Deck 21: Mothering From a Distance: Emotions, Gender, and Intergenerational Relations in Filipino Transnational Families

Question 1

What factors have contributed to the separation of mothers and children in transnational families?

A) Increasing population density in cities create the demand for migrant workers as service laborers, but the cities are not suitable to bring children.
B) Globalization and manufacturing changes create the demand for low-wage service workers, but many countries do not permit children and spouses to enter with the female workers or allow female workers to become pregnant or marry.
C) Filipino cultural customs look down upon children moving towns or countries before a certain age, but cities do not have enough jobs for mothers to work in their hometowns.
D) Market pressures in the Philippines crashed the economy and mothers are forced to find jobs outside of the country, but do not bring their children because of language barriers.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Describe the negative effects of transnational mothering on mothers and their children. What factors continue to drive women into transnational work despite these negative consequences?

Answer 2

Varies. May include the following:
-mothers: pain of not seeing children grow up, helplessness, regret, and guilt
-children: loneliness, vulnerability, and insecurity and struggling to understand mothers' decision
-need for money for their children, lack of jobs back home

Question 3

Which of the following best describes female-headed transnational families?

A) families in which both parents living and working in one country while the children reside with other family members in a different country
B) families in which children 13 and older are sent to work in different countries while mothers reside in the home country working and caring for children
C) heterosexual families whose fathers work and live in one country while mothers and children reside in another
D) families in which the mother works and lives in one country while her children reside in another

Answer 3

D

Question 4

How does transnational mothering in the Philippines differ from the split households of earlier Chinese migrants?

A) The mother is responsible for productive labor.
B) The father is responsible for productive labor.
C) The mother is responsible for reproductive labor.
D) The father is responsible for reproductive labor.

Question 5

Which two cities were chosen for Parreñas study?

A) Los Angeles and Rome
B) Los Angeles and Las Vegas
C) Manila and New York City
D) Manila and San Diego

Question 6

What are the three central conflicts described by Parreñas that plague the relationships between migrant mothers and their children?

Question 7

Although Parreñas' two samples differed in ______, they were similar in ______.

A) level of education; average age, number of children, and low ability to visit children
B) regional origin; average age, salary, and level of education
C) average age; legal residency, level of education, and low ability to visit children
D) age of children; average age, regional origin, and high ability to visit children

Question 8

What is the double mind faced by many Filipina transnational mothers?

A) Filipina women often wish to go home more often, but are unable to because of restrictions on travel.
B) Fathers working abroad make fewer sacrifices but receive more praise.
C) Even when it is legally permitted to bring their children with them, many employers do not allow this.
D) Often employed as domestic workers, these women are tasked with taking care of other people's children when they are unable to take care of their own.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT one of the coping mechanisms used by transnational mothers explained by Parreñas in her study?

A) the avoidance of reminders of home
B) the repression of emotional strains
C) the rationalization of distance
D) the commodification of love