Gender- and social class-based transnationalism of migrant Filipinas in binational unions

Empirical studies of Filipinos in France focus on migrant women domestic workers and consequently tend to overlook other components of the Filipino population in this country. Departing from these previous studies, I examine the case of migrant Filipinas in binational unions, that is, relationships based on marriage or cohabitation (legally registered or not) with a non-Filipino partner. Drawing from semi-structured interviews and informal conversations, this article demonstrates the intersectionality of gender and social class in the way these migrants maintain transnational familial ties. Influenced by the gender norms and ideology in the Philippines, migrant Filipinas strive to be good mothers' and/or dutiful daughters'. However, they do so differently depending on their social class belonging and on their family situation: migrants of modest social class background have usually children from previous relationships left under the care of their kin in the Philippines and feel compelled to send remittances and maintain regular communication with their family back home, whereas women of upper social class origin are neither obliged nor asked to do so. However, they send gifts and financial assistance voluntarily, pay frequent visits to their natal family and make some kin visit them in France.