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“You have to find a caring man, like your father!” gendering sickle cell and refashioning women's moral boundaries in Sierra Leone

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  • Berghs, M.
  • Dyson, S.M.
  • Gabba, A.
  • Nyandemo, S.E.
  • Roberts, G.
  • Deen, G.

Abstract

Most research on sickle cell disorders has tended to be gender-blind. This qualitative study undertaken in 2018, explores if and how sickle cell disorders become gendered in Sierra Leone through the analytical framework of a feminist ethics of care. It argues that women have to navigate moral blame when they have children with the condition. At the same time women refashion moral boundaries so that gendered norms around childhood and parenting for such children become suspended, in favour of creation of careful spaces. Parental fears of physical and sexual violence mean that gendered sexual norms are enforced for teenage boys as they are encouraged into early adulthood. In contrast, girls are kept in enforced ignorance about the consequences of sickle cell for reproduction and are encouraged to delay motherhood. This is because, as women relate, relationships and giving birth are fraught with embodied dangers and risks of violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Berghs, M. & Dyson, S.M. & Gabba, A. & Nyandemo, S.E. & Roberts, G. & Deen, G., 2020. "“You have to find a caring man, like your father!” gendering sickle cell and refashioning women's moral boundaries in Sierra Leone," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:259:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620303671
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113148
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ola, Bolanle A. & Yates, Scott J. & Dyson, Simon M., 2016. "Living with sickle cell disease and depression in Lagos, Nigeria: A mixed methods study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 27-36.
    2. Atkin, Karl & Berghs, Maria & Dyson, Simon, 2015. "‘Who's the guy in the room?’ Involving fathers in antenatal care screening for sickle cell disorders," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 212-219.
    3. Martyn Hammersley & Anna Traianou, 2014. "An Alternative Ethics? Justice and Care as Guiding Principles for Qualitative Research," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 19(3), pages 104-117, September.
    4. Dyson, Simon Martin & Atkin, Karl & Culley, Lorraine A. & Dyson, Sue E. & Evans, Hala & Rowley, Dave T., 2010. "Disclosure and sickle cell disorder: A mixed methods study of the young person with sickle cell at school," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2036-2044, June.
    5. Ross, Paula Thompson, 2015. "Motivations of women with sickle cell disease for asking their partners to undergo genetic testing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 36-43.
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    Cited by:

    1. Clarice Mota & Leny A. B. Trad & Lisa Dikomitis, 2022. "Sickle Cell Disease in Bahia, Brazil: The Social Production of Health Policies and Institutional Neglect," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, July.

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