The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya
The globalised media tend to influence the content of local and regional media. This study sought to find the nature of mediated mothering discourse in Kenya and the extent to which it promoted the hegemony of intense mothering discourse; vis-a-vis indigenous mothering discourses such as co-motherin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Johannesburg
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Communicare |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1438 |
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| author | Gladys Muasya |
| author_facet | Gladys Muasya |
| author_sort | Gladys Muasya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The globalised media tend to influence the content of local and regional media. This study sought to find the nature of mediated mothering discourse in Kenya and the extent to which it promoted the hegemony of intense mothering discourse; vis-a-vis indigenous mothering discourses such as co-mothering found among the collectivistic cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. Most workingclass mothers employ caregivers – house helps to mind their children. A total of 71 stories from 2009 to 2022 related to mothering were collected from two leading newspapers in Kenya – Daily Nation and The Standard – which feature lifestyle issues. These stories were analysed using inductive coding and constant comparison to identify categories. Findings show that most of the discourses were the extent to which mothers were allowed to pursue personal ambitions in relation to the needs of their children (have-it-all), the level of delegation of core mother duties to the house helps, and the quality of caregiving that was associated with good mothers. There was no consensus on the level of delegation permitted as both extremes were highly criticised. Mothers were not yet ready to co-mother with the house helps – showing the hegemony of mediated intense mothering discourse.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b86c6ffed1484e10ae08564cc20118d6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0259-0069 2957-7950 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communicare |
| spelling | doaj-art-b86c6ffed1484e10ae08564cc20118d62025-01-20T08:42:43ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502023-07-0142110.36615/jcsa.v42i1.1438The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in KenyaGladys Muasya0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4062-8356a:1:{s:5:"en_US";s:21:"St. Paul's University";}The globalised media tend to influence the content of local and regional media. This study sought to find the nature of mediated mothering discourse in Kenya and the extent to which it promoted the hegemony of intense mothering discourse; vis-a-vis indigenous mothering discourses such as co-mothering found among the collectivistic cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. Most workingclass mothers employ caregivers – house helps to mind their children. A total of 71 stories from 2009 to 2022 related to mothering were collected from two leading newspapers in Kenya – Daily Nation and The Standard – which feature lifestyle issues. These stories were analysed using inductive coding and constant comparison to identify categories. Findings show that most of the discourses were the extent to which mothers were allowed to pursue personal ambitions in relation to the needs of their children (have-it-all), the level of delegation of core mother duties to the house helps, and the quality of caregiving that was associated with good mothers. There was no consensus on the level of delegation permitted as both extremes were highly criticised. Mothers were not yet ready to co-mother with the house helps – showing the hegemony of mediated intense mothering discourse. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1438co-motheringdomestic workersintense motheringmediated discourse analysisnegotiating motherhood |
| spellingShingle | Gladys Muasya The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya Communicare co-mothering domestic workers intense mothering mediated discourse analysis negotiating motherhood |
| title | The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya |
| title_full | The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya |
| title_fullStr | The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya |
| title_short | The conundrum of motherhood: house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in Kenya |
| title_sort | conundrum of motherhood house helps and the mediated motherhood discourses in kenya |
| topic | co-mothering domestic workers intense mothering mediated discourse analysis negotiating motherhood |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1438 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gladysmuasya theconundrumofmotherhoodhousehelpsandthemediatedmotherhooddiscoursesinkenya AT gladysmuasya conundrumofmotherhoodhousehelpsandthemediatedmotherhooddiscoursesinkenya |