Baby Showers as Economic Support Networks: An Intersectional Approach, 2022

Abstract

The high rates of migration from rural to urban areas in Botswana exposed many women in urban areas to live under diverse socio-economic conditions away from relatives. Some of the women are part of the statistic of those living in poverty and under diverse economic hardships such as limited income generation opportunities as well as those facing difficulties to maintain better lifestyles. As a result, most women are compelled to form new relations and support networks to buffer their socioeconomic inadequacies. One of their notable buffers is the transformation of baby showers beyond the right of passage into both a social and economic support activity for expectant mothers. Adopting an intersectionality lens, the researchers analyse the views and experiences of several women who participated in a WhatsApp informal group discussion on how women economically support each other and form relations as researchers as well as how gender transects with socio-economic factors to re-construct and maintain gendered practices in society.