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CONFERENCE PROGRAM AND ICGCS 2021

ABSTRACT BOOK

Gender and Family

THE WOMEN MIGRANT WORKERS: THE ROLE CHANGING AND

THE STRIVE IN THE FAMILY

Puspita Wulandari, Elly Malihah, Tutin Aryanti

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Being a woman migrant worker is not only a woman’s decision but also a whole family. It means that every
consequence during and after being a migrant worker becomes a whole family’s responsibility not the

woman. Unfortunately, the problem belongs to and only for the woman. The woman is perceived as the only
person who takes responsibility for all the consequences that occur while being a woman migrant worker
whether positively or negatively. Both consequences occur in maximizing the woman’s status and role as the

individual, wife, mother, and their position as a daughter from their parent. The woman is forced to fill these
roles extremely, whether in the family and social community. This writing exposes how the woman

experiences the change of role and strive in maintaining their right and responsibility as a wife, a mother, and
also a daughter for their parents. The latest roles which have been obtained by the woman do not reduce the
current role, it seems that the role is accumulated without the concept of “role negotiation” in the family.

Frequently, the woman is at her place “hired”, but still marginalized in the existence as the woman-self. On

the other side, there is a woman family as the migrant worker who is also confused with the appreciation on
the woman, between recognition of the woman’s accomplishment in carrying out the economic family
system, there is also the weakness of the woman’s bonding with the children. Less knowledge about how

important is the bounding in the family and role negotiation that may be performed makes this thing as the
logical consequence but wit in vain step in solving the issue. The qualitative approach with phenomenology

design with an interview and observational study is performed in this study about the life of women migrant
workers. The ten families of the women migrant workers consist of five families are active working abroad
and the three of them have returned home or former migrant workers who become the informant in this

study which takes six months in one of the villages which have a high rate of the woman migrant worker in
Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia. The result of this study shows that the woman is in the position of dualism

changing and strive as a member of the family and the “double power” becomes the strength for them in
their family. The power to carry out the economic family system through status as the migrant worker and

also the strength to become a wife and mother in the traditional paradigm structure. The role negotiation is
becoming a way to help to fulfil the roles in the family of woman migrant workers whether for the woman

and man, in the family and social community.

Keywords: the migrant worker, women migrant workers, the change of women’s role

Short Biography:

Puspita Wulandari is a lecturer in the Study Program of Sociology Education, Faculty of Social Science,
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Bachelor and Magister finished in Program Study of Sociology

Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia in 2015 and 2017. Besides teaching, the writer is also active to
follow some researches and write about the woman in the family life, society, culture, and community.

Some articles related to women consist of Empowering Dayak Segandhu community through welfare
improvement (2019), Local Wisdom as Income Generator - Increasing Mutual Life and Lifeskill through
Local Indeginous (2017), and The Status and Role of Women in The Community of Suku Dayak Hindu

Budha Bumi Segandhu Indramayu (2016).

Elly Malihah is a professor in the Study Program of Sociology Education, Faculty of Social Science,
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Interested study on gender, culture, sociology, and education. For the
last two years, she has been focusing on the study of woman’s involvement in a terrorist act that involves

family and education in the time of covid-19. Officiated as the head of the study of woman’s role
development and children protection, LPPM UPI (2018), and the head of the association of teaching

profession and researcher of sociology Indonesia (2020-2025). Some articles related to women and
terrorism is Women in the Eye of Pesantren (2020) dan The Female Terrorism: Victimization in The Striving

for Family (2021)

Tutin Aryanti is a lecturer and the head of the Study Program of Architecture, Department of
Architectural Education, Faculty of Technology and Vocational, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (2019-
2023). The doctoral study was at School of Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A.,

specializations: Architecture History and Theory/ Socio-Cultural Factors in Architecture. Major study related
to the History of Architecture of Southeast Asian Mosques in the XXXXI Century, and Minor studies related

to Islamic Religion Feminism (2013). Beberapa karya terkait perempuan dan gender adalah Disaster,
gender, and space: Spatial vulnerability in post-disaster shelters (2020) dan Women’s Prayer Space: A

Feminist Critique of the Southeast Asian Islamic Architectural History (2019)

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