Reproductive Dilemmas, Labour and Remittances: Gender and Intimacies in Cavite, Philippines

Abstract

This paper explores the reproductive dilemmas of individuals from a communal compound in Cavite, which are impacted by the complicated intersection of economic globalization and prescriptions of gendered performances and spatialities. Specifically, it looks at how remittances from overseas Filipino worker (OFW) relatives and the personal desires for overseas mobility directly shape these individuals' decisions regarding reproduction, relationships and intimacies. Wilson's (2004) concept of intimate economies helps to frame and theoretically encase the ongoing dialogue between global labour economies and personal intimacies related to reproduction and family planning. Ethnographic data and narratives were collected while the Philippines' Reproductive Health Law (commonly known as the RH Law) was being passed in December 2012. As it mandates public access to reproductive health services including artificial contraceptives, sex education and maternal care, the RH Law continues to face strong opposition from leaders of the Philippine Catholic Church and formidable ‘Anti-RH’ movements (approximately 81% of Filipinos identify themselves as Roman Catholic). This article highlights how reproductive dilemmas are dictated not only by religious beliefs and practices, but also by gendered and economic arrangements against a backdrop that is both politically polemical and rapidly globalizing.

Information and communication technologies and migrant intimacies: the case of Punjabi youth in Manila

“…The Philippine constitution explicitly argues for the sanctity of the family and enshrines it as the foundational unit of Filipino society. Philippine law also leaves the country as the last one in the world, save for the Vatican, that does not allow for legal divorce (Collantes 2016).…”

(Post-)colonial Archipelagos

“…Researchers have found that both men and women devalue women's work as temporary, unskilled. and supplementary, even if it represents the main household income (Collantes 2016). Service sector work also relies on and reinforces the care work expected of women; one study showed that tech companies employ strategies such as hiring eldest daughters, whose family responsibilities mean they are less likely to quit or make risky employment demands.…”

“…This is characteristic not only of the meritocratic society established under the tutelage and ideals of American liberalism but also of a society in which consumption defines status. Consumer culture is materialized in the abundant shopping malls found not only throughout Philippine cities but also beside palenkes, local town markets, or next to fields in which water buffalo graze (Collantes 2016). Malling is something of a national pastime for both urban and rural Filipinos; 80% of Filipinos go to malls at least once or twice a month.…”