Marriage Migration and Gender Role Attitudes of Husbands in a Receiving Country: Korean Case

• In Event: 3251 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 8. Family Dynamics of Migration

Abstract

For the last several decades, in addition to international mobility caused by men and women who are migrating in order to work, marriage migration has also increased. Unlike labor migration, marriage migration across the globe is predominately undertaken by women and chiefly from less affluent countries to more affluent countries. Reflecting the context in which marriage migration occurs, the majority of literate on marriage migration point to the global patriarchy in which gender inequality facilitates and is reinforced by marriage migration. However, such approach could ignore structural opportunities as well as these women’s agency that could also open up a new cultural understanding regarding gender relations. In this research, we attempt to analyze marriage migration in the context of gender role attitudes of husbands in the receiving country. Using the case of Korea, we analyze gender role attitudes of Korean men married to non-Korean women and compare their attitudes with those of Korean men married to Korean women. Results show that Korean husbands in intermarriage are not more patriarchal than Korean husbands in national marriage and that gender role attitudes of men in intermarriage tend be explained by instrumental and familial factors while those of men in traditional marriage are not explained by either factors. This suggests both challenges and opportunities of gender relations in the era of global marriage migration. Through this analysis, we try to fill a gap in the literature by suggesting implications of marriage migration as a dynamic field in which gender roles are actively negotiated and resisted.

Authors

• Seokyoung Kim, Ewha Womans University

• Minzee Kim, Ewha Womans University