The body is difficult’

Reproductive navigation through sociality and corporeality in rural Burundi

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15099043
AutoresJ Schwarz (0000-0002-0992-3165, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, autor de correspondencia), Sonja Merten (0000-0003-4115-106X, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute)
Año2023
Volumen25
Número1
Páginas78-93
Fecha de publicación2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2021.2020904
PMID35068349
OpenAlexW4207047384
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas19

The route from family planning intentions to practices is not linear, it is contingent on different social factors including the preferences of individuals and couples, their gendered positions and bargaining power, the wider political, economic and social context, and also physical and bodily circumstances. We used qualitative data collected in rural Burundi between 2013 and 2016 to explore how these diverse factors influence reproductive navigation in a context framed by uncertainty and changing social norms. We describe representations of bodily (pre)dispositions for fertility and reproduction, such as the 'natural' capacity for birth spacing or the bodily capacity to use 'natural' (having a regular cycle) and 'modern' methods (not having negative side effects) that contribute collectively to an understanding of 'the body is difficult'. We found that despite these bodily constraints, women enact embodied agency to ensure livelihoods and social status, thus framing their reproductive intentions and practices. In the context of Burundi where corporeality is key to gendered social belonging, family planning programmes fail to respond to the needs and concerns of women and their embodied reproductive experiences

Agency (philosophy · Context (archaeology · Embodied cognition · Framing (construction · Geography · Livelihood · Social science · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Gender Studies · Global Maternal and Child Health · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Psychology