CSRC. Based on this framework, key issues for consideration in programmes are: sexual and reproductive citizenship as status and practice; situated agency; differentiated universalism; the interweaving of the private and public; and the politics of recognition, redistribution and reparation. This chapter discusses the development of a programme refinement toolkit based on a CSRC framework, named the Masizixhobise Toolkit; how the elements outlined above were operationalised into questions; an illustrative example; and the partnership formed with a youth empowerment non-governmental organisation in developing the toolkit.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Reproductive health systems analyses and the reparative reproductive justice approach: a case study of unsafe abortion in Lesotho
- Macleod, Catriona I, Reynolds, John H
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441288 , vital:73874 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1887317"
- Description: Health systems analyses are touted as mechanisms through which health policy and planning may be implemented. An example is the WHO health systems approach that connects people (needs, rights, perspectives) with services and technologies (equitable access, quality of care, mix of interventions) and with policies and institutional capacities (laws, regulations, human/physical resources, management and financing). The approach is comprehensive and multi-faceted, which is a strength. We argue, however, that health systems analyses should be supplemented with a focus on reproductive justice. Using the WHO health systems approach as an exemplar, we show how the reparative reproductive justice approach outlined by the first author and colleagues assists with outlining comprehensive remedies to the inequities identified in the systems analysis. We argue for attention to remedies at individual and collective, material and symbolic levels. We illustrate our argument using unsafe abortion, legal abortion services and post-abortion care in Lesotho as a case study. We outline the policies, services and people components of abortion in Lesotho using the WHO systems model, followed by a reparative justice analysis of remedies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441288 , vital:73874 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1887317"
- Description: Health systems analyses are touted as mechanisms through which health policy and planning may be implemented. An example is the WHO health systems approach that connects people (needs, rights, perspectives) with services and technologies (equitable access, quality of care, mix of interventions) and with policies and institutional capacities (laws, regulations, human/physical resources, management and financing). The approach is comprehensive and multi-faceted, which is a strength. We argue, however, that health systems analyses should be supplemented with a focus on reproductive justice. Using the WHO health systems approach as an exemplar, we show how the reparative reproductive justice approach outlined by the first author and colleagues assists with outlining comprehensive remedies to the inequities identified in the systems analysis. We argue for attention to remedies at individual and collective, material and symbolic levels. We illustrate our argument using unsafe abortion, legal abortion services and post-abortion care in Lesotho as a case study. We outline the policies, services and people components of abortion in Lesotho using the WHO systems model, followed by a reparative justice analysis of remedies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Women who sell sex in Eastern and Southern Africa: A scoping review of non-barrier contraception, pregnancy and abortion
- Macleod, Catriona I, Reynolds, John H, Delate, Richard
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441391 , vital:73883 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2022.1604376"
- Description: There is a need to hone reproductive health (RH) services for women who sell sex (WSS). The aim of this review was to collate findings on non-barrier contraception, pregnancies, and abortion amongst WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H , Delate, Richard
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441391 , vital:73883 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2022.1604376"
- Description: There is a need to hone reproductive health (RH) services for women who sell sex (WSS). The aim of this review was to collate findings on non-barrier contraception, pregnancies, and abortion amongst WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
‘My friends would laugh at me’: embedding the dominant heterosexual script in the talk of primary school students
- Morison, Tracy, Macleod, Catriona I, Lynch, Ingrid
- Authors: Morison, Tracy , Macleod, Catriona I , Lynch, Ingrid
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441186 , vital:73864 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2021.1929856"
- Description: The dominant ‘heterosexual script’ positions men as sexually desiring subjects who initiate sex and use active displays of power to attract women, and women as passive sexual objects who use indirect means to attract men (e.g. physical appearance). While much research has highlighted how this script is deployed in high school settings, less work has attended to primary schools. We demonstrate how the script operates in the talk of primary school students in low resource South African schools. Data were generated in group discussions conducted for a mid-term review of a school-based sexual violence prevention programme. We show how the heterosexual script is embedded in students’ accounts through the regulatory mechanisms of interpersonal and social risks: threats of being ‘dumped’, sexual coercion, violence, and humiliation. These risks are learnt from an early age and may outweigh sexuality education messaging provided later on, which has implications for such interventions. To address this we advocate for early engagement with young people using a dialogical approach that creates a relational context for resistance to inequitable sexual scripts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Morison, Tracy , Macleod, Catriona I , Lynch, Ingrid
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441186 , vital:73864 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2021.1929856"
- Description: The dominant ‘heterosexual script’ positions men as sexually desiring subjects who initiate sex and use active displays of power to attract women, and women as passive sexual objects who use indirect means to attract men (e.g. physical appearance). While much research has highlighted how this script is deployed in high school settings, less work has attended to primary schools. We demonstrate how the script operates in the talk of primary school students in low resource South African schools. Data were generated in group discussions conducted for a mid-term review of a school-based sexual violence prevention programme. We show how the heterosexual script is embedded in students’ accounts through the regulatory mechanisms of interpersonal and social risks: threats of being ‘dumped’, sexual coercion, violence, and humiliation. These risks are learnt from an early age and may outweigh sexuality education messaging provided later on, which has implications for such interventions. To address this we advocate for early engagement with young people using a dialogical approach that creates a relational context for resistance to inequitable sexual scripts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Alcohol use during pregnancy: prevalence and patterns in selected Buffalo City areas, South Africa
- Macleod, Catriona I, Young, Charles S, Molokoe, Katlego C
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Young, Charles S , Molokoe, Katlego C
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443611 , vital:74137 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/205539"
- Description: The high rate of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which results from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is of concern in South Africa. The aims of this research were to establish the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with alcohol use amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in two former township areas of Buffalo City, South Africa. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that included socio-demographic questions, and the Alcohol Use Test (AUDIT). The questionnaire was administered in English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa by healthcare providers trained in its administration. Consecutive sampling was used, with all willing women presenting at public clinics offering antenatal care in the two townships being invited to participate. Of the 18 clinics operating in the two townships, 16 were willing to participate, resulting in a sample of 1028 women over a nine-month period. Data were analysed in Medcalc using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, independent samples t-test and a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Two-thirds of the sample did not drink alcohol, but results showed high levels of risky alcohol use: 20.1% on the total AUDIT scale, and 16.8% on the AUDIT-C scale. The following variables were found to be significantly associated with risky drinking: age; race; report of intimate partner violence (IPV); and other regular drinker in the home. Employment status, education status, relationship status, parity and gestation were not associated with risky drinking. Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use during pregnancy should address: drinking youth cultures; drinking norms within the home; and intimate partner violence. Future studies should include additional mental and physical health variables.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Young, Charles S , Molokoe, Katlego C
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443611 , vital:74137 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/205539"
- Description: The high rate of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which results from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is of concern in South Africa. The aims of this research were to establish the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with alcohol use amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in two former township areas of Buffalo City, South Africa. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that included socio-demographic questions, and the Alcohol Use Test (AUDIT). The questionnaire was administered in English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa by healthcare providers trained in its administration. Consecutive sampling was used, with all willing women presenting at public clinics offering antenatal care in the two townships being invited to participate. Of the 18 clinics operating in the two townships, 16 were willing to participate, resulting in a sample of 1028 women over a nine-month period. Data were analysed in Medcalc using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, independent samples t-test and a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Two-thirds of the sample did not drink alcohol, but results showed high levels of risky alcohol use: 20.1% on the total AUDIT scale, and 16.8% on the AUDIT-C scale. The following variables were found to be significantly associated with risky drinking: age; race; report of intimate partner violence (IPV); and other regular drinker in the home. Employment status, education status, relationship status, parity and gestation were not associated with risky drinking. Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use during pregnancy should address: drinking youth cultures; drinking norms within the home; and intimate partner violence. Future studies should include additional mental and physical health variables.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Human Papilloma Virus infection and cervical cancer among women who sell sex in Eastern and Southern Africa: A scoping review
- Macleod, Catriona I, Reynolds, John H
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441228 , vital:73868 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17455065211058349"
- Description: Women who sell sex have a high prevalence of human papilloma virus, which may cause cervical cancer. The objective of this review was to collate findings on prevalence, associated factors, screening, service provision and utilization of services in relation to human papilloma virus and cervical cancer among women who sell sex in Eastern and Southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Reynolds, John H
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441228 , vital:73868 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17455065211058349"
- Description: Women who sell sex have a high prevalence of human papilloma virus, which may cause cervical cancer. The objective of this review was to collate findings on prevalence, associated factors, screening, service provision and utilization of services in relation to human papilloma virus and cervical cancer among women who sell sex in Eastern and Southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
The shame of drinking alcohol while pregnant: The production of avoidance and ill-health
- Matebese, Sibongile, Macleod, Catriona I, Tsetse, Nontozamo
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile , Macleod, Catriona I , Tsetse, Nontozamo
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441360 , vital:73880 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920985139"
- Description: In this article, we examine the operation of shame in the alcohol use habits of pregnant women and the responses of their families and associated institutions. Using a narrative–discursive approach, we interviewed 13 women, living in a low-resource setting in South Africa, who had consumed alcohol while pregnant. Narratives showed how both the act of drinking and “inappropriately” timed pregnancy (early and out of wedlock) were judged to be unacceptable. Women who engaged in these activities were positioned as bad mothers or promiscuous. Their actions were seen as resulting in the suffering of others—the future child, the family, and even the community. These narratives were underpinned by cultural and religious discourses. Women managed the shame accruing to them through avoidance and concealment; families instructed women to self-exclude or distanced themselves from the women’s behavior; and institutions subtly or overtly excluded women. The shaming of these women, and the mechanisms by which such shame was managed, did little to decrease drinking or to increase maternal health and welfare. Overall, this article demonstrates how the shame of drinking alcohol during pregnancy produces avoidance behavior, concealment, and exclusion, which are not constructive in terms of maternal health and well-being. The implications for a feminist narrative approach to drinking during pregnancy are outlined: moving beyond a focus on individual behavior change to locating personal stories within the meta-narratives and social discourses that shape pregnant women’s lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile , Macleod, Catriona I , Tsetse, Nontozamo
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441360 , vital:73880 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920985139"
- Description: In this article, we examine the operation of shame in the alcohol use habits of pregnant women and the responses of their families and associated institutions. Using a narrative–discursive approach, we interviewed 13 women, living in a low-resource setting in South Africa, who had consumed alcohol while pregnant. Narratives showed how both the act of drinking and “inappropriately” timed pregnancy (early and out of wedlock) were judged to be unacceptable. Women who engaged in these activities were positioned as bad mothers or promiscuous. Their actions were seen as resulting in the suffering of others—the future child, the family, and even the community. These narratives were underpinned by cultural and religious discourses. Women managed the shame accruing to them through avoidance and concealment; families instructed women to self-exclude or distanced themselves from the women’s behavior; and institutions subtly or overtly excluded women. The shaming of these women, and the mechanisms by which such shame was managed, did little to decrease drinking or to increase maternal health and welfare. Overall, this article demonstrates how the shame of drinking alcohol during pregnancy produces avoidance behavior, concealment, and exclusion, which are not constructive in terms of maternal health and well-being. The implications for a feminist narrative approach to drinking during pregnancy are outlined: moving beyond a focus on individual behavior change to locating personal stories within the meta-narratives and social discourses that shape pregnant women’s lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Why decolonialising feminist psychology may fail, and why it mustn't: The politics of signification and the case of' teenage pregnancy'
- Macleod, Catriona I, Masuko, Diemo, Feltham-King, Tracey
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Masuko, Diemo , Feltham-King, Tracey
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/446327 , vital:74490
- Description: The calls to decolonise psychology and feminisms are a demand for action in overcoming past and current (neo) colonial injustices. Decolonisation has, however, been complex owing to the plurality, mutation, and masking of (neo)colonial systems. Within this context, decolonialising feminist psychology may fail. Homing in on the politics of signification, we argue that the colonial roots of many signifiers that serve to perpetuate gendered power relations are masked through their taken-for-granted status within psychology. We illustrate the latter through discussion of "adolescence", a signifier premised on colonialist thinking regarding individual and societal development. While gross forms of colonialist thinking regarding adolescence have disappeared, the "threat of degeneration" implicit in the concept remains. Drawing on critical work on "teenage pregnancy" in South Africa, we show how young womxn's reproductive health is impacted by the entrenchment of the threat of degeneration in educational and health responses. This discussion illustrates why decolonising feminist psychology must not fail. Alternative signifiers that serve the purpose of social justice and care should be foregrounded. These joint tasks (critique of (neo)colonialist signifiers and the enactment of transformation through foregrounding alternative signifiers) should underpin decolonising feminist psychology praxis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Masuko, Diemo , Feltham-King, Tracey
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/446327 , vital:74490
- Description: The calls to decolonise psychology and feminisms are a demand for action in overcoming past and current (neo) colonial injustices. Decolonisation has, however, been complex owing to the plurality, mutation, and masking of (neo)colonial systems. Within this context, decolonialising feminist psychology may fail. Homing in on the politics of signification, we argue that the colonial roots of many signifiers that serve to perpetuate gendered power relations are masked through their taken-for-granted status within psychology. We illustrate the latter through discussion of "adolescence", a signifier premised on colonialist thinking regarding individual and societal development. While gross forms of colonialist thinking regarding adolescence have disappeared, the "threat of degeneration" implicit in the concept remains. Drawing on critical work on "teenage pregnancy" in South Africa, we show how young womxn's reproductive health is impacted by the entrenchment of the threat of degeneration in educational and health responses. This discussion illustrates why decolonising feminist psychology must not fail. Alternative signifiers that serve the purpose of social justice and care should be foregrounded. These joint tasks (critique of (neo)colonialist signifiers and the enactment of transformation through foregrounding alternative signifiers) should underpin decolonising feminist psychology praxis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021