The Path to the Soft Life: Exploring the Blesser Phenomenon in South Africa

Sammanfattning: South Africa has one of the highest incidences of HIV in the world and young women are disproportionately affected. Scholars have pointed to the practice of Transactional Sexual Relationships (TSR) as a driving force behind HIV incidences among young women. However, research devoted towards understanding TSR and why women engage in these relationships remains debated. In 2016, the Blesser-phenomena, a type of TSR, surfaced on South African social media, but is yet to receive sufficient and comprehensive scholarly attention. Given the contested findings of TSR and limited research on the Blesser-phenomena, further exploration is fundamental. Blessers are often identified as older and wealthy men who provide financial and material resources to younger women, identified as Blesses, in exchange for sex or companionship. The aim of this thesis is therefore to gain insight as to how women characterize Blesser-relationships and motivate their engagement in them. Thus, contributing with information that may be valuable for policymakers and researchers concerned with the broader HIV-endemic in South Africa. Based on empirical data collected through in-depth interviews with South African women who have first-hand experience of Blesser-relationships, Bourdieu’s Theory of Capital and Social Exchange Theory are used to analyze the motivations and characteristics. Findings suggest that women’s motivations to engage are predominantly rooted in a desire for economic support. Furthermore, an aspiration for a prestigious lifestyle was found to be a central motivation, commonly showcased on social media as a “Soft Life”.