Abstract
Based on participant observation and content analysis of a web-based community of Hong Kong middle-class working mothers, I discuss narratives of ‘si-naihood’ (married motherhood), which have emerged from their online and offline interactions. This web-based space-time provided an unusual window into the multiplicities of motherhood articulation. The study found that although traditional motherhood narratives predominated, alternative narratives, which have emerged through ‘talking-dirty’, banter and teasing throw light on how sexual selves and si-naihood are articulated. While more or less routinely and consciously reproducing traditionally defined ‘si-naihood’, their performance occasionally ‘let slip’ and revealed the arduous yet fragile nature of this identity. Issues emerging from my role as ‘accidental researcher’ as well as the socio-cultural trajectory of the identity of si-nai in 21st-century Hong Kong are also discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 61-77 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Sexualities |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2013 |
Keywords
- Female sexuality
- Hong Kong women
- internet community
- motherhood
- si-nai