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Journal article

Maid or madam? Filipina migrant workers and the continuity of domestic labor

Date

2003

Authors

P. C. Lan

Abstract

This article examines the complexity of feminized domestic labor in the context of global migration. I view unpaid household labor and paid domestic work not as dichotomous categories but as structural continuities across the public and private spheres. Based on a qualitative study of Filipina migrant domestic workers in Taiwan, I demonstrate how women travel through the maid/madam boundary-housewives in home countries become breadwinners by doing domestic work overseas, and foreign maids turn into foreign brides. While migrant women sell their domestic labor in the market, they remain burdened with gendered responsibilities in their own families. Their simultaneous occupancy of paid and unpaid domestic labor is segmented into distinct spatial settings. l underscore women's agency by presenting how they articulate their paid and unpaid domestic labor and bargain with the monetary and emotional value of their labor. [References: 42]

Journal title

Gender & Society

Volume

17

Links

Economic sectors

Occupations in services - Domestic work and Home child care providers

Target groups

Researchers

Geographical focuses

Philippines and Taiwan

Spheres of activity

Gender and sexuality studies

Languages

English