Entrance into and negotiation of the US labor force by immigrant women workers: a case study of samba in Los Angeles

Due to the heterogeneity of immigrant women's experiences, we recognize the need to provide a more comprehensive portrayal of how gender shapes their labor force participation and work experiences. To study immigrant women employed in feminized work, this article uses the concept of gender as a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International feminist journal of politics 2021-03, Vol.23 (2), p.287-308
Main Authors: Johnson, Karin A. C., Alloatti, Magali N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Citizenship
Female labor force participation
Feminism
Gender
Gender relations
Grants
Heterogeneity
immigrant workers
Immigrants
Inequality
Intersectionality
Labor force
Labor force participation
Migrant workers
Power
power relations
Qualitative research
Race relations
Resistance
Social construction
Women
Work
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Summary:Due to the heterogeneity of immigrant women's experiences, we recognize the need to provide a more comprehensive portrayal of how gender shapes their labor force participation and work experiences. To study immigrant women employed in feminized work, this article uses the concept of gender as a social construction that informs, conveys, and adjusts power relations to explain how and why immigrant women occupy gendered jobs and to assess persisting inequalities and the unexpected benefits of gendered work. To illustrate this, we examine immigrant women in Los Angeles working in an ethnic niche: Brazilian samba dance. Our qualitative research on this case offers the opportunity to analyze the complexity of labor force dynamics. We discuss how the interaction of gender, nationality, race, and body aesthetic shapes our understanding of how immigrant women carve out economic niches, negotiate stigmas, and resignify gender relations through work. We conclude that work grants immigrant women power over (re)productive choices and the resistance needed to (re)define practices by challenging and conforming to social gender and work norms.
ISSN:1461-6742
1468-4470
DOI:10.1080/14616742.2020.1743195