Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2025

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Sociology, MA

Committee Chair

Marshall, Gul

Committee Member

Heinecken, Dawn

Committee Member

Dasgupta, Kushan

Author's Keywords

Gender roles; domestic labor; immigrant families; migration and gender; gendered division of labor; second shift; gender performativity

Abstract

This study explores how Afghan immigrant families navigate gender roles and domestic responsibilities following their migration to the United States. Although current research recognizes the impact of migration on gender norms and labor division in immigrant families, the lived experiences of Afghan families in the United States remain largely unexplored. Based on 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Afghan women, this study explores how cultural expectations, economic constraints, and social context shape the division of domestic responsibilities. Findings reveal that migration opened new opportunities for Afghan women, including sense of freedom, access to education and employment opportunities. Exposure to egalitarian values and reduced cultural surveillance has facilitated the renegotiation of household roles, where more men have started taking a more active role in household work and parental responsibilities. However, the majority of domestic and cognitive labor continued to be carried out by women, even if employed, due to internalized gender norms and expectations from their spouses. Gender roles and expectations are both practiced and passed down, even in new cultural setting, particularly by mothers who have previously navigated similar patriarchal system in Afghanistan. The study concludes that in these Afghan households, the gender roles are reshaped in a way that blends the traditional and the new evolving societal expectations.

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