Women in Comparative Society:

Breadwinner No More

Based on the Chapter of the same name by Michele Gamburd in Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Metropolitan Books

Leaving the Limelight

To fulfill economic needs women have traveled to fill the demand for cheap labor in developed states

-Around 1997, in the Naeaegama area of Sri Lanka, approximately 90% of migrants were women

-Of these women approximately 30% were single, and 70% were married, separated, or divorced

-The 70% who have been in marriages often have kids and require a higher income

Naturally, the women who migrate take long absences from home to work

-This has forced households in underdeveloped countries to adjust without mothers

The gender roles of men in these societies has shifted dramatically without wives present

-Some attempt to fill in these “wifely” duties with other female relatives

-Others take on the unaccustomed role of stay at home father

The Gender Swap and Media

Local media rarely portrays the role change positively

-Men are often deemed as either alcoholics or lazy for failing to bring a sufficient income

-Women are pegged as selfish, promiscuous, and unconcerned with their families’ well being

Cultural Criticisms from non-media outlets also criticize this swap

-An Arab euphemism refers Sri-Lankan as “donkeys” because they fail to provide for their

wives either financially or sexually

-This stereotype is highly destructive to the self-esteem of many Sri-Lankan men

Alcohol and Unemployment

For the many unemployed men, like those in Sri-Lanka, drinking alcohol becomes a common practice

-In part this is done relieve the depression caused by being underworked

Manual labor in underdeveloped countries often carries a negative social stigma

-Showing that one can spend their time idly enjoying alcohol also attempts show social status

Yet women also take partial responsibility in these cultures for their husbands

How has women’s migration from South Asia to the Gulf states affected the Gender Regime of South Asia?

Of the Gulf States?

What aspects of these regimes is it perpetuating? Changing?