Women defined?: accounts of social constructions of relationships, mothering and survival on the domestic purposes benefit

Abstract

I invite you to journey with me on an exploration of social constructions of mothering, relationships, and living on the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB). The story behind this thesis is my own and follows Catherine Hall's feminist injunction "that you should always Start with yourself and what you know and experience"(Hall, 1992:16). The writing of this thesis has been informed by standpoint theory and my reflexive position as a feminist social worker. Consequently I begin in Chapter One by sharing my story, and the story of my mother, and how the Department of Social Welfare attempted to construct my mother's identity as a beneficiary on the DPB. I then move on to discuss the philosophy which underpins the methodology, process, and presentation associated with producing this thesis, so as to provide a suitable context within which to introduce the four women who have informed this work - Jemma, Anna, Maree, and Arianne. The body of this work is organised according to different, but inter-related, themes. Chapter Two explores social constructions of relationships and marital transitions under patriarchy. It discusses the institution of marriage following the industrial revolution, and the separation between the public and the private spheres. Dominant ideologies of social contract, the sexual contract, individualism, and the reproduction of patriarchal power are also explored and discussed in terms of how these ideologies, and institutions, attempt to construct the position of women. I draw on the work of Foucault and discuss the work of a number of theorists who deconstruct dominant discourses and provide counter-narratives. The women who inform this research share their stories of resisting and accommodating institutions, and associated ideologies, of marriage, wifehood, and individualism.