Masculinity on the Margins: Boundary Work Among Immobile Fathers in Indonesia’s Transnational Families

Abstract

Abstract Scholars underline the persistence of gender disparities in the household division of labor. However, it remains understudied how working-class men manage family life amid the physical absence of breadwinning women. Drawing on fifty-four in-depth interviews and over 22 months of fieldwork in Indonesia, this article investigates how non-migrant fathers navigate conjugal and paternal responsibilities in families headed by migrant mothers. I argue that the reproduction of mother-away transnational families hinges on a refashioning of male conduct for the accomplishment of immobile fatherhood—a model of parenthood developed by non-migrant fathers to accommodate the migration of mothers. I examine the boundary work that men engage in to affirm their selfhood when confronted with the diminution of labor market prospects. In response to their status anxieties surrounding the mounting autonomy of transnational mothers, immobile fathers craft moral boundaries around a commitment to the family. Furthermore, immobile fathers reconstitute masculinity away from providership toward an assemblage of waged labor, childrearing, financial management, and housework that comprises the hallmarks of working-class femininities. By positioning themselves as “family men” in contradiction to irresponsible men and women, immobile fathers realize self-respect through their maintenance of transnational families.