Original Articles

‘Sick’ with Child

Published in: Anthropology Southern Africa
Volume 33 , issue 1-2 , 2010 , pages: 1–8

DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2010.11499988

Author(s): Nina Botha Department of Anthropology and Archaeology,

Keywords: Afrikaner culture , gender , motherhood , ordentlikheid , socialisation , teenage pregnancy

Abstract

Following a discursive approach, this paper introduces a school intended for sick learners; one that is regarded as an institution that promotes good mothering, and where the attending girls are cured of being ‘sick’ with child. The paper aims to open a window on the socio-economic circumstances, religious ideals and norms amongst some Afrikaans-speaking people. This takes place within a wider framework of shedding light on broader issues in contemporary South Africa. Based on information generated through ethnographic methods, the paper shows how the school in question attempts to perpetuate ideas of a ‘good white’ and a ‘good mother’ as part of a discourse of ordentlikheid. The paper concludes speculative remarks on the appearance of this ordentlikheid discourse in political statements about teenage pregnancy.

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