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Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613983812354048 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Corleis, Viktoria |
| author2 | Lesch, Elmien |
| author_browse | Corleis, Viktoria Lesch, Elmien |
| author_facet | Lesch, Elmien Corleis, Viktoria |
| author_sort | Corleis, Viktoria |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135701 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:44:49.127Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135701 Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers Corleis, Viktoria Lesch, Elmien Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Corleis, V. 2026. Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/a1e1b3d3-23dd-4ace-b465-711ea13c9296 As parents are regarded as pivotal gender socialisation agents, family relationships can be viewed as gender constructions sites at which gender-inequitable norms can become reproduced or contested. While the gendered dynamics of father-daughter relationships rarely present the focus of extant literature, international research suggests that fathers uniquely influence their daughters’ gender socialisation. Additionally, international research found that fathers engaging in constructive and/or nurturing fathering practices can enhance their daughters’ development. Thus, egalitarian and positively involved fathers may bear particular potential to enhance their daughters’ empowerment. Promoting women’s empowerment locally is important as gender inequalities, underpinned by limiting patriarchal gender ideas, persist. Thus, it is important to investigate how fathers may promote or constrain gender transformation. Relatedly, research indicates that fatherhood and masculinity constructions are changing globally, partially signifying fathers’ increased uptake of nurturing fathering practices and gender-egalitarian ideas. Nevertheless, these shifts appear to be marked by complex contestation and continuity of traditional gender norms. Additionally, research suggests that tertiary-educated men, compared to less educated men, may be more likely to endorse gender-egalitarian views. Yet, we know little about the uptake of such views in this sub-group of fathers in South Africa and how they engage in the parenting of daughters. To address this gap, this study explored gender constructions in the fathering accounts of young adult daughters parented by tertiary-educated fathers. More specifically, an overarching social constructionist-informed gender lens was used to investigate (i) how daughters perceived and experienced their fathers and fathers’ parenting; and (ii), if and how daughters’ own gender constructions were negotiated in relation to their fathers’. To this end, qualitative research methodology was employed, informed by feminist social constructionism, supplemented by feminist and hybrid masculinity theories. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with women, aged 20 to 24, who had tertiary-educated father figures. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and generated three themes. The first theme foregrounds daughters’ critique of traditional gender- and fatherhood roles. The second theme foregrounds that daughters appreciated their fathers’ instrumental support but retrospectively wished for more attentiveness and emotional availability from fathers, as such emotional engagements, or the lack thereof, featured in how close daughters felt to their fathers. The final theme elucidates daughters’ tensions between paternal authority, their own autonomy, and fathers’ simultaneous endorsement of modern and traditional gender ideas. Collectively, this study’s findings indicate that daughters perceived their fathers as adhering to traditional fatherhood norms, whilst simultaneously contesting traditional fatherhood and gender norms across diverse spheres, thereby pointing towards hybrid masculinities. These findings suggest that challenging traditional gender and fathering norms could foster gender egalitarianism in the domestic sphere, father-daughter closeness, and daughters’ agency. Thus, how such traditional norms can be dismantled should be a continued focus in research and gender transformation efforts. Moreover, participants seemed to construct their own gender ideas as more gender-equitable than those of their fathers, signifying generational change. If and how generational shifts in gender attitudes and practices manifest and could be encouraged within the larger South African population requires further examination. Masters 2026-04-08T08:45:13Z 2026-04-08T08:45:13Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135701 en Stellenbosch University 208 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Corleis, Viktoria Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title | Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title_full | Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title_fullStr | Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title_short | Reproducing or Resisting Gender Norms? Daughters’ Constructions of Fathering by Tertiary-Educated Fathers |
| title_sort | reproducing or resisting gender norms daughters constructions of fathering by tertiary educated fathers |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135701 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT corleisviktoria reproducingorresistinggendernormsdaughtersconstructionsoffatheringbytertiaryeducatedfathers |