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Writings from HIST348: History of Asian American Women: Migration and Labor

ASIAN WOMEN AND REPRODUCTIVE LABOR

My closest friends’ parents are Vietnamese refugees. Sometimes when I went to their house, I would hear about their lived experiences and what it was like to migrate to a new country. While my parents also migrated here and experienced their own forms of discrimination and obstacles, they did not come from a war-torn country, so I never grew up with that intergenerational trauma that Thi Bui experienced. I’ve also always heard about Vietnamese refugees from history books which tend to tell a very dry story so I hoped I would get a more personalized and humanized experience out of this book.

While reading the memoir for the first time, I was struggling to pick out themes and ideas from the text but after talking it over with Professor Peralta and having a more open mind about it, I began to see how the art played a role in demonstrating how labor was performed by Asian women. In the end, I decided to focus on labor and explore the gendered aspects of labor because this theme stood out more through the art than the text. Asian women were often framed by themselves performing various work like cooking and taking care of children with no men in sight.

Besides the topic of labor, I was also interested in the family and community dynamics of Vietnam and particularly their family pre and post migration. However, I did not feel like I could make a compelling argument about the community there from the art nor the text. Some of my lingering questions include, “how did community dynamics shape labor roles for women?”, “what are some dynamics unique to Vietnam that are not seen in other Asian countries?”, and “can the lessons learned about family dynamics be extended to other communities and families?” I found myself asking these questions as I was reading and brainstorming but ultimately, I decided not to pursue it in favor of something that felt more evidential.

Through performing various forms of unpaid and paid reproductive labor, Asian women are often the glue that holds families together and sustains life. Bui’s memoir, “The Best We Could Do”, offers a personal insight to how Vietnamese women wear many hats when it comes to taking care of their families. Bui’s deliberate drawings portray not only the labor Asian women participate in but also how it shapes the lives of women and their families. I argue that labor is gendered through disproportionately placing reproductive labor onto Asian women, often pushing them to take on different forms of labor to sustain life and preventing them from social mobility.

The disproportionate distribution of reproductive labor placed onto Asian women illustrates the gendered divisions of labor. Through framing Asian women working in isolated environments, Bui hints at the gendered divisions in labor. For example, when Thi is telling the story of Bố ’s childhood, we see Bố ’s mom carrying him in her arms while simultaneously cooking food for her family (Bui, 102). This work is done only by Bố ’s mom with no dad in sight. By framing the labor Bố ’s mom performed to take care of her family, we are getting hints at how labor was divided during this time. We further see Má’s mom being portrayed in a similar light. While Má’s mom threw extravagant parties for the social elite, she would waltz into the kitchen, roll up her sleeves, and finish the cooking (Bui, 143). This entire story is being shown on one page where we see Má’s mom delicately traverse the public and private domains of labor. Even as the host of the party, she dons an apron and performs this type of labor by herself, only to go back into the party when she finishes. Regardless of the social class that Má’s mom belonged to, she still felt it necessary to cook with the workers.

These suggestive panels are not only unique to this one Vietnamese community but can be seen transnationally within other Asian communities. While the farms of the Japanese colonies necessitated everyone to help out, Matsumoto points out that the Nisei men did not have additional responsibility of domestic chores and while Nisei women had household and field responsibilities (Matsumoto, 163). Matsumoto adds on by saying, “Sansei daughters, like their mothers, performed more of the domestic chores – like cooking and cleaning”. (Matsumoto, 166). In both the cases of the memoir and Masumoto’s oral history, we see reproductive labor being performed by Asian women regardless of class or generation.

Moreover, reproductive labor did not stay within the private domain but often necessitated Asian women to engage in paid productive forms of labor as well, especially for migrant families. Yen Le Espiritu in “Labor, Laws, and Love” argues that the lack of opportunities for men of color in the labor market forced women of color to take up paid jobs to provide for the family (Espiritu, 10). We see this clearly in Bui’s memoir where Bố and Mo struggled to get their teaching degrees recognized in the States and Má is then forced to take up an assembly line job, earning $3.35 an hour to take care of her family. But Má’s work did not stop and end at the factory. Bui enumerates the various domestic labor Má performed which included putting food on the table for six and peeling fruit for the kids (Bui, 133). This trend occurred in the Sansei women of the farming colonies as well. They were required to work on the farms but also felt pressured to develop skills such as cooking and sewing (Matsumoto, 167). Asian women in these instances blurred the lines between reproductive and productive labor, seeing the work performed outside the house as an “extension of their domestic responsibilities” (Espiritu, 10). To survive, Asian women had to take on additional responsibilities on top of the expected reproductive labor within households.

While participation in productive forms of labor give Asian women more autonomy, it is not without a price. In Sujani Reddy’s evaluation of the nursing industry in India, we see that nursing in India through the mid-twentieth century was “ill-regarded” and “ill-paid” (Reddy, 5). Espiritu then further contends that gains in wage employment are often accompanied with heavier workloads and exploitation in the workplace (Espiritu, 11). This can be seen in the exploitation of Filipino nurse migrants in the 1970s through “misleading advertisements, low wages, and poor working conditions” (Choy, 166). The trend of exploiting migrant and ethnic workers is not exclusive to Asian women; however, the obligation to work to as a form of reproductive labor emphasizes the extra burden that is displaced on Asian women.

The expectation of performing reproductive labor also inhibits Asian women’s agency and ability to climb the social ladder. This is best shown in the case study of Má. Má came from a wealthy family that valued education. She had access to the knowledge and capital to do whatever she wanted. She also had formative experiences growing up that led her to believe that marriage was a trap. When her childhood best friend got married, Má thought to herself, “I’m never getting married!” (Bui, 146). Má’s apparent dislike of marriage is further reinforced in a panel that showed Má sitting on top of a block that had the words “Marriage = TRAP, Education = FREEDOM” on it. It seems like Má had all the resources and experiences to be her own person and do whatever she wanted so why did she give that up for Bố?

Bui suggests two reasons for this that relate to forms of reproductive labor: pregnancy and nursing. In the memoir, it is hinted that Má married Bố due to the pregnancy and out of fear of ruining her reputation. Before Bui points out the time differences between Má and Bố ’s wedding and the birth of their first child, Bui includes a discussion she has with Má where Má commented on the society in Viet Nam as “too confining, too limiting” and did not like worrying about things people said about her (Bui, 192). In this case, we see that the pregnancy compelled Má to get married while she was in college, preventing her from doing something meaningful she always wanted to do like studying abroad. Additionally, we see Má participate in what she believes to be end of life care for Bố but as Bố gets better, her chances to be “free as a widow” disappears (Bui, 195). Má’s dreams of agency and independence were ultimately restricted as she performed these different types of reproductive labor.

Reproductive labor has historically been and continue to be disproportionately placed onto Asian women. This often results in Asian women blurring the lines between public and private spheres of labor by shouldering responsibilities in the home and outside of the home. These responsibilities can potentially deny them a sense of agency yet also provide them with a sense of hope as we see at the end of the memoir. When Bui is breastfeeding her own child and speaking Vietnamese to him, she’s crying tears of happiness (Bui, 315). The birth of Bui’s son not only reflected the genealogical continuation of her heritage and bloodline, but it also symbolized freedom, hope, and gave Bui a new perspective on life. It goes without saying that Asian women are the backbone of our communities. The tremendous amount of work they do instill and sustain life in our families and our communities.

Bibliography

Bui, Thi. The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir. Abrams Comicarts, 2018.

Choy, Catherine Ceniza. Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History. Duke Univ. Press, 2006.

Espiritu, Yen Le. Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love. Sage Publications Inc., 1997.

Matsumoto, Valerie J. Farming the Home Place. Cornell University Press, 1993.

Reddy, Sujani K. Nursing and Empire: Gendered Labor and Migration from India to the United States. University of North Caroline Press, 2015.

“The Call Center Experience: A look into the live of Filipino and Indian agents”

The Philippines’ and India’s participation in the global economy through the call center industry offers a unique lens to explore the reconfiguring and reorientating of worker’s identities and lives. Through this industry, workers have found social and economic opportunities to improve their lives, yet these opportunities prove to be precariously dependent on forming relationships with colonial states like the US or the UK. As post-colonial nation-states, the Philippines and India have and continue to negotiate their own social and physical identities as they become bigger participants in the global economy. In this paper, I consider the ways in which the experience of call center workers situated in the Philippines relate and differ from the experiences of call center workers situated in India. The virtual voice-based interactions of call center work offer an insight to how these two nations have accommodated their customers through accent neutralization and affective labor while the economic opportunities presented have encouraged cultural shifts in these two communities. Yet different social values shape the ways in which these nations approach this type of work.

When it comes to interacting with Americans, both nations have accommodated much of their disembodied identities to meet the affective needs of American customers. For instance, the aural nature of the work has made names easily alterable. Agents in India often shorten their Indian names or outright discard it for a name that Americans have an easier time to pronounce (Rowe et al, 72). With shorter names, it increases efficiency in the call thus facilitating the production of capital. As a consequence, intentional or not, it leads to the erasure of their Indian identity as they don a pseudonym under capitalism. Moreover, agents are also expected to sound American when speaking to Americans. In particular, agents are expected to sound white when they perform being an American, furthering this tension between their imagined whiteness and their physical brownness. In addition, agents must have a sound understanding of American culture. Training to achieve these goals often include learning about “all the fifty states, the capital of each, what is each state famous for” (Rowe et. al, 83). By understanding the regional differences among Americans, agents can adapt their accents to sound more familiar to the customer thus making themselves more productive. The disembodied practices mentioned above compels agents to reconstitute their identities as they perform “Americanness” for a majority of their workday (expected to erase all their ethnic demarcations) while then flipping the switch when they go home to an Indian family and lifestyle.

Agents in the Philippines also take on this cultural adoption through similar modes as agents in India, namely through accent neutralization and the process of becoming “American”. More specific to the Philippines, however, is that Filipinos are spoken of as having “neutral or light accents that are easy to understand” as opposed to Indian accents (Padios, 113). This inherent aspect of their speech gives them an edge when it comes to the detachment of their cultural background and putting on the mask of Americanness. Besides neutral or light accents, Padios also examines “Filipino sensibilities” that suggests call center labor are suited for Filipinos. Many workers noted call center’s emphasis on relatability and emotion aligned quite well with Filipino cultural norms such as kapwa (unity of self with others) and pakikiisa (relates to collective equality and emotional collaboration) (Padios, 60). The use of Filipino terms to describe call center labor from her interviewees such as Ronnie or Araceli point to how workers in the Philippines might sympathetically and emotionally interact with customers and coworkers. While my comparisons are based off of only two books, Padios’ intentional exploration of “Filipino sensibilities” and unique social norms of Filipinos highlights the Filipino agents’ unique approach to call center work that was not explored in the other book. Nevertheless, both nations must appeal to and accommodate their identities for the comfort of Americans or Western customers and this accommodation often involves the erasure of their own identities.

In both nations, a certain lifestyle that indicates cultural shifts attaches itself to the call center much to the chagrin of others. Padios shares an anecdote about her friend who said, “You know call center workers when you see them”, pointing to the material goods and decadent lifestyle that are often associated with call center agents (Padios 137). The embodied practices that become associated with the industry such as the purchase of new high end cell phones and designer bags sets apart the call center agent from the rest of society in a noticeable and distinct manner that gets reproached by those outside the industry. And in India, Harish, a Human Resources coordinator, recognizes agents just “by looking at them” (140). Similar sentiments in India view the consumption of American media and goods by the youth as damaging to Indian traditions. Rowe et al. specifically refers to this generational shift focused more on consumer culture as Americanization which disrupts Indian national identity (137). These critiques also take on gendered and sexual forms as relationships within call centers subvert normative values. Padios points to the deleterious association between call center and “forms of sexual and gender deviance” as one critique of call center agents (Padios 159). These associations assist in constructing the call center space as a queer site where nonnormative practices such as homosexual, recreational, and/or premarital relations get expressed. The queering of the call center also comes from the industry’s policy of nondiscrimination (Padios, 165). This queer site is a source of anxiety and represents a tremendous cultural shift from the country’s historical nontrivial ties with the Catholic Church who valorizes heteronormativity. Moreover, expression of nonnormative practices occur in India as well. Rowe et al. cite Harish’s concern with young couples living together: I don’t know. I hope I don’t have to do that. I really don’t know. But I know that it is what happens for many people. You have your Bangalore life- style and then you go back to your small hometown village, and you have your real lifestyle. So those who go back to get married, good luck! I think there will always be problems there. (167)

This concern is similarly felt by Saurabh, a call center agent who feels, “agents have become so Westernized that they have begun to disrespect their parents” (Rowe et. al, 160). For people like Harish and Saurabh who see these activities as antithetical to Indian culture and associated with Western culture, it highlights the cultural tensions as play as India continues to play a bigger and bigger role in the global economy. Indian normative values such as respecting parents or not living with your significant other before marriage are being hotly contested as workers who gain repeated exposure to Western ideas through performing “Americanness” or by consuming western goods like Eminem music must navigate their split identities. With that said, we must also consider how the stressful nature of the work and the temporal aspect of being awake at abnormal times encourages communal bonding as a replacement for external intimacy, often through the act of spending money. A former call center agent Kevin felt that it was “almost like a requirement to go out with your teammates” after a long exhaustive day of getting yelled at on the phone (Padios, 139). Thus, spending money to destress and participation on the call center lifestyle often seemed like a part of the job. In addition, a call center agent in a focus group conducted by Rowe et al., Raja, argues that workers date within the company because they are disconnected from the outside world and so they have no choice but to date amongst themselves (166). Padios further elaborates on this idea by examining the stressful nature of the work itself. Harold, a staff member at a call center recruiting department, suggests workers are “bonded by stress” (Padios, 46). Since the job itself is so taxing and psychologically distressing, workers turn to each other for emotional support and sympathy so that they can continue their duties. In doing so, a community forms even if it’s to maintain their sanity, increase productivity, and meet company quotas.

In addition to these anxieties regarding Indian’s proximity to Americanness or critiques of the increasingly large consumption culture in call centers, call centers provide workers access to a different and unique social class, disrupting social hierarchies within these nations. In India, Rowe et al. explain that workers and employer shared social and personal spaces and that call center work dislocated these power relations made legible through class distinctions (76). Padios talks about this as well, referring to the multitudinous backgrounds of agents. Recent college graduates that live at home with their parents or the middle-aged workers who depend on wages to support their families just to name a few. (138) Class differences between workers also complicate the social class of call center agents. There are affluent workers who do not prioritize metrics and work for disposable income while there are others who depended on the money for their survival. The disruption of hierarchies proves to be another source of anxiety for these nations as they grapple with conflicting social practices that comes with increasing participation in the global economy.

The call center industry provides a unique platform wherein we can explore how nations like the Philippines and India grapple with changing cultural values due to being bigger players in the global economy and how workers themselves are reshaping their identities and lives. Part of the job requires workers to detach from their ethnic identities and assume a Western mindset which can have debilitating effects on a nation’s normative values. The development of intimate relationships among coworkers further goes against the values of these two nations but due to the nature of the work, agents are limited to relationships inside the call centers. Call centers serve as major sources of anxieties for these two nations when it comes to ethnic identities and cultural shifts, yet the social and economic opportunities available in this industry makes the value of call center work a hotly debated topic.

Bibliography

Padios, Jan M. A Nation on the Line. Duke University Press, 2018

Rowe, Aimee Carrillo, et al. Answer the Call. U of Minnesota Press, 2013.