Gender dynamics and Vietnamese marriage migrants'(VMMs) health trajectories in Taiwan and South Korea

Incorporating the intersectionality approach from feminist theories and the transnational framework from the international migration literature, this study explores how gender dynamics at the family, community, and societal levels intersect with the migration process, and how such “transnational intersectionality” impacts the health trajectories of a gendered migration flow. In Taiwan and Korea, the VMMs represent the largest ethnic group without ethnic ties to the host societies. Their migration illustrates a gendered migration process that intersects the social stratification based on ethnicity, social class, and capitalist globalization. In collaboration with local community centers, I conducted 54 qualitative interviews and four focus groups in both rural and urban settings. By examining how gender is constructed across the borders at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, the results show that transnational intersections have differential and accumulative impacts on VMMs’ health trajectories, and is influenced by immigration and integration policies. This study exemplifies the health consequences of “enforced bachelorhood” in patriarchal societies with strong son preference, informs the literature of gender, migration, and development, and deserves attentions from immigration and health policy makers along the Pacific Rim.