Resilience of Gendered Spheres in Translational Migration: A Comparison of Two Cultures

Sheba George's ethnographic study used participant-observation methods, purposive sampling, and an insider's transnational journey to examine changes in family and social roles that result when nurses from Kerala, India, immigrate to the United States ahead of their husbands. The author concludes that the economic and political gain immigration affords nurses does not translate into enhanced social status for their family in India nor for their husbands in the U.S. when they undergo a gender role transferal from primary breadwinner to homemaker whilst their wives pursue their nursing careers. In a key observation, the author emphasizes that this role transferal also caused shifts in gender structure within the U.S. Kerali community. The purpose of this paper is to offer a review of George's examination of resilience of patriarchal cultural mores and gender roles of Kerali "nurse husbands" in the U.S. and to cross-culturally compare their resilience to that of Puerto Rican men who were born and raised in Puerto Rico before migrating to the US mainland. This comparison is born of George's experience as a first-generation Kerali American and that of this reviewer as a first-generation Puerto Rican American. Key Words: Participant Observation, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Transnational Migration, Patriarchal Cultural Mores Sheba George's (2005) introduction to her book, When Women Come First: Gender and Class in Transnational Migration, provides important background information; wherein she sets the stage for an understanding of the paucity of published reports on women population groups immigrating to the United States before their families. Not likely due to a lack of scholarly interest, this scarcity may be largely due to the fact that historically it has been unusual for women to immigrate to the U.S. first. Irish women were among the first women to immigrate to the U.S. without men; escaping the Irish potato famine of the 19th century and seeking job opportunities in the growing U.S. service sector of the time (Diner, 1983; Jackson, 1984). A more recent example is the immigration of Latinas in the late 20th century that continues today; forced to seek job opportunities to escape poverty in their native countries and taking advantage of a growing demand for domestic workers (Repak, 1995). Importantly, George notes that within reported studies there is little information on gender role transference that may occur when women immigrate first; that is, there is little information about changes in the family and social roles of women and men and how these changes may affect their way of life at home, at work, and within their communities. To fill this gap in our knowledge, George (2005) examined changes in family and social roles that resulted when nurses from Kerala, India, immigrated to the U.S. ahead of their husbands and/or families. She aptly employed R. W. Connel's (1987) theoretical concept of gendered regimes as a framework for examining gender structures in the context of the transnational migration of Kerali women. She also elaborates on the relationship between these gendered regimes or "gendered spheres as I call them" (p. 24) that may be in harmony or in conflict with each other in three domains: work, home and community. When Women Come First: Gender and Class in Transnational Migration is a very engaging, readable and important book that is derived from George's Ph.D. dissertation at the University of California at Berkeley and fueled by her personal experience as the daughter of an immigrant nurse from Kerala. Her focus on gender role transference in transnational migration adds a needed chapter that enhances our understanding of, for example, the impact on husbands and children when women immigrate before them. It should be noted that Kerala is a highly literate region of southern India where Dr. George was born. Central to her observations and discussion of gender role transference and class status is the use of a transnational lens in the context of the Keralite Syrian Christian Church, the most important social institution in the Keralite communities in India and the U. …