‘I'd do it for love or for money’: Vietnamese women in Taiwan and the social construction of female migrant sexuality

Abstract

Drawing on an ethnographic research in Vietnam and Taiwan, this article seeks to contribute to the global scholarship on migration and sexuality. It reveals interesting contradictions between the seemingly homogeneous stereotypes of Vietnamese women's sexuality, on the one hand, and the multiplicity and fluidity of actual sexual practices in real-life contexts, on the other hand. First, the presence of a number of chaste migrant women in our study challenges the common stereotype of female migrants as hypersexual and promiscuous menaces on the loose. Second, we question the emphasis on women's material greed and instrumentalism in normative discourses about Vietnamese women's engagement in extramarital relationship. While for some women in our research, sexual liaisons outside marriage are indeed orchestrated for financial gains, for others, extramarital sex is principally sought as a form of selfactualisation or an exploration of sexual pleasure and freedom that is absent from their marriage. The article emphasises the highly contextual nature of sexual norms and practices as well as the intersectionality of race, class and gender in the social construction of female sexuality in the context of transnational labour migration.

Interrogating Dislocated Masculinities and HIV Vulnerabilities: A Case Study of Vietnamese Migrants Workers in Southern Laos

“…Engagement in extramarital sex or conjugality has notably been documented in diverse contexts of male migration, both through commercial sex and through sexual relations with other migrants or locals (Liu-Farrer 2010;Thuy & Kretchmar 2008;Lang & Smart 2002;Shen 2005;Tsujimoto 2014). In the context of Vietnamese migrants in Taiwan, extramarital conjugality represents a source of support for intimate relationships while being "minefields" offering echo chambers to intimate gossips and rumours (Hoang & Yeoh 2014;Hoang 2016). The weight of social control within their homosocial or ethnic migrant network may push male migrants to strive to preserve "reputation" and thus to refrain from involving in extramarital affairs, although instances of occasional casual sex may be tolerated (Hirsch et al 2007;Thuy & Kretchmar 2008).…”

Vietnamese migrant networks in Taiwan: the curse and boon of social capital

“…Feminist writings across Asian contexts have emphasized the indispensability of migrant networks in women's and girls' migration, primarily due to their social control function (Curran and Saguy 2001;Elmhirst 2002;Hoang 2011). The existence of social networks at the destination, it is argued, helps to calm fears of sexual infidelity and promiscuity in a context where sexual purity is a principal parameter defining women's social status and recognition (Hoang 2011;Hoang and Yeoh 2015a). The paramount importance of networks in women's (and not men's) migration is directly attributable to the prevailing double standard in sexuality norms (i.e.…”

“…Elsewhere, I have touched on how ethnic networks could be both an enabling and constraining factor in migrants' intimate lives in the face of such structural constraints (Hoang and Yeoh 2015a). In this paper, I take a step further by scrutinizing the subjectivities and complexities in migrant networks that are tied in with the disenfranchisation of the migrant worker in a highly restrictive migration regime.…”

“…Cantu 2009;Gonzalez-Lopez 2005), migrant networks were central to Vietnamese workers' sexual lives. They functioned as an informational conduit and a source of support in and around the women's intimate relationships (Hoang and Yeoh 2015a). Paradoxically, they were also minefields where trust could be easily abused, confidential information exposed and the truth distorted.…”

Home, but not 'at home' : the reintegration of unskilled Ethiopian female return migrants from Arabian Gulf countries

“…Other findings also show that migrant women who are involved in domestic work are often stereotyped.. They are often viewed as promiscuous and easy-going women who sell their bodies in exchange for money Hoang & Yeoh, 2015).…”