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Querida mamá - Stigmatization and Vulnerability of Single Mothers in the Guatemalan Countryside

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Author

  • Jonna Andersson

Summary, in English

Based on individual interviews with six single mothers in the Guatemalan countryside this thesis describes the stigmatization and vulnerability of women who depart from the norm of a society ruled by men. Guatemala is an underdeveloped and violent country, where both men and women are exposed. The vulnerability of women, however, is in many cases huge since the culture of machismo and male superiority is very dominant within the country. To become a mother in this kind of society, without living together with a man, is a departure from the norm leading to stigmatization and exclusion. The aim of this thesis is to create a bigger understanding for the women ending up in stigmatization, describing their situation as they understand it. By using qualitative interviews and a balance between closeness and distance in the study, the thesis focuses on the standpoint of the mothers. The thesis describes a tough reality facing single mothers breaking the norm in the Guatemalan society. By showing that they are able to live without a man the mothers at the same time question the norm and slowly break their own stigma, showing that female independency is possible.

Department/s

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Bachelor's degree

Topic

  • Social Sciences

Keywords

  • Guatemala
  • single mothers
  • machismo
  • stigmatization

Supervisor

  • Katarina Sjöberg (associate professor)