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The management of the University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni, where I work as a full-time lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. They generously granted me leave days in the three years of study to attend PhD cohorts and conferences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Introduction

Patriarchal Context of Swazi Society

The family unit, as observed by Robinson and Richardson (1993), is central to the reproduction of patriarchal relations and the subordination of women. In other words, a man marries his wife for the family, which assumes that women's interests are subsumed and protected within the larger community.

Rationale and Objectives for the Study

What are the socio-cultural religious constructions of Swazi society about the personality of women based on their fertility. Why do Swazi women relate to these religious socio-cultural constructions of personhood in the way they do.

Research Approach: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations

The following chapters present the results and analysis of the data produced in the study. The focus of the chapter was to explore societal perceptions of women's fertility in Swaziland.

Data Strategies

Conclusion

These sections are explained in detail in chapter three and also in each chapter on the findings of the study. The next chapter discusses previous studies related to the study while also demonstrating the gap that the study sought to fill within the existing literature.

Chapter Outline

In this introductory chapter, I have provided an overview of the academic research that has examined the relationship between Swazi women's fertility and their personality. Before we review the related literature, it is important to present an overview of the chapter outline as shown below.

Literature Review

Gender, Power and the Law in Swaziland
Gender, Power and the Family
Socio-Cultural and Religious Beliefs and Practices Regarding Fertility
Gender, Power and Leadership
Gender, Power and Violence
Conclusion

The critical question that guided the research, together with the sub-questions and the objectives that the questions sought to achieve, were outlined. Furthermore, there were sections highlighting the theoretical approaches that underpinned the research, as well as the methodological approaches used during data generation.

Theories

Feminist Theories

For radical feminists, the family institution is identified as the primary source of women's oppression in society. Most radical feminists, in their interpretations of the basis of patriarchy, agree that it involves the appropriation of women's bodies and sexuality; they argue that men control women's roles in reproduction and child rearing (Giddens, 2005, p.115). She disputes the identification of the man with divinity, while she finds that the so-called female role models in the Bible carry out the glorification of the male sector (Daly 1973:45).

Therefore, this study of the relationship between fertility and the construction of women's identities and personhood draws in part from each of the pathways. Cultural feminists also argue that women's power lies within their biological essentialisms, reproduction being one of them.

African Feminist Theories

Oduyoye (2001, p. 31) names two “partners in crime” – African traditional anthropology and Christian traditional anthropology – as largely responsible for the subordinate status of women. It is not individualistic like other anthropological models, such as the traditional dualistic model and the single nature model, which emphasize the role of women as biological and spiritual motherhood, among other things, reducing women to only bearing and nurturing children. Based on this feminist approach, my study sought to go beyond what previous research on women in Swaziland has already found, which includes the minority status of women in various sub-systems in society, humiliating socio-cultural and religious practices, and overt and covert sanctions.

As has been repeatedly asserted, the main concern of African feminist theology is patriarchy which has denied or diminished women's full dignity (Rakoczy 2004). Women's fertility is therefore controlled by men, who make the women themselves believe their status in their marital families.

Social Learning Theory

The Ethno-philosophical Paradigm

In Matolino's words, this means that "the individual is under strict metaphysical command to be in ontological relations with her environment so that she can come to realize her personality" (Matolino 2014, p.46). As suggested above, within a communitarian view, personhood is portrayed in terms of the primacy of social reality in the individual's sense of self (Tempels 1959). However, the individual cannot learn ethics and appreciate it except by being taught by other members of the community (Mbiti 1970).

This, then, makes the individual indebted to those who came before her and her contemporaries, because these people have been the custodians of the cultural assets she now uses to develop into a fully functional person (Matolino, 2014, p. 53). Radical theorists, in particular Mbiti, do show the duality of equals between community and individual in the construction of identities, but they seem to prioritize the reality of the community over that of the individual (Matolino 2014).

The Sociological Paradigm

Other social identity theorists (Tajfel 1981, Tajfel and Jonathan 1979) have argued that an individual is linked to the social world through a perception of the self-composed different social identities. Identity theory is concerned with the formation of "me" while exploring ways in which interpersonal interactions shape an individual sense of self (Hitlin, 2003, p.119). Expressing similar sentiments, Stets and Burke (2000) have pointed out that in identity theory, the core of an identity is the categorization of the self as an inhabitant of a role, and the incorporation into the self of the meanings and expectations associated with that role . and it is.

The connection between the two theories is further illustrated by Hogg et al. 1987) in Stets and Burke (2000), where they speak of de-personalization as the central cognitive process in social identity and self-verification in identity theory. Sharing similar sentiments, Thoits (1986) concludes that the core of an identity is the categorization of the self as an inhabitant of a role, and.

Conclusion

Feminist Research Methodologies

Study Research Design

Data production procedures

Location of the Interviews and Focus Group Discussion

Sampling Approaches

Data Analysis Procedures

Reflexivity

Ethical Considerations

Conclusion

Constructions of Social Roles of Swazi Women and Men in Relation to Fertility

Introduction

Findings

Four Key Narratives
Gender Roles in the Swazi Society
The Significance of Children in the Family
Gender Preferences of Children
Challenges of a Childless Couple

Analysis of the Findings

Family as an Institutional Location
Gender Roles Viewed in Binaries
The Value of Motherhood
The Woman‟s Compulsory Attachment to the Father Figure

Conclusion

Distribution of Demographic Data

The six tables (Tables and 6) below show a distribution of the demographic characteristics of the participants based on age, number of children, gender of children, education, marital status and location. As shown in the tables, the participants in the study were between 20 and 70 years old. The number of children they had was between 1 and 6, and most of their children were of mixed gender.

A large number of the participants had tertiary education, while a large number were married. Distribution of participants by gender of their children and their pseudonyms Gender of children No.

Table 3. Distribution of participants by sex of their children and their pseudonyms Sex of children No

Excerpts from Life Stories

My husband called a family meeting and begged my father-in-law to call me back. However, when I gave birth to a girl again, there was no excitement at all because my father-in-law had made it clear that this time it had to be a boy. Fortunately, it didn't take long before I gave birth to a baby boy and I felt complete, safe and secure in my marriage.

After five years of agony and emptiness, I became a full woman by giving birth to a daughter. In the twenty-five years of my marriage, I have never forgiven myself for my husband's failure.

Children Secure Women‟s Worth

When he came to pick me up from the hospital, he asked the nurses the gender of the child. That's why you are called Nabo bani - mother of so-and-so - normally you are named after the first born son. A single mother of five FL participant in one of the FGDs shared the pain of denial and rejection by one's family and other social agencies if one gives birth to a child out of wedlock.

The child she bore out of wedlock cannot be accepted into her marital home; s/he is called with derogatory names like „ulikati lesiganga lelicedza imphuphu‟- he/she is a wild cat who undeservedly eats food of rightful members of the family. In particular, participants FB, FG, FK and FQ noted that it was rather giving birth to at least one male child that would ensure continuity of the surname; therefore they prefer either only male children or mixed genders.

Women‟s Infertility and their Self-Worth

The child must "enter" the women's womb because it is assumed that she is the one who is infertile). It was clear from the discussions that the woman's inability to bear children and society's reactions to her predicament have a negative impact on her esteem, making her feel useless and incomplete. Several of the participants referred to the story of Hannah in the Bible, which the priests usually quote to convince the women that it is God who opens and closes the womb.

Sebaphela labomake ngunaba bafundisi mbumbulu, ngesizatfu sekutsi bafuna nabo kutivela babantfu, bemukeleke emindenini yabo (Childless women have lost a lot of money to deceitful pastors who take advantage of their situation and exploit them. The main goal of the women is to be 'complete'. women, and be accepted into their marital families). In the event that the woman's seed failed to germinate, the two families would agree to give it to the man inhlanti (co-wife), preferably a young close relative who would bear children on behalf of the barren woman.

Analysis of the Findings

In the next section I will theorize women's own perceptions of their own personality based on their fertility. African feminist scholars have shown researched links between humiliating rituals and women's dignity (Donkor 2008; Ngcobo 2007; Oduyoye 1999; Martey 1998). It is not only rituals and language that deplete a woman's self-esteem, but also taboos.

Men usually take advantage of this woman's fault and accuse them of being each other's enemies. The "bride wealth" that pays for women's fertility also accrues to the wealth and status of the family because culturally, the number of cattle accumulated by the head of the family reflects the social status and wealth of the farm.

Conclusion

Introduction

Socio-Cultural and Religious Context of the Swazi

Data Presentation

Analysis of the findings

Conclusion

Introduction

Data presentation

Summary tables on responses

Analysis of the findings

Conclusion

Introduction