Kitchen Cultures in Taiwan’s Immigrant Families

• In Event: 324 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. RGC, Immigration, and Integration

Abstract

Reassessing kitchen culture and the role it plays in changing or continuing gender equality/inequality in the family dynamic, this study analyzes the determining roles of women in the cooking of traditional food. Women act as powerful agents in the management and construction of their family’s taste, but this role may falsely justify the hegemonic structure by which gender and ethnic relations are usurped. Through an ethnographic exploration this paper seeks to determine the importance of ethnicity in shaping gender roles in immigrant kitchens and whether culinary tradition is led by the taste of female producers or male consumers. This exploration shines light on the tacit practice of ethnic and gender equality/inequality in everyday life and attempts an explanation of why the preservation of culinary tradition is claimed for the sake of identity representation. By comparing couples with cross-boundary matrimonial bonds—Mainlander husband with a Taiwanese wife and Taiwanese husband with a foreign bride—this study not only examines gender and ethnicity complexities in a transnational society, but also pinpoints the problems inherent in the current policy of multiculturalism, which offers a limiting and inflexible solution to a discussion of gender roles with ethnic diversities.

Author

• Hui-tun Chuang, Chang Jung Christian University