Mobile Masculinities: Migrant Bangladeshi Men in South Africa

Abstract

In this ethnography of Bangladeshi men living and working in South Africa, I draw on the intersection of three sets of literatures—masculinities studies, mobility studies, and the emerging body of work on migrant masculinities— to argue that migrant mobility shapes and is shaped by relational performances of racialized masculinities. I analyze three particular moments of such “mobile masculinities.” The first is in the home country wherein migration is seen as a mandatory rite of passage into manhood. The second moment is in transit, where the relational masculinity of migrant men and “traffickers” (men who smuggle migrants across borders) is performed and (re)made. The final moment is in South Africa, wherein we observe two contrasting forms of masculinities: hyper masculinity (the idealization of violence and misogyny) and Ummah masculinity (the immersion in God and Islamic Ummah). Both kinds of masculinity in the final moment are attempts by the migrants to recuperate masculinity within a situation of extreme powerlessness. This article invokes the need for mobility research within gender studies, and an attention to a complex, processual construction of identities wherein gender, race, and other differences define the identities of migrants but also the discourses and narratives of masculinities.

Exclusionary Contexts Frustrate Cultural Integration: Migrant Acculturation Into Support for Gender Equality in the Labor Market in Western Europe

“…Nevertheless, even if my results only hold for, for instance, non-refugees, in light of current debates on failed integration (Ghorashi 2010; Pinkster, Ferier, and Hoekstra 2020), it remains striking that non-refugee, non-Western migrants do adopt their destination countries’ gender customs and might even be completely disconnected from their origin countries’ gender customs after migration. Tentatively, these results are in line with qualitative studies’ assumption that migrants forge new group identities after migration that nullify origin socialization (e.g., Huisman and Hondagneu-Sotelo 2005; Pande 2017). However, further research is needed to assess whether origin socialization is, indeed, nullified and whether this nullification holds for other dimensions of support for gender equality as well.…”

“…At the same time, the few recent quantitative studies that have examined gender equality in origin countries report small and inconsistent effects (Röder and Mühlau 2014; Pessin and Arpino 2018). These disparities might be due to selection effects concerning who migrates or because migrants forge new identities after migration, as qualitative scholars have argued (e.g., Huisman and Hondagneu-Sotelo 2005; Pande 2017). Female migrants in particular may let go of their origin countries’ gender regimes, as they obtain paid jobs after migration and consequently adjust their attitudes on labor-market gender equality.…”

(Un)configurable masculinities and gender dynamics in men’s eyes: “Mixed” couples of Filipino migrants in Belgium and the Netherlands

“…This strategy contributes to the construction of a form of modern masculinity inscribed in the principle of gender equality. Usually characterized with disempowerment, migrant masculinity appears in such a case as fluid, flexible and therefore “mobile” (Pande, 2017). European informants, on the other hand, relegated reproductive labor mainly to their Filipino spouse as they busy themselves in fulfilling their “masculine” role of family breadwinner.…”

“…The dominant form is called “hegemonic masculinity” and is linked to economic and physical prowess as well as to heterosexuality, whereas the other forms are “subordinate” (associated to homosexuality) and “marginalized” (like for instance that of working-class men) masculinities (Connell, 1995). In the context of migration, men may develop during the process of spatial movements and during contacts with other men what Pande (2017) calls “mobile masculinities” characterized by disempowerment and resistance. In the case of heterosexual mixed couples who most often inhabit cross-border social spaces, marriage may have nuanced meanings and impacts on men’s sense of masculinity.…”

Juggling Masculinities: Being a Middle-Class Young Man in Dhaka

“…This paper contributes to the emerging literature focussed on the subjective experiences of masculinity among sexual minorities (e.g., Hossain 2022, Karim 2012), men in slums (e.g., Biswas, Karim, and Rashid 2020), and transnational migrants (e.g., Pande 2017) in Bangladesh. We add to this knowledge by elucidating the views of middle-class, heterosexual, adolescent boys (i.e., members of the sexual majority).…”