ABSTRACT
Colonial myths about Africa are characterized by narratives of humanity at its lowest–practices of promiscuity, gynecological aberrations, infanticides, general perversion, and bestiality supposedly all happen alongside cannibalism. This colonial narrative about Africa portrays African womanhood as oversexed, primitive, ugly, and beastly. In the 21st century, however, African female reproductive capacities shifted from being viewed as a benefit to Western societies to being regarded as a burden on the national economy of Western countries. In Australia, the discursive focus of this chapter, young African women from refugee backgrounds are cast within a policy-oriented discourse that portrays them primarily as teenage mothers and social security dependents. The portrayal of aboriginality and blackness as unfit for parenthood has left a lasting legacy on Australian societal institutions. The overarching theme of that legacy is interwoven with the cultural deficit discourse that regards African women as “unfit” to parent.
