Gender role struggles in the perspectives of balinese women workers migrating to japan
Keywords:
Feminism, Migration, Gender roles, Balinese, Women workerAbstract
This study investigates the gender‑role struggles faced by Balinese women who migrate to Japan for work. Although transnational migration offers opportunities for financial independence and self‑actualization, it simultaneously exposes these women to structural constraints derived from Bali’s patrilineal social order and entrenched gender ideologies. Grounded in a qualitative, feminist methodology, the research draws on in‑depth interviews with 34 Balinese women employed in Japan through various migration pathways and analyses the data thematically using critical hermeneutics. The findings show that migration sets up tensions between public and domestic roles. While earning a livelihood abroad is increasingly accepted in Balinese society, the enduring expectation that women shoulder primary household responsibilities generates significant emotional and practical dilemmas. To navigate these tensions, the migrants deploy several strategies, including reallocating domestic tasks to relatives back home, sending remittances as symbolic compensation, and practising digital parenting. These strategies reveal that Balinese women’s migration is not merely an economic endeavour but also a discursive arena in which traditional gender norms are negotiated, reproduced, and contested within the dynamics of global mobility.
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