Globalization and Its Affect on Families and Gender Roles

Wrap # 11

Globalization and its affect on families and gender roles

The traditional ideology of a family is one where the father goes off to work and the mother takes care of the home, including the cleaning, cooking and care of the children. Some of these traditional blueprints, that so many individuals rely on in their societies, are increasingly challenged, negotiated, and revised. This traditional way of living is still around but it’s becoming a lot less common then one would think, especially in the 3rd world countries.  So why is this? Well,  “thanks to the process we loosely call “globalization,” women are on the move as never before in history” (Ehrenreich & Hochschild, 2002, p.189).  Women from across the globe are travelling to work abroad, typically from the poor countries to rich (Ehrenreich & Hochschild, 2002, p.191).  Most of these women are either nannies, maids and even in some cases sex workers.  These jobs as one could see, are undesirable jobs and in most cases are paid less then the minimum wage.  Making the decision to leave can be one of the hardest decisions one can make, although some make the decision to escape certain duties such as having the pressure to take care of an elder.  Its not just the mothers that are leaving to work, it is also sometimes the father but “a child’s sense of loss appears to be greater when it is the mother who leaves to work abroad” (Parrenas, 2003, p.198). So that being said, what kind of an affect can this have on the families being left? When a mother makes the decision to leave whether it is by choice or by no other choice, it severely affects her children as they become emotionally detached which will often lead these children down a path of drugs, gambling and drinking”(Parrenas, 2003, p.199).  When these mothers come/go to another country, it also has an affect on the families here. For instance, when these migrants come to Canada and work as nannies, this is giving the moms here the ability to work, which is causing the same types of issues for their children, as once again the children are being left. A lot of the moms here don’t have much of a choice either as the cost of living is only getting more expensive. This is making it very difficult especially in Canada to have a single income and be able to survive.  One of the big changes which has led to this is the expansion of the rights for women, although this is a great change as the man and women should be equally the same in as many aspects as possible, this has led women to achieve the things they want to and pursue careers as they wish, meaning less time for families and motherly duties. As traditional as “the typical family” ideology is you have to wonder how long it will even be considered traditional.