Gender and Waithood

As originally defined by political scientist Diane Singerman, “waithood” refers to the situation of youth, particularly young men, in parts of the global South who are unable to achieve the transition to full adulthood due to economic precarity and subsequent barriers to marriage. As a result, they remain in a liminal space where they are considered neither children nor adults. Increasingly, however, the marital delays associated with waithood may involve a significant measure of social and individual choice, especially in societies where women are entering higher education in record numbers and looking for equal partners in marriage and childbearing. Four major aspects of waithood must thus be considered: involuntary versus voluntary waithood; youth agency amid waithood; gendered aspects of waithood; and waithood's effects on reproduction, including the global rise in fertility preservation through egg freezing.