Cabanes, JVA and Acedera, KAF (2012) Of mobile phones and mother-fathers: Calls, texts, and conjugal power relations of mother-away Filipino families. New Media and Society, 14 (6). pp. 916-930. ISSN 1461-4448
Abstract
This article examines how the mobile phone might matter in the exercise of conjugal power relations between left-behind fathers and migrant mothers in transnational Filipino families. Drawing on in-depth interviews of ten pairs of fathers and children from mother-away families, it reveals that the mobile phone provides parents avenues to both expand and hold on to their traditionally gender-differentiated roles. This means that while the technology mitigates some of the effects of migration, it also complicates the already complex relationships between these fathers and mothers. Unfortunately, this situation tends to amplify the tremendous difficulties of having to deal with two opposing forces: the changed realities in a transnational Filipino family and the traditional expectations of Philippine society. So while the mobile phone can lead to increasing cooperation between left-behind fathers and migrant mothers, it has mostly resulted in exacerbating the already tremendous chasms that divide them.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2012. This is an author produced version of a paper published in New Media and Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | conjugal power relations; doubling of place; in-depth interviews; mobile phone; transnational families |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Media & Communication (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Sep 2017 13:05 |
Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2018 23:56 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1461444811435397 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120799 |