Negotiating identities : a study of chinese young mothers' perspectives in Singapore.

• Main Author: Chua, Jasmine Jie Min.
• Other Authors: Tan Joo Ean
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51639
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper explores the issue of young motherhood and identity negotiation through the perspectives of 10 Singapore Chinese young mothers. Adopting a Foucauldian framework, this research puts forth three main arguments. Firstly, the construction of young motherhood in Singapore employs three main tenets of knowledge operating within discourses of adolescence, sexuality and parenthood. Secondly, Foucault (1990) argues that power cannot be understood without understanding resistance as well. Therefore, this study next looked at how resistance is practiced by Chinese young mothers through counter-discursive negotiations of their identities. Lastly, while the discourses employed by young mothers may promote resistance, they operate within and may serve to perpetuate the overall strategy employed within the macro framework of adolescent sexuality, reproduction and motherhood.