Chinese migrant women as boundary markers in Singapore: unrespectable, un-middle-class and un-Chinese

Abstract

This article argues that the intersection of ethnicity, class and gender foregrounds the contestation of Chinese-ness in a context of migration in Singapore. I argue that the presence of co-ethnic mainland Chinese migrant women has heightened Chinese-Singaporean women’s anxieties. In lieu of ‘convenient markers’ of language and ethnicity, Chinese-Singaporean women have had to look elsewhere for the production of difference. This article argues that the Chinese-Singaporean woman favourably contrasts herself with the newly arrived mainland Chinese migrant woman in regards to the notion of respectable femininity – the latter being a key marker of middle-classness. Specifically, Chinese migrant women are perceived as unrespectable through charges of excessive materialism and of transgressing the Asian/Chinese family. By emphasising Chinese migrant women’s perceived lack of respectability, Chinese-Singaporean women can (re)establish their own respectable femininity, middle-classness and Chinese-ness.

Resumen

Este artículo sostiene que la intersección de etnia, clase y género resalta la confrontación de la chinidad en un contexto de la migración en Singapur. Sostengo que la presencia de mujeres coétnicas migrantes chinas del continente ha aumentado las ansiedades de las mujeres sino-singapurenses. A falta de ‘marcadores convenientes’ de lenguaje y etnia, las mujeres sino-singapurenses han tenido que buscar en otros lugares para la producción de la diferencia. Este artículo sostiene que la mujer sino-singapurense se contrasta favorablemente con la mujer china recientemente llegada del continente con respecto a la noción de feminidad respetable – este último siendo un marcador clave de pertenencia a la clase media. Específicamente, las mujeres migrantes chinas son percibidas como no-respetables a través de cargos de excesivo materialismo y de transgresión de la familia asiática/china. Al enfatizar la falta de respetabilidad percibida de las mujeres chinas migrantes, las mujeres sino-singapurenses pueden (re)establecer su propia respetable feminidad, su condición de clase media y su chinidad.

摘要

本文主张，族裔、阶级和性别的交织，在新加坡的移民脉络中，凸显出华人性的争夺。我主张，共同族裔的中国大陆移民女性的存在，加剧了新加坡华人女性的焦虑。语言和族裔的‘便捷印记’受到取代之际，新加坡华人女性必须从他处寻觅差异的生产。本文主张，新加坡华人女性偏好透过值得尊敬的女性特质之概念，将自身与新移民的中国大陆女性进行比较 – – 而该特质是中产阶级性的关键印记。中国移民女性尤其透过过度的物质主义和僭越亚洲／华人家庭的责难，而被认为是不值得尊敬的。透过强调中国移民女性被认为缺乏受尊敬之处，新加坡华人女性得以（再）建立自身受尊敬的女性特质、中产阶级性和华人性。

Keywords:

• Gender
• class
• co-ethnicity
• Chinese-ness
• Chinese migrants
• Singapore

Palabras clave:

• Género
• clase
• co-etnicidad
• chinidad
• migrantes chinas
• Singapur

关键词:

• 性别
• 阶级
• 共同族裔
• 华人性
• 中国移民
• 新加坡

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank her supervisor Dr Lan Anh Hoang for her encouragement and support. Special thanks to Pamela Moss, Carl Bonner-Thompson and the three anonymous reviewers for their kind and constructive feedback. The author also thanks the Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship & Melbourne International Research Scholarship whose funding made this work possible. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the generosity of my respondents in sharing their time and experiences.