Abstract

This article explores young South African women’s constructions of the relationship between love and physical attractiveness. How these discourses are facilitated by an emerging South African consumer culture and the proliferation of mass media images which has accompanied this cultural change will also be discussed. This research took place among South African women between the ages of 18 and 25. Data was collected using focus groups and semistructured interviews and was analysed using discourse analysis. One of the common ideas structuring the young women’s speech in the interviews and focus groups was the importance of physical attractiveness in romantic relationships both as a prerequisite for feelings of sexual desire and for subjective experiences of self-worth.

Highlights

  • This article is based on a study I conducted among young adult South African women that focused de Jong / Love and looks on constructions of love and romantic relationships

  • This study aims to explore how these contextual pressures to be both object and consumer interact with constructions of romantic love and how young women perform their identities within the context of romantic relationships

  • If I believed that certain points could be expanded on more in a more private setting, for example if a participant did not get sufficient time in the focus group to discuss a romantic relationship that seemed important to her the participant was asked to participate in the individual interview

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Summary

Introduction

This article is based on a study I conducted among young adult South African women that focused de Jong / Love and looks on constructions of love and romantic relationships. A social constructionist theoretical framework was used as a basis for this research. I will be focusing here on the discourse Love and looks, the cultural contexts which facilitate this discourse and the experiences which are made possible within it. Data was collected using focus groups and semi-structured interviews and was analysed using discourse analysis. When discussing their experiences, thoughts and feelings relating to romantic relationships the participants often expressed themselves in terms of this discourse.

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