Cellphones and romantic relationships of young women in urban informal settlements in South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15098479 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Gibbs (0000-0003-2812-5377, Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa, corresponding author), Samantha Willan (0000-0001-8629-887X, Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa), Rachel Jewkes (0000-0002-4330-6267, Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1380-1394 |
| Publication date | 2022-10-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13691058.2021.1953609 |
| PMID | 34365901 |
| OpenAlex | W3190262862 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 19 |
Cellphones have impacted on people's intimate sexual relationships. Using the framework of relationship formation, maintenance and ending, we explore how cellphones and attendant social media have impacted on relationships among a group of young women living in urban informal settlements in Durban, South Africa. We conducted in-depth repeat interviews with 15 women enrolled in the Stepping Stones and Creating Futures trial, as well as group discussions and light-touch participant observation. Our data show that cellphones and social media are central to women's sexual relationships and allow women greater control over relationships - particularly their formation. However, cellphones and social media also enable greater control and monitoring by partners. In this study, cellphones were central in establishing (or not) trust in relationships, as well as being gifts, sometimes given by men to demonstrate love, but often becoming a snare for women who then struggled to end relationships because the phones 'remained' the property of the man. We conclude that while cellphones have created new spaces and opportunities for women's agency, overall the wider social and material forces of women's existence were deeply constraining and were the main driver of patterns in women's relationships
Business · Economic growth · Geography · Human settlement · Informal settlements · Participant observation · Political science · Romance · Social media · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology
The impact of media and technology on gender roles in Ghanaian marriages
Opportunities for technologically driven dialogical health communication for participatory interventions
Affordance and ambivalence in South African teenage girls’ digital dating practices
European digital transformation for Roma girls’ health
Zethembe
It’s a 50/50 Thing You Know ”
Domesticating WhatsApp
Young people becoming intimate on social media
Same habitus in new field? How mobile phone communication reproduces masculinities and gender inequality in intimate relationships in Mwanza, Tanzania
Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Intervention to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence Among Young People
A systematic review of literature on cyber intimate partner victimization in adolescent girls and women
Mobile applications addressing violence against women
Exploring young women’s constructions of love and strategies to navigate violent relationships in South African informal settlements
Mobile communication in the global south
A Content Analysis of Personal Safety Apps
Hearing the Right Gaps’
Measuring Sexual Relationship Power in HIV/STD Research
Contexts of the Dark Side of Communication
Breaking up 'because of the phone' and the transformative potential of information in Southern Mozambique
I just need to be flashy on campus
Did young women in South African informal settlements display increased agency after participating in the Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention? A qualitative evaluation
Cruising through uncertainty
| Citations per year | 2.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |