Entering a Narrow Door: Gender Policing American Marriages with Potential Immigrants

• In Event: 519 - Section on Race, Class and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Intersectionality and Inequality in the Life Course

Abstract

Although today Americans report that they marry for love, companionship, and self-fulfillment, conventional expectations for gender performance persist within marriage. The gendered norms governing marriage become most visible when they are contested, and this happens routinely when US citizens attempt to get visas for noncitizen spouses. Using data from a public online forum, I analyzed how norms for a ‘valid’ marriage are established, contested, and evaluated in threads where posters wonder whether their marriages will face government challenges. The standards advanced for marital genuineness are gendered: For women, marriage is imagined as offering children and financial security, but for men, marriage is expected to provide sex and deference.

Author

• Gina Marie Longo, University of Wisconsin-Madison