Work or Children?

    Love and Gold did not sit well with me. I could not discern exactly what Arlie Russell Hochschild was trying to say. Often times, it seemed as though the point of the article was that white American culture is taking advantage of immigrants. Other times I thought the argument was that migration was a positive act. Another argument I saw was that women should not work because children need their mothers.

    As such, the article left me with mixed feelings. I fully understand that, if a married couple with children both decide to work, someone is needed to take care of the children. But obviously, there is a vicious cycle of childcare that is involved when both parents work. The Filipino nanny, Rowena, left her kids in the Philippines in order to make more money, leaving her kids with her mother, who also had to work, leaving the kids with a nanny, who had kids of her own. But then the only solution to stopping this cycle that comes to my mind is that one parent should stay home with the kids.

    When Hochschild discussed the effects of a migrant mother on children, I recalled something I learned in a sociology class. Children who do not have their parents around have psychological and physical reactions. Every person has what is called a “significant other,” and that role is filled by a mother for every child that is born (it has to do with the connection established in the womb). Then the child gains the father, siblings, and grandparents - essentially whomever is around most - as their significant others. When these people disappear for long periods or are completely gone, the child experiences a list of things that is provided by Hochschild via Manila’s Scalabrini Migration Center.

    The major issue I had with this article is that mindset it presented. The people here are focused more on money than on love. Rowena could have worked in the Philippines. Sure, she would have made less money, but she would have provided her children with the love they needed. Instead, Rowena chose a better life for herself, in which she made more money, had better living conditions, and had a child whom she loved and loved her back. Her choice was made out to be selfless, but was really selfish. So, I had mixed feelings about this article because while I believe that women should have the freedom to work outside the home, I also know that children need their mothers.