Gender can have different effects on family life based on factors such as cultural expectations for men and women and the socio-economic need of the family. In the case of transnational families, the family’s experiences have completely shifted the gender norms of their home culture. Women have had immense roles in transnational families and almost become heads of the family.
In the Honduran transnational families article, the author describes the experiences of transnational families and how the typical familial structures have changed. Historically, the men in the family are typically found in the formal labor market and earning more money to either support himself and the family, whereas women are able to find work in an informal market …show more content…
The women in the family are put through rigorous work so they may have a successful future in the new country, a future the mothers of the family were not able to achieve. On the other hand, the boys of the family were left alone to do what they pleased. The first-generation Dominican women that entered the United States dominated the number of men. Women had begun to enter the work force and become the head of the households. The second-generation daughters that grow up partly in the Dominican Republic and partly in the United States had increasingly high expectations put upon them. As a young girl in the author’s studies mentions about the differences between Dominican and American families, “For Dominican girls, by the age of twelve, you know how to cook, clean, and wash by hand… It seems to me that in a [white] American home, a typical one, the mother does everything, while the daughter is out shopping at the mall after school” (López, 2004, pg. 181). These transnational daughters had emotions of guilt because of their mother who had risked much and intense work ethic to raise their family and the daughter view academic success as a way to bring esteem to their own mothers. The men in the Dominican households were completely liberated from any chores or babysitting within the household. Even though they believed both the mother and father should bring home an income for the family, the mother was still expected to manage the household. Therefore, only the sisters were taught domestic chores and
In the Honduran transnational families article, the author describes the experiences of transnational families and how the typical familial structures have changed. Historically, the men in the family are typically found in the formal labor market and earning more money to either support himself and the family, whereas women are able to find work in an informal market …show more content…
The women in the family are put through rigorous work so they may have a successful future in the new country, a future the mothers of the family were not able to achieve. On the other hand, the boys of the family were left alone to do what they pleased. The first-generation Dominican women that entered the United States dominated the number of men. Women had begun to enter the work force and become the head of the households. The second-generation daughters that grow up partly in the Dominican Republic and partly in the United States had increasingly high expectations put upon them. As a young girl in the author’s studies mentions about the differences between Dominican and American families, “For Dominican girls, by the age of twelve, you know how to cook, clean, and wash by hand… It seems to me that in a [white] American home, a typical one, the mother does everything, while the daughter is out shopping at the mall after school” (López, 2004, pg. 181). These transnational daughters had emotions of guilt because of their mother who had risked much and intense work ethic to raise their family and the daughter view academic success as a way to bring esteem to their own mothers. The men in the Dominican households were completely liberated from any chores or babysitting within the household. Even though they believed both the mother and father should bring home an income for the family, the mother was still expected to manage the household. Therefore, only the sisters were taught domestic chores and