Abstract
International labor migration plays a key role in the South Indian state of Kerala, with repercussions for family formation, childcare, dating, and many other aspects of culture. This chapter focuses on how female labor migration affects male and female gender roles in Kerala with respect to religious activity. Female labor migration often results in enhanced personal power for women, giving them a greater say in how things are done in their families. But what about religion? How do women who have experienced expanded social possibilities through international work think about who they are as religious actors? Do expanded female roles in the home and the workplace translate into more expansive roles for women in religious spheres? And what about men? How have men dealt with the repercussions of female labor migration? With women taking on new social roles, what happens to traditional ideas about men and masculinity? Field work on a popular South India pilgrimage offers data to show how women and men in Kerala are adapting to changes wrought by female labor migration.
TopBackground
Kerala is known for being a “model state” that stands out among other Indian states: it has the nation’s highest literacy rate as well as the lowest rates for infant mortality, maternal mortality, and fertility (Census of India, 2011). Kerala enjoys a strong economy, but it is heavily reliant on remittances from Keralans working abroad. Migration to the Persian Gulf has been a key part of life in Kerala since the 1950s, when the demand for manual labor in Gulf construction and oil industries first led to high levels of migrant workers leaving Kerala for the Gulf. When the demand for workers later extended into fields that hire women workers, such as nursing and childcare, many Keralan women were eager to earn incomes in the Gulf that would be unthinkable at home. With almost 100% female literacy and high levels of female English proficiency, the women of Kerala are highly sought after as nurses and caregivers (Percot, 2006). One can find female nurses from Kerala all over the world, including North America and Europe. But because of the physical proximity of the Gulf states to Kerala, the number of migrant workers, including female migrant workers, in the Gulf is quite high. The 2018 Kerala Migration Survey found that 67 percent of households had at least one member living in a Gulf state (“Kerala Migration Survey”).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Ayyappa: A Hindu god who is depicted as youthful, adventurous, and strong. He is the offspring of two male deities, Vi??u and Siva, and is the focus of an annual pilgrimage that is centered on a shrine in the western part of the state of Kerala in South India.
Gender Identity: An individual’s self-construal as a woman or man or as a girl or boy or as some combination of both. In some cases, a person might fluctuate between woman/girl and man/boy. In other cases, a person might see themselves as someone outside such categories altogether. Gender identity not the same thing as biological sex—i.e., the condition of being born with female sexual organs or male sexual organs. For many individuals, gender identity and biological sex correspond in an uncomplicated way. Some persons, however, experience little or no connection between sex and gender.
Sabarimala: A mountain-top shrine on the West coast of Kerala that is the focus of an annual pilgrimage attended by a vast number of pilgrims, with numbers reported as high as 50 million.
Transnational Migrant Labor: When people leave their native country to earn money through work opportunities in other countries. These can be short term, temporary visits or longer-term work commitments. In many cases, income earned abroad is returned to families at home in the form of remittances.
Masculinity: A set of characteristics, behaviors, and roles associated with boys and men.
Globalization: The interaction between various peoples, companies, and institutions (such as governments) in different parts of the world.
Pilgrimage: A journey to a shrine or location important to a person’s religious community that often entails a personal transformation in the process of reaching the location, engaging in rituals on site, and returning from the sacred place.