Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

8-2023

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 54 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 towards 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.

Keywords

fathering, gender, masculinity, transnational family, boundary work

Discipline

Gender and Sexuality | Sociology

Research Areas

Sociology

Publication

Social Forces

First Page

1

Last Page

20

ISSN

0037-7732

Identifier

10.1093/sf/soad098

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Copyright Owner and License

Author

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soad098

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