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Indo-Caribbean Women Challenging Motherhood through Migration for Reproductive Health
Mon, August 12, 10:30 to 11:30am, Sheraton New York, Floor: Second Floor, Empire Ballroom EastAbstract
People often migrate to specific locations through the influence of social networks. Women particularly rely on their social networks for resources, information, and assistance with travel. As I undertake a project to understand why Indo-Caribbean women travel to Queens, NY for reproductive health care services, social network ties guide women to this site. Social networks play two roles: (1) transferring valuable information of reproductive services available in New York and (2) challenging patriarchal norms around motherhood that is present in their home countries. While much international migrant literature on social networks focus on social ties for economic opportunities, little research is shown how these networks serve to challenge norms and provide resources, such as health opportunities to overcome traditions within home countries. I ask: How do social networks challenge patriarchal norms of motherhood in home countries around the discourse of reproductive rights? Indo-Caribbean women are expected to uphold Indian morality of being a mother (Choudhry 2001; Kallivayalil 2004). Cultural values and expectations of being “virtuous” women and “obedient” women to their husbands (Mohammad 2013; Naidu 2009) affect their choices within their home country. Participants discuss how social networks enabled them to challenge their gender identities and gain more agency through their reproductive travel to Queens, NY. This paper aims to how the motherhood ideology is challenged and in turn producing sites of reproduction in Queens NY. For many women in my study, accessing reproductive health care in NY is their way for challenging these gender norms. My method entails semi-structured interviews with Indo-Caribbean women in a global community, Queens.