Elmien Lesch

Reflections on the sexual agency of young women in a low-income rural South African community

Reproductive health issues are pertinent in the mental health development of young women in South Africa, especially young women in low-income communities. The prevalence of problems such as HIV/AIDS and unplanned or unwanted pregnancies among South African female adolescents specifically warrants urgent attention. It is argued that inadequate theoretical frameworks and inadequate data on sexuality in different South African communities hamper effective preventative interventions in the female reproductive health arena. This article reports and discusses some of the findings of a larger study exploring female adolescent sexuality in one specific low-income South African community. Twenty-five adolescent women from low-income, ‘coloured’1 households in the Western Cape were interviewed about their first experiences of sexual intercourse. It was found that the participants demonstrated limited sexual agency in their first experiences of sexual intercourse. The authors conclude that a new discourse of female sexual agency may be needed.

‘I am like a woman’: constructions of sexuality among gay men in a low-income South African community

South African research on same-sex sexuality is sparse. Black men living in rural areas, and particularly coloured men, have often been neglected in same-sex sexuality research. This paper describes the findings from a study that explored the sexuality constructions of a group of young, coloured, self-identified gay men who live in a semi-rural, low-income, South African community. Social constructionist grounded theory was used to analyse interviews conducted with 12 men between the ages of 20 and 31. It was found that these men construct their sexuality as being ‘like a woman’. In our exploration of this core category, we show how men use notions of femininity to construct their sexuality. We conclude by considering how this group of gay mens performance of femininity could be viewed as reproducing mainstream ideas of gender within their community, while at the same time functioning as acts of subversion.

South African Adolescents’ Constructions of Intimacy in Romantic Relationships

Localized understandings of adolescent romantic relationships are needed to expand our knowledge of the diversity of adolescent romantic experiences and to challenge negative discourses of adolescent heterosexual relationships. This study explored the constructions of intimacy of 20 adolescent men and women in romantic relationships from one low-income community in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Using Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory method, we found that our participants reproduced dominant romantic and gender discourses in their intimacy constructions within a community context of limited and limiting discourses. We argue that they could benefit from alternative discourses, more opportunities to interact privately and intimately with their partners, and to reflect on and articulate their romantic relationship experiences.

Relationship Satisfaction and Gender Differences in a South African Farm-worker Community

ABSTRACT This study formed part of a larger research and community development project which aimed to explore intimate heterosexual relationships as mental health resource and stressor in one lowincome, coloured farm-worker community in South Africa. The specific aims of this study were to generate descriptive data of the couples in this community; investigate overall relationship satisfaction; and investigate gender differences in relationship satisfaction. A cross-sectional survey approach was used and a stratified random sample of 93 heterosexual committed couples was obtained. Results indicate that most couples in this community were married, Christian, regular church-goers, had relationships of long duration, and viewed men as the heads of households. Most of the participants had low educational and income levels, and women were disadvantaged regarding employment and income. Although both the men and the women were on average satisfied with their relationships, female partners reported significantly lower relationship satisfaction than their male partners.

The Reliability of the Dyadic Satisfaction (DS) Subscale in a Low-income Semi-rural South African Community

This study investigated the reliability of the Dyadic Satisfaction (DS) subscale of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) in a South African setting. One-hundred heterosexual, coloured, low-income, semi-rural couples with a mean age of 43.59 years and limited formal education participated in the study. To estimate validity, the DS subscale was correlated with the Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS) and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS). There appears to be a particularly strong relationship between the DS subscale and the IMS. The DS subscale can be used reliably as a measure of relationship satisfaction in the South African community studied.

“I Want a Better Life for Her”: Father-Adolescent Daughter Relationships in a Minority, Low-Income South African Community

Although research indicates the importance of fathers in adolescent daughters’ psychosocial development, father–adolescent daughter relationships have been neglected in both international and local research. Furthermore, the relatively small body of research that does exist has mostly been conducted in North American and European contexts. Our study aimed to generate knowledge about father–adolescent daughter relationships in a minority, low-income South African community. In this social constructionist informed community-based study, we explored father–daughter relationships in 42 individual interviews with father–daughter dyads. This article focuses on a prominent theme in the interview data that revolves around fathers’ repeated statements that they wanted their daughters to have betters lives than they themselves had and the parenting strategies they reported to achieve this aspiration. We conclude that these fathers could benefit from reflecting on the apparent limitations of their parenting practices and from knowledge and skills regarding more effective parenting practices.

Sexual Intimacy Constructions of Heterosexual Couples Living in a Low-Income, “Colored,” Farmworker Community in South Africa

This study has been motivated by the scarcity of research that adopts an unproblematic focus on sexuality in South African Black and Colored low-income communities. We explored the sexual intimacy constructions of 15 Colored married/cohabiting couples who live in a low-income, historical South African farmworker community. Using a social constructionist thematic analysis method, we identified four themes: (a) metaphoric and indirect sexual language; (b) the use of a romantic discourse to talk about sexual experiences; (c) male-centered sexual relationships; and (d) lack of privacy brings both restriction and pleasure. We consider how these themes may be linked to the participants’ community context and colonial and apartheid history. Finally, we emphasize the need for research that also explores positive sex functions and experiences rather than focuses narrowly on problematic sexual behavior.

'Drinking with respect': drinking constructions of men who live in a Cape Winelands farm community in South Africa

This article aims to provide a community-specific understanding of a subgroup of South African men who exhibit particularly high rates of hazardous alcohol consumption. Adopting a social constructionist framework, we interviewed 13 Cape Winelands men who lived on farms to explore their drinking constructions. We present three themes that shed light on problematic drinking in this group: (1) the notion of weekend binge-drinking as ‘respectable’ drinking, (2) drinking as shared activity that fulfils various psycho-social needs and (3) a sense of powerlessness to affect their own or their children’s alcohol consumption. These findings are viewed against a specific socio-historical backdrop.

Romantic relationships and loneliness in a group of South African postgraduate students

ABSTRACT According to psychological developmental theory, the formation of a committed romantic relationship is a critical psychosocial development task for young adults. They are also socialised to believe that such a relationship is the ultimate pathway to love and psychological intimacy and they may therefore experience general and romantic loneliness in its absence. However, people in romantic relationships can also experience romantic loneliness, while single people may be romantically alone but not necessarily romantically lonely. We could not locate any South African research on young adults and romantic loneliness and therefore conducted an exploratory study on this phenomenon in a South African postgraduate sample. A total of 622 postgraduate students completed a bio-demographic questionnaire and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults online. A general low level of loneliness was found overall, but the participants were found to be lonelier in the romantic domain than in the social or family loneliness domains. In addition, single participants were found to have higher levels of romantic and general loneliness than participants in committed relationships. Therefore, the results suggested that relationship status has a significant influence on romantic and general loneliness and confirmed the hegemony of romantic relationships in young adults’ lives.

“In My Dream She Finds Me…And She Wants Me Just the Way I Am”: Fatherhood Experiences of Unmarried Men in South Africa

Limited research is available with regard to the experience of biological fathers who are interested in being involved in their children’s lives but are restricted from doing so. In this study, we aimed to contribute to understanding these paternal constraints and to give unmarried fathers a platform to voice their experiences regarding restricted contact with their children. Interviews were conducted with six single, Setswana-speaking black fathers in South Africa. The phenomenological analysis revealed fatherhood to be an unplanned event at an early age; the cultural responsibilities and conventions regarding marriage and children, and the role these played in restricting contact; constructions of fathers as financial providers; and fathers’ emotional experience of restricted access to their children. We conclude that constraining fatherhood constructions make it difficult for fathers, and also mothers and grandparents, to conceive of fathers’ contributions beyond financial provision. These constructions curtail unmarried fathers’ involvement with their children.