“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India

Women have a uniquely gendered experience with worker migration from Kerala, South India to the Gulf, a phenomenon which touches virtually every household in this state. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kerala, this article examines the intersections of gender and migration; I argue that migrati...

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Autor principal:	Kathryn Gerry
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Dalhousie University Libraries 2021
Materias:	migration south india gender roles women's empowerment Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2806182e2f634467b723b9bae0d40472
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2806182e2f634467b723b9bae0d404722021-11-29T13:45:48Z“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India2369-872110.15273/jue.v11i3.11242https://doaj.org/article/2806182e2f634467b723b9bae0d404722021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://ojs.library.dal.ca/JUE/article/view/11242https://doaj.org/toc/2369-8721Women have a uniquely gendered experience with worker migration from Kerala, South India to the Gulf, a phenomenon which touches virtually every household in this state. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kerala, this article examines the intersections of gender and migration; I argue that migration fuels significant social change in terms of gender expectations and the role of women as economic agents. My fieldwork reveals that women work abroad due to personal circumstances and to conform to local ideas about modernity. Migrants’ wives also experience increased autonomy in their daily lives. These two categories of women, migrant women and the wives of male migrants, are attuned to others’ perceptions of their roles vis-à-vis migration. Despite occasional negative feedback, women report that they are empowered by worker migration. This project builds on scholarship examining the status of women in Kerala (Eapen and Kodoth 2003), the experiences of migrant spouses (Osella 2016), and female Christian nurses’ Gulf migration (Percot 2006). I extend this work by analyzing the personal narratives of individual women who work in the Gulf, head their own households in Kerala, and experience stigmatization because of emigration. Finally, I explored the broader implications of migration for the lifestyles and aspirations of women in Kerala.Kathryn GerryDalhousie University Librariesarticlemigrationsouth indiagender roleswomen's empowermentEthnology. Social and cultural anthropologyGN301-674ENThe Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography, Vol 11, Iss 3, Pp 36-53 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	migration south india gender roles women's empowerment Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674
spellingShingle	migration south india gender roles women's empowerment Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674 Kathryn Gerry “We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
description	Women have a uniquely gendered experience with worker migration from Kerala, South India to the Gulf, a phenomenon which touches virtually every household in this state. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kerala, this article examines the intersections of gender and migration; I argue that migration fuels significant social change in terms of gender expectations and the role of women as economic agents. My fieldwork reveals that women work abroad due to personal circumstances and to conform to local ideas about modernity. Migrants’ wives also experience increased autonomy in their daily lives. These two categories of women, migrant women and the wives of male migrants, are attuned to others’ perceptions of their roles vis-à-vis migration. Despite occasional negative feedback, women report that they are empowered by worker migration. This project builds on scholarship examining the status of women in Kerala (Eapen and Kodoth 2003), the experiences of migrant spouses (Osella 2016), and female Christian nurses’ Gulf migration (Percot 2006). I extend this work by analyzing the personal narratives of individual women who work in the Gulf, head their own households in Kerala, and experience stigmatization because of emigration. Finally, I explored the broader implications of migration for the lifestyles and aspirations of women in Kerala.
format	article
author	Kathryn Gerry
author_facet	Kathryn Gerry
author_sort	Kathryn Gerry
title	“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
title_short	“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
title_full	“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
title_fullStr	“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
title_full_unstemmed	“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India
title_sort	“we become capable of handling everything”: gender and gulf migration in kerala, south india
publisher	Dalhousie University Libraries
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2806182e2f634467b723b9bae0d40472
work_keys_str_mv	AT kathryngerry webecomecapableofhandlingeverythinggenderandgulfmigrationinkeralasouthindia
_version_	1718407333116116992

“We Become Capable of Handling Everything”: Gender and Gulf Migration in Kerala, South India

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