Lecture 10: Gender in Singapore, Part 1 (2012)

1. Eric C. Thompson
Semester 2, 2011/2012

2. Where We Have Been…
 History of Gender Studies
 Sex/Gender Distinction
 Becoming Male or Female
 Gender socialization;
paths to learning gender.
 Gender Systems
 Masculinity/Femininity
 Gender as systems of
beliefs and behaviors

3. Where We Are Going…
 Gender in Popular Culture
 Gender in Advertising
 Popular Culture
 Gender in Social Relations
 Gender and Power
 Gender and Work
 Gender, Here and Now
 Gender in Singapore
YOU ARE
HERE

4. Gender Issues in Singapore
Part 1: Social Change
 What is the “Flight from Marriage”?
 What are the effects of importing Female Labor?
 Is there an emergence of “Transnational Patriarchy”?

5. Is there a “Flight From Marriage”?
 Across Asia (e.g. Japan, Singapore, Thailand,
etc.), marriage has gone from being an
expectation to an option.
 More and more people, especially women,
are opting not to marry.
 Cultures of female hypergamy (women
‘marrying up’) lead to skewed marriage
markets and demographics.

6. The Marriage Market
(Figures from Singapore’s 2000 Census)
Education Women (40-44) Men (40-44)
Level % Never Married % Never Married
Below 9.1% 21.1%
Secondary
University 26.7% 8.6%
Large numbers of the most educated women and
least educated men are unable (or unwilling) to get
married; lack of “appropriate” marriage partners.
Source: Jones, Gavin W. (2005) “The ‘Flight from Marriage’ in South-East and East
Asia,” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 36(1):93-119

7. Importing Female Labor
 Foreign labor in Singapore is deeply gendered.
 Male migrant labor – in construction, shipping, etc.
 Female migrant labor:
 Foreign Domestic Workers
 Sex Workers
 Foreign Brides
 Unlike male migrant labor, female migrant labor
“competes” in domains traditionally related to
marriage (domestic work, sex, reproduction) and
“compensates” for the ‘flight from marriage’ among
Singaporean women.

8. Foreign Brides and
Transnational Patriarchy
• Singaporean women, in large numbers, ‘opt out’ of
marriage or leverage their education and employment
resources for a “better deal” (professional working
women; more than ‘traditional wives’).
• Singaporean men, in large numbers, look to foreign
brides as a means of maintaining “patriarchal
privileges” (i.e. having a ‘traditional wife’).
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnm1v3ju9w8

9. “Are Singapore Women Hard to Love?”
• Get Real. Series 2, Episode 27, Channel News Asia, 2005.
• The producers solicited the following as “typical
comments” by Singaporean men:
“Some Singaporean females are simply arrogant, especially
those with high education levels.”
“Singaporean women demand the 5C’s – condo, car, credit
card, country club and cash.”
“Foreigners make better wives, because they are more
domesticated, less arrogant or materialistic.”

10. The Foreign Bride Option
Year Marriages to Marriages to
Foreign Brides Foreign Husbands
(as % of all (as % of all
Marriages) Marriages)
1996 19.1% 4.7%
2005 27.2% 6.9%
2007 32.8% (Not available)
Source: Jones, Gavin W. and Hsui-hua Shen (2008) “International Marriage in East and
Southeast Asia: Trends and Research Emphasis,” Citizenship Studies 12(1):9-25.

11. Thai Wives and Transnational Patriarchy
• Rattana Jongwilaiwan and Eric C. Thompson 2012 in
Gender, Place and Culture
• Example refers to specific experiences and conditions
of Thai migrant wives… (but…)
• Many of the general issues apply to other Foreign
Brides in Singapore AND conditions in other “First
World” countries (Japan, Taiwan, Europe, Australia,
America, etc.) where wives are “imported”.
• We argue that nation-states and globalization are
creating a new “transnational” system of patriarchy.

12. Escaping “Liberation” in Thailand
• Urban migration and industrialization have “liberated”
rural Thai women from “confining” agricultural
conditions.
• Traditionally in Thailand – men have gained status as
monks (and in the military).
• Women have been daughters and mothers.
• Men “travel around” (pai thaiw) gaining experience
and fortune.
• Women are “tied to the land”.

13. Matrilineal, Matrilocal Residence
• The traditional pattern of North and Northeast (Isan)
Thailand was “matrilineal, matrilocal” (similar, but not
as strong as the Minangkabau matrilineal system).
• Men left their families and “married in” to their wife’s
families.
• Daughters (esp. youngest daughters) and their
husbands inherited property from her parents.
• The male “ideal” was that of monk and “nak leng”
(men seen as extremely pious or extremely ‘rough’).
• The female ideal was that of dutiful daughter and
nurturing mother.*
*Debate between Keyes and Kirsch in American Ethnologist 1984-1985, as to
whether this meant that women were “more attached” to the world and thus
less pious, from a Thai Theravada Buddhist perspective.

14. Modernity & Loss of Status for Women
• Devaluing of agriculture -> loss of women’s power and
status based on ties to the land.
• Large numbers of women migrate to cities (esp. Bangkok)
in search of the than samay (modern) self (Mills, 1999,
Thai Women in the Global Laborforce).
• Thai women mostly enter the bottom rung of the ‘global
assembly line’… grueling hours, little pay.
• Many enter into the sex trade (unpleasant work, but more
flexible hours and much higher pay).
• Seek to be “dutiful daughters” by remitting money to
support parents and other relatives.
• “Cultural continuity” in the Thai sex trade: “Mother Sold
Food, Daughter Sells her Body” (Meucke 1984; replicates
pattern of Thai women in the market place; but different
commodity.)

15. Contact Zones
 Thai women and Singaporean men (some, not all)
meet in “contact zones”: entertainment venues of
Bangkok, Hat Yai, Singapore.
 Singaporean men seeking women (first for sex, but
also for companionship).
 Thai women seeking “mia farang” status (to marry a
foreigner… “Farang” is Westerner… but Singaporean
will do, lah!).

16. Negotiating Marriage-Migration
• Relationships shift from that of sex provider – client; to
potential mate; to wife-husband.
• Men must display their ability to be providers.
• Women display their willingness (and desire) to exit
the sex trade and become “traditional wives”
• Women seek to accelerate the marriage process;
demonstrate that they are not only after money.
• Men test the women’s truthfulness and faithfulness
(e.g. monitor women’s activities by mobile phone).

17. Leveraging Flexible Citizenship
• Singaporean men, even with relatively meager
financial means, are able to leverage “flexible
citizenship” (citizenship and semi-citizenship
privileges, such as PR and LTSVP).
• Thai women seek not only a financial provider but also
the opportunity to live and work in a wealthy country.
• “Transnational Patriarchy” refers to the
establishment of patriarchal privilege on the basis of
these “transnational” (cross-border) relations.

18. Clashing Cultural Scripts
• Thai women do not see themselves as “gold diggers”;
rather, they are fulfilling the cultural ideal of dutiful
daughter and nurturing mother; marrying Singaporean
men allows them access to wealth to remit home to
their parents (and sometimes to children).
• Singaporean men (and their families) expect Thai
women to be “daughters-in-law”
• These two ideals often come in conflict.

19. Cultural Conflicts
 Thai women frequently report disappointment… that
their Singaporean husbands “only want a cheap maid”
(but, is this because they are being asked to be a
Confucian daughter-in-law?).
 Conflict between Thai women’s ‘dutiful daughter’ role
and Chinese Singaporean men’s (and family’s)
expectations of a ‘filial daughter-in-law’.

20. Perceptions of Thai Wives
• Fon (47), “I think Chinese parents-in-law think that
they can exploit Thai daughters-in-law easily. I used to
argue back that I am not a Filipino maid.”
• Dao (28), “I was very tired because I raised two
nephews, did all the housework and looked after his
parents. I could not go anywhere during two years of
marriage. I never when shopping and just stayed home.
He treated me like I was a maid rather than his wife. I
think he married me because he wanted a cheap maid
during the day and to become his wife in the night.”

21. Commodification of Women’s Work
• Women’s work is commodified and subject to substantial
rationalization and specialization.
• Traditionally, one woman (wife) provides sex, babies and
domestic work for men (husband).
• With commodification and specialization:
– Wives (mothers) provide babies.
– Maids provide domestic work.
– Sex workers (prostitution; pornography) provide sexual
services.
– Of course, not always in all cases! But, this follows from the
“logic” of commodification and specialization.
• This frees women to pursue their own careers; but also
makes marital relationships more tenuous.

22. Classical and Transnational Patriarchy
• Classical Patriarchal privilege maintained by –
– Patrilineal inheritance: Men (sons) inherit property; women do
not.
– Patrilocal residence: Women (wives) leave their natal families,
live with their husband’s family (cut off from natal family and
social network support).
• Transnational Patriarchy maintained by –
– Territorial state sovereignty: nation states control borders;
create zones of relative wealth and relative deprivation (“First”
and “Third” Worlds)
– “Flexible citizenship” – Men from the First World can leverage
citizenship (PR and other status) as a resource to negotiate a
“patriarchal bargain” with Third World women.*

23. Classical & Transnational Patriarchy
 Singapore has shifted from “Classical” to
“Transnational” Patriarchy.
 Classical patriarchy has declined, with urbanization
and industrialization.
 Transnational Patriarchy rests on citizenship and
transnational mobility.
 Under “transnational patriarchy” women are more
divided by class than united by gender (i.e. a woman
who is a migrant wife, domestic worker or sex worker
has very different experience and interests from a
single, university-educated, professional woman).

24. Classical Patriarchy
• Classical Patriarchal privilege maintained by:
• Patrilineal inheritance: Men (sons) inherit
property; women do not.
• Patrilocal residence: Women (wives) leave
their natal families, live with their husband’s
family (cut off from natal family and social
network support).

25. Transnational Patriarchy
• Transnational Patriarchy maintained by:
• Territorial state sovereignty: nation states control
borders; create zones of relative wealth and
relative deprivation (“First” and “Third” Worlds)
• “Flexible citizenship” – Men from the First World
can leverage citizenship (PR and other status) as a
resource to negotiate a “patriarchal bargain” with
Third World women.*
*First world women can and occasionally do leverage citizenship as well in
relationships with Third world men (see cases in the Carribean; Allen 2007);
but generally, women do not. Why? Refer to “sexual exchange theory”.

26. Gender Issues in Singapore
 Question: Is Singapore a Partriarchal Society?
 More on this next week…
 There are many other gender issues in Singapore.
 We will discuss more issues in the next lecture…
 What do you think are important gender issues not
covered in this lecture?
 Please email or post to the Wiki!