Gender, motherhood, and parenting in Africa.

Abstract

Motherhood experience within African families is influenced by multiple layers of intersecting factors such as race, gender and class, political changes, socioeconomic and geographical mobility. Motherhood expectations and practice have become complex, discursive, and paradoxical. The chapter affirms the parallel coexistence but further unveils contradictions and conflicts between “traditional” and “modern” values within mothering normative expectations as well as between the normative expectations and practice. Mothering practice involves providing or co-providing, therefore the workplace is deemed an important aspect of mothering given that it determines the availability of the mother to perform her mothering role. The change has been influenced by especially the improvement of women’s status mainly due to the improving levels of education and improved employment mobility of mothers. The chapter further shows incongruences between the family and workplace domains that have resulted in work-family conflict. The chapter illustrates the shift in mothering networks-of-care based on the declining kinship bonds over the years due to increased“geographical mobility.”Paid domestic workers have gained greater prominence within this network. However, even with the considerable change, traditional normative expectations and beliefs continue to shape the cultural thinking on motherhood.