Gender and Migration, Reaction Paper Example

Introduction

Throughout the settlement and migration process, patriarchal relationships go through continued negotiation as men and women restructure their livelihoods in a new country. The change in the relative positions of men and women’s status and power in the settlement country is essential to reconfiguring gender hierarchies. Theoretically, the social status of women may be improved by migration if it causes increased involvement in salary employment, enormous participation in making decisions concerning the family and more earnings control. On the other hand, migration may not change the gender asymmetries even if certain aspects of inequalities in gender are changed. The existing migration literature and varying relations in gender suggest conflicting outcomes. This applies to where the immigrant women’s position is improved in other areas and eroded in others.

The 1882, 1917, 1924 and 1934 legal exclusions including the 1965 liberalization laws have fundamentally shaped the lives of Asian immigrants. Exclusion rules led to a restriction of migration of Asians to America, twisted the ratio of sex of the previous communities to the effect of men being disproportionately represented, and led to the truncation of the development of married families. The Immigration Act of 1965 balanced rights of immigration for all people. Due to lack of constraint by laws of exclusion, immigrants from Asia started migrating to America in large numbers than they did before. While Immigration from Asia before the Second World War was comprised of men mostly, women dominate the current flow. The Immigration laws have led to gender balance among immigrants and increased their labor opportunities by balancing immigration rights.

In response to the limitation in job opportunities, in particular jobs for those who are highly educated, Asians in America have also resorted to self-employment. Compared to the native-born Asians, their counterparts who are immigrants are much more likely to turn into entrepreneurs. Almost half of these male entrepreneurs had finished college. Among the salaried professionals, men are considerably involved in household labor. It is in my view that men in the professional category participate more in household labor than the working class men and men in small-business categories. Even though women still did most of the family labor, the men helped in disposing garbage, washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming. In other racial groups, professional couples also enjoyed more equality in gender. This more impartial division of family labor can be credited to lack a considerable gap in earning between male and female professional, the requirements of the careers of women, and the ability of women to force their husbands to do their family chores’ share.

I believe that given the competitive and labor-intensive nature of the small businesses, the participation of women makes the viability and development of family enterprises possible hence removing them from the sexist and racist labor market and increasing their rate of depending on each other with their husbands. Additionally, increased participation in economic roles by wives and reduced economic roles by husbands seems to manifest itself most in wage laborers. For instance, Dominican families in America have experienced an intense change in allocation of budget. Very few families follow a patriarchal budgetary control pattern, and most of them put together their income. Putting together income within nuclear families leads to women having advantages that were not available to them in their country.

The wages earned by most of Dominican immigrants are below the family-survival level. This means that few married families can cope economically, especially during the early years in America, if they assume the usual pattern of men being sole providers. The fact that Dominican wives and older children work suits the migration ideology of Dominicans. Under the labor market where immigrants from Dominican Republic get fairly low and unstable incomes, many have decided to temporarily get rid of traditional values of the family, which are based on inequality in gender, to more liberal market values in which labor power is represented by adult members of the family.

Conclusion

Constraints in the economy have led to the reconfiguration of gender relations in immigrants. The authority of male immigrants, especially those in the working class, has suffered challenges because of the economic and social losses that they endured in their changeover to the position of color men in America. Enhancing female employment has led to the women being involved more in the labor market hence ensuring that not only men are sole providers among immigrant families but women too play a role in providing for the family. Immigration has led to all family members having equal responsibilities in providing for the family. However, the employability of women has been enhanced over that of men by the recent increase in female-concentrated industries and the sexist and racist liking for the immigrant women’s labor, hence changing the role of women to that of co-providers or even primary providers for their households.