This week in class we have been
discussing the topic migration. Some things we have covered has been basic
information on migration, flow of gender migration, why people migrate, and
forced migration/ refugees. All of the discussions in class have opened my eyes
to the reality of the world that we live in. The assigned reading Tuesday
October 9th Gender and
International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance was a
very informative read. I knew basic information and migration and factors that
make people migrate.
I learned more about how women are
more likely to be temporary and do less skilled work. They are more likely to
do informal work because majority of these jobs are done by undocumented people
and the skilled work is kept for the men. I learned how gender plays a huge
roles in the flow of migration and why people migrate and how each gender has
different pull and push factos that influence them. One thing that I found informational
from the Globalization, Development, and
Governance article was that there is a rise of transnational families,
including transnational mothering, and the effects on children who are part of
these transnational ties.
I was curious to find out more
about transnational families and transnational mothering and I came across the
article, Transnational Mothering: A
Source of Gender Conflicts in the Family from the University’s library. This
article looks at the migration from the Philippines and emergence of
transnational mothering. Majority of the Filipino migrant workers have been
women, which forces reconstitution of gender relations in the family. Children
of migrant mothers and fathers, migrants themselves, and other family members
were interviewed to get perspectives and experiences from people living within
a transnational family and mothers gender roles. The role of women in the
family has changed, and many men are thought of as incompetent caregivers to
their children because it is supposed to be the “mother’s role”. This article
talks about controverseries such as: whether mothers should be allowed to
migrate without their children, feelings of abandonment from children, and many
more. I found this very interesting because it talks about how mothers were
sending majority of their finances back home, forcing the men to cook, clean, and care for the children. This brought to light how females
working can drastically change the gender dynamics in a home as discussed in class.
This is a very interesting blog post that has taken the components we discussed in class that day and made the ideas clear and concise. I think there is a lot to be said about how depending on your gender, the opportunities for migration and the amount access one would have to make the migration process simpler is drastically different. I think that simply because more women are finding the need to take on the role as "breadwinners" for their family, does not allow men to use the stereotype of women being the primary caregivers, as an excuse to not step up to the role. It is hard enough on the women having to leave their own children behind in effort to financially support them, and then to have to also concern themselves with the idea that the men do not believe it is their job to take care of the children is absurd.
ReplyDelete