The Family as a Site for Gendered Ethnic Identity Work Among Asian Indian Immigrants

Research on immigrants often points to the family as a source of support and a location for oppression. Using in-depth interviews with 38 first-generation immigrant Indians, this study adds to this literature by exploring families as sites of identity work where first-generation immigrants manage their gendered ethnic identities. Relocation into a new culture makes ethnic identity salient for the migrants, and they perform identity work to maintain this identity. However, because these identities are simultaneously gendered, enacting these reinforces gender hierarchies within families. Even though migration alters family structures, and especially family roles and responsibilities, individuals retain altered aspects of their roles that reinforce gender and ethnic identity. This identity work thus reinforces the observation that immigrant families can be both a source of strength and oppression. It provides a source of support from the Indian immigrant community while it also reshapes the gender inequalities embedded in Indian family structures.