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
Public discourses on choice of termination of pregnancy in a rural area of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa
- Authors: Sigcau, Nomakhosi
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Abortion -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Abortion -- Public opinion Abortion -- Moral and ethical aspects Abortion -- Social aspects Abortion -- Psychological aspects Discourse analysis -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3055 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002564
- Description: A period of ten years has elapsed since the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act came into effect. Little has been done in South Africa to investigate public discourses concerning termination of pregnancy since the implementation of the Act. The social context and the quality of available support systems determine the outcome of the women’s feelings after the abortion. Knowledge about the social context is important, as it will help to understand the complexities and nuances of abortion. The aim of the research is to explore public discourses on Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP), and the potential implications of these discourses on the use of the CTOP service. The sample consisted of 23 black isiXhosa-speaking participants from the rural area of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Four focus groups coming from different age groups (between the ages 18 and 52) with both men and women participated in the study. Fictitious vignettes that tap into two different scenarios regarding abortion based on women’s stories were used. Discourses that emerged from people’s text are explained, described and interpreted through a discourse analysis. Since the study was interested in public discourses it led to the discovery of 17 interpretative repertoires as follows: social stigma, abortion equated to murder, degradation of society, pregnancy as an irresponsible act, conditional acceptance, TOP in the context of marriage, future potentiality invested in the foetus, dehumanizing foetus into a clot, shared decision making responsibility, gender dynamics interpretative repertoire, negative post abortion consequences, the scolding versus the supportive nurse interpretative repertoire, alternatives interpretative repertoire, rights versus no responsibility interpretative repertoire, more knowledge needed, male and female or generational differentiation repertoire, and the positive effects repertoire. Abortion is opposed on religious and cultural grounds. TOP has been legalized in South Africa but with this a debate and conflicting views have arisen. These variations in people’s discourses may limit access to TOP for women who need the service.
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- Date Issued: 2009