Negotiating Gender and Kinship within Multicultural Families in Non-Highly Urbanised Areas of South Korea

Abstract

This study examines the lives of marriage migrants, primarily coming from the Philippines to non-highly urbanised areas (i.e., “rural” areas) of South Korea. It looks at how these women negotiate gender norms and expectations in these multicultural families within the context of state-led multiculturalism. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Filipino marriage migrants were conducted from August to September 2023 in selected areas of Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province) and Jeollabuk-do (North Jeolla Province). Based on the data gathered, it was found that these women have navigated gendered cultural expectations in the Korean household, thus reproducing gendered norms within the traditional Korean family and playing a significant role in keeping the family intact. However, there are also instances where these gendered expectations were subverted within these families. This study would like to interrogate whether these women are able to re-imagine a different kind of “womanhood” away from traditional family norms, thus challenging existing models of how marriage migrants are expected to perform in the context of what I call “performative multiculturalism” in ethnonationalist states such as South Korea and Japan.