Fighting against erasure: the case of the black, childfree and professional woman in South Africa

Abstract

Previous studies have reflected on childfreeness as a growing reproductive choice. What has been lacking in literature is an understanding of childfreeness in Africa in general and among black childfree professional women (BCPW) in particular. This research examined the erasure and lived-experiences of black childfree professional women in South Africa. It also problematised the conflation of woman with mother, and the extent to which such conflation embeds pronatalist cultural imperatives of femininity as well as traditional gender roles. This study investigated the lived-experiences of seven (7) childfree women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and these were analysed using thematic analysis. The women’s upbringing, values, beliefs, and internal locus of control emerged as cornerstones in their decision to reject motherhood and embrace childfreeness. Their resilience anchored this choice and their resistance enabled them to withstand the negative consequence of childfreeness within a culture that valorises motherhood. Their experiences of social exclusion and ‘Othering’ supported findings of other studies. However, a pointed experience of demonization by black mothers in particular was a key and unique discovery. The findings present childfreeness as agentic decision-making - an activist and feminist stance that challenges as well as broadens the concepts of womanhood, diversity and reproductive freedom. In totality, the study offers new understanding of BCPW and suggests that this unconventional yet legitimate reproductive choice may advance the decoupling of motherhood from feminine identity in ways that are liberatory for all women. The social acceptance of childfreeness as an expression of one of the many diverse feminine experiences accessible to all women, could augur well for the ultimate achievement of reproductive justice