Adolescent girls living in Rustenburg : gender roles, gender relations and future expectations as women

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Arguing from a social constructionist perspective and using a qualitative methodology theaim of the present study was to explore different dimensions of gender amongst a group ofadolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years living in Rustenburg, South Africa.More specifically it explores and describes the following aspects of gender amongst thesegirls: (a) how young adolescent girls living in Rustenburg perceive gender roles in generaland how they perceive their own roles in particular (b) their gender relations with otheradolescents and (c) their views on and expectations of the future as women. The rationalefor selecting Rustenburg as the geographical area of research is due to its semi-rurallocation. While rural communities are generally perceived to be more conservative thanurban areas they do not escape modernizing influences such as the mass media. Anunderlying theme of the present study is thus to ascertain whether or not the girls inRustenburg still have relatively conservative perceptions regarding gender.The fmdings of the present study reveal that the participants have broken away fromconforming to traditional roles assigned to women and would like to combine new modemroles with existing traditional roles. It is also clear that the mass media has a considerableinfluence in this regard. According to the respondents society values .a woman that cansucceed in being a good mother, wife and home-keeper as well as being a career woman.Most of the participants want to fulfil these multiple roles. The advantages of being careerwomen, according to these participants, are that such women are independent andfmancially self-reliant.Regarding gender relations, friendships with girls and boys are of equal importance to therespondents. On the one hand sufficient common ground exists to interact comfortably withboys, while on the other hand interacting with boys is seen as useful in obtaining insightinto the life world of boys. However, a general opinion held by the girls is that they feelmore comfortable to discuss more personal and intimate topics with their girl friends.Relationships with younger girls and factors influencing popularity among girls were alsoexplored as themes.Future expectations that are shared by participants are that they would like to complete theirschool education and attend a technikon or university to further their education. Their future career expectations cover a wide range of occupational choices. Most of the participantswant to get married in future - the ages varying between 25 and 30. They would also like tohave children but only once they have established a good career. Their main concerns forthe future are whether or not there will be job opportunities for them in the careers that theywant to pursue.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University