傳播科技與跨國代間關係－以臺灣未婚女兒在荷蘭為例 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程 International Master‟s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 碩士論文. 立. 政治大. Master‟s Thesis. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 傳播科技與跨國代間關係－以臺灣未婚女兒在荷蘭為例. sit. y. Nat. io. er. Transnational Daughters and ICT-mediated Intergenerational Communication: Taiwanese Unmarried Daughters in the Netherlands. n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Student: Jou Chang 張柔 Advisor: Professor Tingyu Kang 康庭瑜教授中華民國 106 年.

(2) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(3) Acknowledgments I can’t believe that I am finally writing these acknowledgments after having worked on this thesis for nearly one and half years. The moments that I struggled with the literature review and results are still in my mind. Finally, the last step is finished. This thesis would not be completed without the many people who always stayed with me physically or mentally with their great support and encouragement. First, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for my advisor, Professor Tingyu Kang, for her constant guidance and encouragement. The beginning of this. 政治大 always gave me her suggestions with logical and theoretical thoughts, and also gave 立. thesis was inspired by her class dedicated to gender and ICTs studies. Professor Kang. me space to finish my work. I feel truly grateful and blessed to have had this amazing. ‧ 國. 學. advisor in my Master’s studies. Meanwhile, I would like to thank the two program. sit. y. Nat. suggestions to make my thesis more complete. Thank you.. ‧. committee members, Professor 王舒芸 and Professor 王淑美 who gave me great. io. er. Second, I would like to express my gratitude to all the teachers and friends that I have met during my student life. My experiences at National Chung Cheng University. al. n. v i n C h and beliefs. MyUstudies in National Chengchi have changed my life goals, values, engchi. University, with its tremendous resources, have enlightened my life goals and my vision. Learning is a never-ending journey in human’s life. I am so grateful to have immersed myself in three majors, Social Welfare, Foreign Languages and Literature, and International Communication with great inspirations to broaden my vision and change my life. In addition, thanks to all the friends and classmates who inspired me and have become my important life partners. Thanks to my boyfriend who companied me when I was finishing my thesis. Special thanks to my lovely friend, Dorothy, for she makes my thesis more readable and beautiful. I love you guys. 1.

(4) Third, I would like to thank my family, my mother, father, brother, and my aunt who have always supported me financially and mentally during my life. Thank you for letting me be myself to pursue everything I wish for and making me become a better person. I am so lucky to be born to this lovely family. I hope I am the one who you feel proud of. I love you. Last, my thesis couldn’t complete without the transnational daughters who are willing to share their family life, emotions, and experiences with a stranger. Being a transnational daughter is not easy. While interviewing, I can hear your braveness and. 政治大 borders. I feel truly grateful and lucky to have this chance to listen to your 立. strong heart in finding a balance between being daughters and being yourself beyond. experiences and write your stories with my interpretation. Your stories inspire me,. ‧ 國. 學. thank you.. ‧. My thesis and all of this work are embedded in ICTs. My thesis wouldn’t have. sit. y. Nat. started or finished without ICTs. Thanks to hundreds of emails and text messages with. io. er. Professors, and to the voice calls with transnational daughters. Also thanks to the comfortable library spaces and beautiful environment at the University of Oslo, for. n. al. Ch. they helped me to concentrate on my work.. engchi. i n U. v. Tender, Jou Chang Taiwan, February 2017. 2.

(5) Abstract This study aims to explore unmarried Taiwanese female migrants as daughters who work in the Netherlands and their adoptions of ICTs in maintaining transnational intergenerational relationships with their parents in Taiwan. This study also aims to explore daughter-mother and daughter-father relationships. respectively and. comparatively to illustrate how these transnational daughters practice the roles of daughters through ICTs. This study examines the interaction of the research areas of transnationalism and intergenerational communication. The discussion of practicing. 政治大 communication are seldom embedded in the context of transnational families. This 立 the roles of transnational daughters and their transnational intergenerational. study has demonstrated that transnational daughters adopt various ICT tools with. ‧ 國. 學. different strategies to maintain intergenerational relationships and practice the roles of. ‧. daughters under family expectations that are emphasized in this study. Transnational. sit. y. Nat. daughters also adopt different ICTs for mother-daughter and father-daughter. io. er. relationships, which echo the different family roles between mothers and fathers. This study highlights the concept of polymedia and intergenerational relationships in the. n. al. context of transnationalism.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Keywords: transnational daughter, transnational family, intergenerational communication, ICT, polymedia. 3.

(6) Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Research Purpose ........................................................................................... 6 1.2 Research Background .................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................... 11 2.1 ICTs and Transnational Families ............................................................... 11 2.2 Daughters in Taiwanese Families ............................................................... 16 2.3 Daughter and Father Relationships ........................................................... 19. 政治大 2.5 Research Questions ...................................................................................... 23 立. 2.4 Daughter and Mother Relationships .......................................................... 21. Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................................................. 25. ‧ 國. 學. 3.1 Qualitative Research in the Transnational Family Studies ...................... 25. ‧. 3.2 Sampling ....................................................................................................... 25. sit. y. Nat. 3.3 Defining ICTs................................................................................................ 30. io. er. 3.4 Research Limitations ................................................................................... 31 Chapter 4 Transnational daughters in the Netherlands ......................................... 32. al. n. v i n Ch 4.1 Supportive parents ....................................................................................... 32 engchi U. 4.2 Supportive siblings ....................................................................................... 33 4.3 Expectations surrounding transnational daughters ................................. 34 Chapter 5 ICTs adoptions as family expectations ................................................... 42 5.1 Ideal daughters in transnational intergenerational communication....... 42 5.2 Taking good care of oneself ......................................................................... 43 5.3 Finding a partner to take care of me .......................................................... 46 5.4 Summary ....................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 6 ICTs adoptions as emotional needs ........................................................ 52 6.1 Polymedia: choosing between digital technologies/ICTs .......................... 52 4.

(7) 6.2 Video calls: Longing for seeing you and loving daughters ....................... 52 6.3 Text messages: expressing strong feelings clearly ..................................... 53 6.4 Time strategies: ease a sense of guilt .......................................................... 55 6.5 Summary ....................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 7 Comparison: Mother-daughter and Father-daughter relationships ... 57 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 57 7.2 Active mothers and passive fathers ............................................................ 57 7.3 Text messages with the fathers .................................................................... 60. 政治大 7.5 Summary ....................................................................................................... 62 立 7.4 Voice and video calls with the mothers ...................................................... 61. Chapter 8 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 64. ‧ 國. 學. 8.1 Transnational family communication and ICTs........................................ 64. ‧. 8.2 Limitations and Future Research ............................................................... 66. sit. y. Nat. Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 68. io. n. al. er. References ................................................................................................................... 70. Ch. engchi. 5. i n U. v.

(8) Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Research Purpose This article explores the ways in which Taiwanese unmarried adult women employed as female migrants in the Netherlands adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) to maintain intergenerational relationships with their parents in Taiwan. This study does not envisage parents as a whole, but examines daughter-mother and daughter-father relationships respectively and comparatively to illustrate in detail how these transnational daughters perform the roles of daughters. 政治大. through ICTs in transnational intergenerational communication in Taiwanese contexts.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 1.2 Research Background. The transnational family as a form of unit in which familial relations may reside. ‧. and develop is becoming more common in global societies (Yeoh, Huang, & Lam,. sit. y. Nat. 2005). Members of a transnational family have relied on various strategies to maintain. n. al. er. io. intimate relationships across national borders, such as mediated communication and. i n U. v. economic support. The development of ICTs have allowed mobilized individuals to. Ch. engchi. communicate with their friends and families creatively and make them feel closer to distant ones (Peile, 2016; Nedelcu & Wyss, 2016). In particular, feminization of labor migration from developing to developed countries in Asia has increased participation in transnational flows (Yeoh et al., 2005). Hence, the concerns of migrant women who are involved in the global care chain (Basa, Harcourt, & Zarro, 2011) from Asia, and their maintenance of family relationships are becoming popular in ICTs and transnational family studies. These studies demonstrated that the roles of transnational women as mothers and wives who are responsible for taking care of children and emotional support at home are 6.

(9) embedded in ICTs (Uy-Tioco, 2007; Vertovec, 2009; Madianou & Miller, 2013). In Taiwan, not only do many migrant workers make up the labor force, for example, lots of research examines female migrant workers from South East Asia and explores their life experiences, civil rights, labor conditions, and relationships with their counties of origin through ICTs (Lan, 2006; Hsia, 2004; Wang, 2010), but also many Taiwanese workers are increasingly leaving Taiwan for various reasons to go on to various host countries. For example, some Taiwanese families immigrate to North America to enable their “Parachute Kids” to receive a Western education (Sun, 2014).. 政治大. Many Taiwanese male breadwinners move to China to support their families in Taiwan (Lin, 2013).. 立. Taiwan as one of East Asia countries is encountering feminization of migration as. ‧ 國. 學. well. Kim (2011) demonstrated that migration from East Asia has become. ‧. increasingly feminized through forms of study abroad and work which give rise to. sit. y. Nat. student diaspora since 1980s because of rapid economic growth in East Asia. These. io. er. student diasporas who have become a common career move for women from middle-upper class families in their 20s shifted the patterns of international migration. al. n. v i n C hskilled and knowledge-intensive towards movement of the highly from Asia into engchi U western countries (Kim, 2011).. Nowadays, increasing populations of youth choose to go abroad for further studies in Europe to live in host countries. The most popular country among Taiwanese youth is the United Kingdom, followed by France and Germany. The fourth most popular country is Spain, followed by the Netherlands between 2001 and 2014. The average number of Taiwan’s young generation who study abroad in the Netherlands is more than 200 per year (Ministry of Education, 2014). In these countries, the Netherlands and Taiwan have close relationships in terms of history and economy. The relationship between Taiwan and the Netherlands can be traced back to 7.

(10) colonial times when Taiwan was under colonial Dutch rule in 1624. After 37 years, the colonial Dutch period was brought to the end by the invasion of Koxinga's army in 1662. The background of Chinese-speaking migrants in the Netherlands has shifted in the past decades. In the 1960s to 70s, many overseas Chinese who lived in Hong Kong moved to the Netherlands to make a living working in Chinese restaurants (Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan), 2009). Most of them lived in main cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, mostly working in catering and tourism.. 政治大 longstanding close economic relations since colonial period. The Netherlands Trade 立. The Netherlands and Taiwan which are both small export-oriented have had. and Investment office (NTIO) (2016) indicated that the economy relationships. ‧ 國. 學. between Taiwan and the Netherlands in terms of system of ports, trade relations and. ‧. trade routes are still influenced by colonial period. The Taipei Representative Office. sit. y. Nat. in the Netherlands (2014) investigated that since the 1980s, Taiwanese companies. io. er. have started to set up branch companies from IT industries, biological technology, and financial business and so on in the Netherlands. The relationships below show the. al. n. v i n C h the Netherlands U strong economic connection between and Taiwan. engchi. First, the Netherlands is the largest European investor and is also the 2nd largest. trading partner from the EU in Taiwan. Second, the flight between Amsterdam and Taipei is the only daily direct flight between Taiwan and Europe. Furthermore, an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation was signed between the Netherlands and Taiwan in 2001 (NTIO, 2016). In 2016, there are over 200 Taiwanese companies investing in the Netherlands. And total amount of Taiwanese investments in the Netherlands is 1,517 (million/USD), followed by United Kingdom, and Germany (NTIO, 2016). A report also investigated that there were over 1,119 Taiwanese in the Netherlands who still held the passport of the Republic of China, including 650 8.

(11) females and 469 males between 1995 to 2005 (Statistic of Overseas Chinese Population in Netherlands, 2005). Their ages mostly ranged from 25 to 35 years old. In 2012, the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands (2014) claimed that there were over 3,000 Taiwanese living in the Netherlands, with the numbers of women relatively more than men. The relationships between the Netherlands and Taiwan can not only be addressed in the increasing numbers of Taiwanese youth for education persuasion but also in strong economic connection so far and so forth. More and more young generations. 政治大 migrants in the Netherlands where is easier for Taiwanese to start their career life 立. especially females from Taiwan choose to start their new life as male and female. because of large numbers of Taiwanese investing companies and capitals and better. ‧ 國. 學. labor conditions.. ‧. However, studies and statistics related to Taiwanese in the Netherlands are very. y. sit. United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, South East Asia, China. io. er. focused on. Nat. few. Transnational and migration studies on Taiwanese entrepreneurs have mainly. (Wong, 2004) so far, and have paid little attention to the context of Taiwanese. n. al. Ch. migrants in Netherlands. Furthermore, very little. engchi. v i n research U. focuses on Taiwanese. women and the intimate relationships with their families within transnational family and ICTs studies. Lan (2008) also demonstrated that the studies of unmarried adult women are neglected in transnational migration studies, which mainly focus on migrant women as mothers and wives. Women as daughters perform differently in transnational processes and their relationships with their parents will be reshaped under the contexts beyond borders. ICTs become an irreplaceable mediator in transnational communication. Moreover, research on ICTs, female migrants as daughters and their families rarely examines intergenerational relationships and compares daughter-mother with daughter-father relationships. 9.

(12) In sum, the significance of the study lies in its focus on how unmarried adult daughters as female migrants in the Netherlands maintain intergenerational relationships through ICTs beyond borders from the perspectives of daughters under younger feminization of migration from East Asia to Western countries. In particular, this study sheds lights on how the roles of Taiwanese daughters that are rarely addressed in the family roles of transnational women studies in terms of social expectations and cultural norms are embedded in ICTs in transnational family contexts.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 10. i n U. v.

(13) Chapter 2 Literature Review. This chapter begins with a literature review of transnational families and ICTs adoption. In the second section of this chapter, in order to further understand how ICTs are embedded in the lives of transnational Taiwanese daughters as this study aims to do, this study lays out the literature of daughters in Taiwanese family, encompassing daughter-father and daughter-mother relationships.. 政治大 The transnational family, 立which was defined as families “that live some or most of. 2.1 ICTs and Transnational Families. ‧ 國. 學. the time separated from each other, yet hold together and create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely familyhood” (Bryceson &. ‧. Vuorela, 2002, p.3) are increasingly popular forms of family units in contemporary. sit. y. Nat. society under the contexts of transnationalism. Transnationalism can be traced back to. n. al. er. io. Randolph Bourne’s essay about the idea of a “trans-national America,” in which he. i n U. v. observed the new immigrants that entered the United States. But Bourne did not focus. Ch. engchi. on the forging of transnational ties between the countries of origin and host country (Cohen, 2008). In 1992, Glick Schiller and her colleagues pointed out that transnationalism referred to “the process by which immigrants build social fields that link together their country of origin and their country of settlement” (Skrbiš, 2008; Cohen, 2008). Therefore, the concept of transnationalism is that immigrants’ lives cut across national boundaries and bring two societies into a social field, which also means that even though immigrants are leaving from their countries of origin, they still hold ties to their social relations in their home countries. Early studies of the transnational family focus on family separation and highlight 11.

(14) emotional consequences, problems with decision-making and difficulties in raising children in host countries (Schans, 2009). Meanwhile, gender and transnational family studies explore responsibilities of transnational workers in their families, such as caring and earning (Kang, 2012). Unlike male workers who are usually perceived as breadwinners and have to work abroad to support their families in the global labor force, more and more female migrant workers are involved in the global care chain and are beginning to financially support their families too (Basa, Harcourt, & Zarro, 2011). This forms the consequence of the feminization of migration, which is. 政治大 who decided to work abroad have transformed their roles in their families from 立. addressed largely by transnational family studies that find female migrant workers. economic dependents into main financial supporters of their families and countries of. ‧ 國. 學. origin. For example, many female migrant workers in South East Asia leave from. ‧. their home countries to host countries such as Europe (Williams, 2012) and work as. sit. y. Nat. caretakers and housekeepers (Parreñas, 2005).. io. er. Such flows of individual mobilization have contributed to the development of transportation from country to country, the establishment of global enterprises, and. al. n. v i n C h technology. Cohen the improvement of communication (2008) demonstrated that the engchi U. flows across nations resulted from new communication technologies and modes of transportation have produced transnational social relations. The concept of holding the family together through cohabitation and co-presence has diminished as a result of ICTs usage (Leifsen & Tymczuk, 2012). Various studies have addressed that regular communication, such as telephone calls, letters, SMS messages, and so on affects intimacy across borders and defines the transnational family’s everyday life (Asis et al. 2004; Levitt 2001). Especially the invention of the Internet has put the greatest influence. on. transnational. communication. (Şenyürekl. &. Detzner,. 2009).. Transnational workers around the world now have more access than before to 12.

(15) communicate with their families and friends in their home countries. In addition to cheap telephones calls, faxes, and emerging ICTs such as email, Internet sites and new media can provide a space for transnational activities and connections (Castells, 1998). The popularity of social media, such as Facebook, Line, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and so on have created an online social space to communicate and interact with people in transnational contexts (Dekker & Engbersen, 2014). Vertovec (2009) stated that one feature of new migrant transnationalism is that migrants continue to maintain strong connections of emotions, loyalty and affiliation. 政治大 through technological contact. Apart from maintaining and reshaping transnational 立. with families, and their home country’s institutions and political organizations. social relations, Wong (2005) demonstrated transnational individuals contain. ‧ 國. 學. transformative identities and hybrid identities produced by ICTs. Therefore,. ‧. transnational individuals use ICTs to reconstruct their fluid identity through. sit. y. Nat. interacting with their social relations such as families, friends and organizations in. io. er. their countries of origin. Transnational workers can both maintain their intimate relationships with their families and reconstruct their subjectivity and roles with. al. n. v i n C For convenient accessibility of ICTs. Filipino migrant mothers reconstruct h eexample, ngchi U their identity of motherhood with the implications of ICTs (Madianou, 2012).. Within the literature of ICTs and transnational family studies, many researchers draw on transnational parenthood (Hoang & Yeoh, 2012). Studies of transnational motherhood in particular are conducted more because of feminization of migration (Madianou, 2012). Madianou and Miller (2013) indicated that communication technologies can help transnational mothers to practice mothering and maintaining intimate relationships with their children. Besides, migrant mothers not only reinvent their motherhood through emotional support via mobile phones but also become a breadwinner who can renegotiate their status of being a mother in their families. 13.

(16) Moreover, a growing numbers of researchers have conducted research on the relationships between migrant workers’ ICT usage and its implications for connectivity and empowerment (Thomas & Lim, 2011). However, the roles of ICTs in the context of transnational families are not always positive in terms of intimate relationships. Inequality of power relations in transnational families are embedded in ICTs uses (Pribilsky, 2004; Hannaford, 2015). For example, Hannaford (2015) claimed that overseas husbands utilize ICTs to monitor their spouses to restrict them at home. Cecilia Uy-Tioco (2007) also found. 政治大 emotional support among other traditional gender roles, which may lead to a sense of 立. that transnational mothers are still constrained by duties of caring and giving. guilt because of their absence. Even though transnational mothers and wives who are. ‧ 國. 學. defined by traditional gender roles are widely discussed, transnational women as. ‧. daughters in terms of social expectations and cultural norms, as well as their power. sit. y. Nat. relations with parents are rarely addressed in ICTs and transnational family studies.. io. er. The challenge of ICTs and transnational family studies is that ICTs are constantly changing and are affordable, widely accessible, and highly adaptable. ICTs. al. n. v i n C hof migration intoUa transnational experiences engchi. have transformed the. process with. family networks that have been redesigned but not lost (Bacigalupe & Lambe, 2011). Therefore, more studies are needed to understand various emerging ICTs and examine how they are associated with each other (Madianou, 2012). Masianou and Miller (2013) coined the concept of “polymedia” to theorize the complexity of when users are faced with a wide range of new ICTs. Polymdia concentrates on the reasons behind the choices of different communication mediums. Users who choose multiple media not only rely on functional reasons but also rely on social and cultural factors in order to satisfy their emotional needs. The concept of polymedia is built on the idea that all kinds of ICTs get together as one media, and also suggests that technology and 14.

(17) society are interacting with each other and are influenced by each other. Madianou and Miller (2013) demonstrated that there are three preconditions to have access to the environment of polymedia. First is access, which contends that users know how to have access to multiple medium; the second is affordability, which focuses on the cost of all kinds of mediums that can be afforded by users; third, and most importantly, is that users must understand how to produce content through different kinds of mediums and analyze the contents, which is called media literacy. Therefore, as the rise of the convenience brought about by ICTs becomes universal, users can adopt. 政治大 workers will intent to control ICTs to maintain their relationship with their families by 立 different kinds of media based on their personal and emotional reasons. Migrant. taking advantage of each medium offers (Madianou, 2014).. ‧ 國. 學. In particular, it is crucial to note that there are several factors that have an impact. ‧. on ICTs adoptions among transnational families. The ability, accessibility, and. sit. y. Nat. affordance of transnational families to use ICTs is mediated by social and. io. er. geographical factors in terms of the socio-economic status of the transnational family, the geographical location of transnational families (Şenyürekl & Detzner, 2009), and. al. n. v i n C hability to utilize ICTs most importantly, the individual’s and the resources they offer engchi U (Dekker, & Engbersen, 2014). Furthermore, the ability and accessibility of ICTs are. embedded in gendered and intergenerational differences (Hsu, 2011). Drawing on the concept of polymedia, this study examines the reasons behind various types of ICTs adoption in terms of social, cultural, and power-relation factors, which will be elaborated upon in this study to further explore whether the reasons for ICTs adoption are embedded within social and cultural factors of the roles of daughters. In Taiwan, studies have also explored migrant women from South East Asia who keep in touch with their families and places of origin, thus acting as transnational daughters through phone calls, regular or irregular remittances, and visiting (Wang, 15.

(18) 2012). Still, the context of transnational daughters from Taiwan in other countries as migrant workers is not fully addressed. Lan (2008) also demonstrated that transnational migration studies mainly focus on women as mothers and wives, while studies of unmarried adult women are usually neglected. Thus this study intends to focus on unmarried adult Taiwanese women in the Netherlands as transnational daughters to explore their intimate relationships with their parents and the ways they use ICTs to practice the role of daughters as defined by traditional gender roles, in the context of the transnational family.. 政治大 2.2 Daughters in Taiwanese Families 立. Family is an important unit in a society and members in families play different. ‧ 國. 學. roles under social expectations and cultural norms. In the Philippines, daughters, as. ‧. women in family, are less expected to be responsible for supporting their families of. sit. y. Nat. origin financially, socially and culturally, but the discourse of responsibility becomes. io. er. fluid if daughters are financially independent. Women who are working abroad fulfill their roles and obligations as daughters, eldest sisters, and mothers by providing for. al. n. v i n their family (Madianou, 2012). C Similarly, VietnameseU h e n g c h i transnational daughters become. potential financial providers, which are culturally the duty of sons, because of transnational marriage (Thai, 2012). Therefore, the role of daughters beyond borders may be significantly distinct from those of non-mobile daughters. In order to understand the practices of daughters in Taiwanese contexts with social and cultural factors embedded in ICTs, it is crucial to discuss the roles of daughters in the Taiwanese family. The family in Taiwan remains a central socioeconomic unit in society and is also an important network to support each family member (Yeung, 2013). In contrast to mainstream Western family culture, traditional Taiwanese culture emphasizes that the 16.

(19) individual exists in order to support and continue the family, and that the family as a whole is superior to any individual in it (Kung, 2014). The family, the fundamental basis of society, still provides the primary and important functions of education and socialization (Yeung, 2013), which are derived from Confucianism (Baker, 1979). Therefore, the family as a sphere of socialization provides social roles for the individual to perform, as well as gendered roles under social expectations and cultural doctrines (Cai, 2012). Fathers who are usually absent at home are the main economic supporters of a family, while mothers are responsible for domestic affairs and caring. 政治大 and the economic development in Taiwan since the 1970s, the composition of the 立 in traditional Taiwanese families. However, with the changing population structure. family has been changed from the extended family to the nuclear family, which is. ‧ 國. 學. identified as a household consisting of parents and their unmarried children (Zhang et. ‧. al., 2014). In addition, with the rising status of women in terms of economic status,. sit. y. Nat. educational background and widespread achievement of gender equality in Taiwan,. io. er. there are more and more dual income families in which both parents support the whole family, economically replacing the traditional structure. Thus, women in the. al. n. v i n family are still restricted fromCbeing caretakers, and h e n g c h i Uthey are struggling to find a balance between work and care.. Offspring in the family are also expected to play different roles based on gender roles and cultural norms. In Taiwan, the relationships between parent and children are maintained by a superior-and-subordinate relationship from Confucianism, dictating that children have to follow their parents’ orders. Filial piety, which is characterized as a worshipped value in East Asia (Wang, 2012), is the basis of order in parent and child relationships in a Taiwanese family, meaning that children must please, support, and be subordinate to their parents. However, the filial piety that parents expect from their children is different in terms of gender. Sons, especially elder sons, are educated 17.

(20) to be responsible for running the family’s business in the future; however, daughters are not expected to support their original families, because they will eventually leave from their homes of origin to support her husband after she gets married. Sons generally carry the major responsibility for taking care of their older parents, while daughters typically only fulfill the son’s roles when sons are not available. With regard to the division of domestic labor, women who are sons’ sisters, wives, and parents’ daughters-in-law or tend to provide emotional support which are asked by sons, sons tend to be responsible for providing the parents with economic support. 政治大 be weak and passive (Tsai, 2010), will undergo three stages of their life traditionally. 立. (Zhang, Poston Jr, & Zhang, 2014). Daughters also, as women who are perceived to. First, they are born to be subordinate to their fathers. Daughters’ formal obligations to. ‧ 國. 學. their own parents generally terminate at marriage, while unmarried daughters are. ‧. more likely to provide support to their parents (Lin, Goldman, Weinstein, Lin,. sit. y. Nat. Gorrindo, & Seeman, 2003). Second, once married, they are ruled by their husbands.. io. er. Thirdly and finally, they are responsible for their sons. The important role for women is to bear children to carry on the family name and lineage (Tsai, 2008).. al. n. v i n C h superior-and-subordinate While the fact that the traditional relationship and the engchi U. traditional patriarchal type of relationship between parents and children that are constructed by Confucianism have been weakened in contemporary Taiwan (Kung,. 2014; Zhang et al., 2014). Most of parents put their resources and hopes on their children regardless of the child’s gender to help them compete for life opportunities and success, and teach their children good values. Shih (2013) who explored father and daughter relationships in daughters-only families found that familial values for daughters have transformed into “bring a son home,” which still compares daughters with imagined sons. Single daughters have more access to work abroad in order to escape from parental control and marriage pressure (Asis, 2002). 18.

(21) Parents are less strict toward daughters in terms of family responsibility. Rather, daughters are taught to be caring and to follow their future husbands’ families. However, most of the family and gender studies focus on mother and wife, while the role of unmarried daughters in a family is waiting to be discovered. This study is also interested in whether the role changes after migration. With the fact of the rising existence of transnational families, this study addresses the context of transnational unmarried daughters who choose to work abroad and present fluid roles of daughters in the context of the transnational family. Benítez (2012) also demonstrated that the. 政治大 because it introduces new considerations when paying attention to relationships 立. generational perspective is critical to our understanding of transnational families. among transnational families through analyzing communication practices in both. ‧ 國. 學. generations.. ‧. To go beyond the aforementioned studies, this study will explore how unmarried. sit. y. Nat. adult daughters abroad practice their roles from a generational perspective. In addition,. io. er. this study will explore and compare the difference between daughter-mother and daughter-father relationships with ICTs under transnational contexts, which are. al. n. v i n C h ICT studies, andUtransnational family studies in seldom addressed in family studies, engchi. Taiwan. In order to examine daughter-mother and daughter-father relationships respectively and comparatively as this study aims to do, the daughter-parents relationship in Taiwanese contexts is discussed below.. 2.3 Daughter and Father Relationships Research on daughter-father relationship is rarely discussed, and most studies mainly focus on father-children relationships. Cultures and different subgroups in terms of social class, ethnic groups, and working conditions to which fathers belong are determined to affect beliefs about fathers and the behavior of fathers with different 19.

(22) cultural expectations (Seward & Stanley-Stevens, 2014). Traditional Taiwanese fathers are perceived as strict fathers having been governed by Confucian doctrines that consider father-son relationships as the most central (Yeung, 2013). Not only does Confucianism influence the images and practices of Taiwanese fathers, but also Taoist and Buddhist beliefs build up Taiwanese fathers’ images of being a responsible but distant disciplinarian model (Shwalb, Shwalb, & Lamb, 2013). Apart from cultural and religious factors, the images of Taiwanese fathers can also be described in the discourse of social construction. The construction of father figures. 政治大 & Milner, 2011). Patriarchy and masculinity is a product of a social system in which 立. by public discourse creates powerful pressures to which individuals respond (Gregory. males hold primary power. In traditional Taiwanese families, men play dominant roles. ‧ 國. 學. in the family, and fathers or father figures hold authority over women and children.. ‧. The father as a main economic supporter in a family is responsible for children’s. sit. y. Nat. discipline and training. As role models for their children and wives, fathers are. io. er. constructed to be emotionally reserved and are more distant, strict, and unexpressive (Yeung, 2013). Above all, Taiwanese fatherhood as a representation of the society and. al. n. v i n C h of being rational,Uresponsible, unexpressive and its culture has a certain framework engchi distant from their children.. However, the performances of fatherhood are various between different ages, ethnicities and social status groups (Shih, 2013). Contemporary social and economic conditions strongly impact fathering and fatherhood under Taiwanese contexts. Men are more willing to act passively (Wang, 2003), and participate in childcare and domestic activities because of new social policies, such as parental leave. The increase in the proportion of nuclear families with changing family structure further alters the patterns of father-child relationships. Familial relations are also changed in modernized society. Modern fathers are finding it easier to enhance intimacy with 20.

(23) their children through engaging in their children’s lives more than before (Shwalb et al., 2013). The images of fatherhood in the discourse of Taiwanese fathers have been transformed from “stern fathers” into “tender fathers” (Wang, 2003). Thus, some Taiwanese fathers who take care of children passively after retirement are still preserving a pattern of masculinity (Shih, 2013). In the context of the Taiwanese family, fathers are typically less distant to daughters than they are to sons (Chiu, 2005), tending to show more carefulness towards daughters than to sons, and acting to protect their daughters instead of their. 政治大 Taiwanese daughters’ desire for the father’s love is a “longing-for-father’s-love”. 立 sons (Liao, 2003). Thus, Yeh, Lin, Wang, & Lin (2006) claimed that adolescent. Research that emphasizes daughter-father relationships is rare and addresses more. ‧ 國. 學. adolescent girls’ or younger children’s relationships with their fathers. Shwalb et al.. ‧. (2013) claimed that fathering and fatherhood are dynamic and flowing, and so too are. sit. y. Nat. daughter-father relationships.. io. er. In sum, this study aims to contribute to the study of daughter-father relationships in transnational families to explore fluid daughter-father relationships in the contexts. n. al. of transnationalism.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 2.4 Daughter and Mother Relationships Compared with the research of daughter-father relationships, daughter-mother relationships are largely examined and emphasized in two fields: social psychology studies and sociology studies. Chodorow (1978), one of the pioneering modern feminists and the author of The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender, addressed the impact of gender and sociocultural factors on the development of boys and girls in terms of interpersonal relationships with fathers and mothers. She claimed that the relationships between daughter and mother, which are 21.

(24) based on same sex, are closer than son and mother relationships because the son eventually identifies himself through learning from his father, while the daughter will eventually identify herself as a wife and mother through being taught by her mother. Liu (2000) analyzed Chodorow’s theories about the relationships between mother and daughter and claimed that daughters, who are influenced by their mothers, want to become mothers and wives in order to acquire satisfaction and reproduce motherhood eventually. When daughters are born, they are expected to become mothers and wives and are not taken as independent humans but as functional daughters, wives and. 政治大 Even though Taiwanese culture shares different values from Western studies in 立. mothers (Gilligan, 1982).. terms of daughter and mother relationships, mothers still play an important role in the. ‧ 國. 學. life experiences of daughters. Taiwanese daughter and mother relationships, which are. ‧. similar to daughter and father relationships, are affected by Confucianism and the. sit. y. Nat. extent to which traditional values are embedded in cultural and sociology studies, but. io. er. with different contexts in Taiwan (Kuo & Geraci, 2012). Daughters as female members in the family are taught to assist their mothers to take care of family. al. n. v i n C hthey will know howUto take care of their husbands’ members and the household so that engchi. families once they get married (Wang, 2012). However, compared with daughter and father relationships, Taiwanese daughters have better attached to mothers than fathers. and have more intimate and loving relationships (Kung, 2014). Sun (2014) also demonstrated that there is a strong emotional connectedness and sometimes enmeshment in the daughter and mother relationships that are also expected to be close and intimate (Hsu, 2011). Nevertheless, the development of daughter and mother relationships, which is restrained by patriarchal society, is not always smooth. Daughters who are in favor of social expectations continue playing the roles of daughter, mother and wife, which 22.

(25) may lead to a crisis among mothers and daughters: daughters may be afraid of becoming their mothers, who are constructed by patriarchy, but the daughters still love their mothers (Cai, 2012). Chou (2001) conducted a study in Taiwan focusing on intimacy as well as bitter resentment between mother and daughter, by addressing how mothers passed on their gender roles to their daughters and then examined how daughters perceived their gender roles. Even though one of the ways that daughters identify themselves is to interact with their mothers, the relationships between daughters and mothers are fluid. Wang (2012). 政治大 create a balance between autonomy and intimacy in terms of different life stages. 立. claimed that both daughters and mothers adjust their relationship with each other and. Wang (2012) proposed that mothers and daughters could form alliances to fight. ‧ 國. 學. against the oppressive patriarchy rather than fighting against each other. Young. ‧. women who leave home and become nuns also encounter extreme relationships with. sit. y. Nat. their mothers because mothers who defend family values have to reconsider their. io. er. gender roles (Li, 2000). In the Hakka culture in Taiwan, traditional gender roles are still inherited by mothers; however, some daughters are opposed to becoming. al. n. v i n C hshow their agency U restricted by traditional values and as Hakka daughters (Cai, 2012). engchi. Above, daughter-mother relationships are addressed in various studies; however,. the discourses between daughters and mothers under transnational contexts are still rare in Taiwan. This study hopes to explore fluid relationships between mother and adult daughters as female migrants and mothers in order to enlighten the research of daughter-mother relationships in the contexts of the transnational family.. 2.5 Research Questions Based on the literature review of ICTs, the transnational family, and the context of Taiwanese families including daughter-father and daughter-mother relationships, 23.

(26) this study focuses on the following research questions to fill the gap in the literature. What ICTs tools are adopted in these transnational families? What are the rationales behind choosing these ICTs tools? How are these rationales of ICTs adoption embedded in the norms, values and power relations of these family relationships? In particular, what are the differences between mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships mediated through ICTs? See the appendix for the outline of interviews with regard to the three main research questions mentioned above.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 24. i n U. v.

(27) Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Qualitative Research in the Transnational Family Studies This study was based on in-depth interviews with 12 Taiwanese female migrants. This is to respond to the call for more qualitative research in transnational contexts (Chib et al., 2014). While the growing literature on transnational families remains overwhelmingly dominated by qualitative research, which is criticized for its small-scale and difficulty of assessing and verifying the information found in these studies, qualitative research enables researchers to interact with individuals, to build. 政治大 Schmalzbauer, 2012). Qualitative 立 research is suitable for capturing the rationales and relationships, and to analyze social phenomena systematically (Carling, Menjívar, &. ‧ 國. 學. emotional and moral parts of experiences as this study aims to explore intergenerational intimate relationships and the reasons of adoption of ICTs, which. ‧. requires establishing relationships of trust and solidarity between the researcher and. sit. y. Nat. participants (Ryan, 2011). Instead of considering participants as the information. n. al. er. io. providers, this research will consider the participants as co-researchers (Altork, 1998).. i n U. v. In-depth interviews enable the researcher to acquire contextual and experimental. Ch. engchi. data to interact with participants. The in-depth interview is an interaction between the researcher and the participants based on trust (Babbie, 2004) in order to understand the experiences of participants subjectively. You (2010) also mentioned that Benny and Hughes, sociologists from the United States, addressed that the interview as a social interaction will help researchers to understand social phenomena and explore it.. 3.2 Sampling This study interviewed 12 transnational daughters in the Netherlands. Daughters take fluid responsibilities and perform fluid roles in terms of various characteristics, 25.

(28) which also lead to different discourses of intergenerational relationships. For example, research by Lin et al. (2003) showed that non-married daughters are more likely to provide parents help and financial support with ADLs and IADLs than married daughters. Daughters who have siblings will perform different roles as well. For example, daughters tend to provide support to their parents when there are no male siblings (Lee, Parish, & Willis, 1994), and daughters take less responsibility if they have other female siblings (Lin et al., 2003). Therefore, for selecting participants, this study first focuses on unmarried adult females with their partners or in a single. 政治大. relationship to examine fluid roles of transnational daughters across borders.. 立. In particular, this study addressed the unmarried adult females who are working. ‧ 國. 學. full-time in the Netherlands with a permanent residence or a provisional residence permit for work related purposes, for example, work as an employee, work on a. ‧. self-employed basis, and work as a highly skilled migrant (Immigration and. Nat. sit. y. Naturalization Service, Ministry of Security and Justice, 2016), for their working. n. al. er. io. condition would be more stable and they are more willing to stay in the Netherlands.. i n U. v. That is, the participants live separately with their families in Taiwan in a long term.. Ch. engchi. The age of the informants who participated in in-depth interviews ranges between 28 and 38 with homogeneous educational qualification that most informants have achieved master degree in the Netherlands and immigration status that they are qualified for permanent residence or permanent working visa but varying in life stages in response to the lack of studies of single adult women in Taiwan (Lan, 2008) and to the lack of research in the contexts of feminization of migration from East Asia. They have a wide variety of city jobs, from architect, business consulting, e-commerce, to IT industry, with the majority of the informants in Taiwanese business in the Netherlands. These informants are mostly from middle- to upper-class families in 26.

(29) Taiwan that families are able to support the expense of education financially. Only one informant, Cat, is single daughter without other siblings in her family. Other informants who have siblings have at least one younger or older male sibling in their families. And 8 of 12 informants are the oldest daughters in their families. Most parents are having their career in Taiwan with the age of ranging between 54 and 66. Only two pairs of parents are retired. This study indicated that most parents are healthy without the need of care and are sufficient to take care of themselves. See the information of the informants and the background of the parents on the following pages.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 27. i n U. v.

(30) Name. Age Education. Stay (years). Work. Status in Holland. Relationship. Fancy. 38. Master. 9. Business. Permanent residence. Single. Jolin. 30. Master. 5. Business. Permanent working visa. Boyfriend. Home. 32. EMBA. 4. Business. Permanent working visa. Cohabitate with boyfriend. Candy. 33. Master. 7. Business. Permanent. Single. working visa Pinky. 30. Master. 4. Sara. 37. Bachelor. Hana. 34. Cat. 28. 立. Permanent 治 working 政 Business 大 visa. Cohabitate with girlfriend. Permanent residence. Single. Master. 6. Business. Permanent working visa. Cohabitate with boyfriend. Bachelor. 5. Business. Permanent. Cohabitate. residence. with boyfriend. 31. MBA. y. Nat. Tender. Master. io. architect. 3. IT industry. n. al. 5. sit. 32. Permanent residence. Boyfriend. er. Yammy. ‧. ‧ 國. Business. 學. 10. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Permanent working visa. Single. Janny. 31. Master. 7. Business. Permanent working visa and residence. Cohabitate with boyfriend. Peggy. 32. MBA. 3. Business. Permanent. Single. working visa. 28.

(31) Name. Mother Age. Working condition. Father Age. Working condition. Fancy. 63. Assistant of husband’s career. 66. Veterinary. Jolin. 63. Retired. 62. Retired. Home. 66. Retired. 66. Retired. Candy. 56. Working. 61. Working sometimes. Pinky. 57. Homemaker. 立. 政治 58 大. Business (Passed away). 67. Hana. 62. Homemaker. 62. Cat. 54. Business. 57. Yammy. 57. Accountant. 59. Business Business. ‧. ‧ 國. 60. 學. Sara. Shipping specialist. y. sit. io. n. al. er. Nat. Business. i n C Owning dancing 61 h eclass ngchi U. Architect. v. Tender. 54. Working. Janny. 59. Homemaker. 59. Business. Peggy. 59. Assistant of husband’s career. 65. Business. Snowball sampling was adopted in this study for gathering participants. This study gathered informants by posting interview information in the Facebook group, Taiwanese in the Netherlands for three times and from the researcher’s friends who is working in the Netherlands after graduation. And the initial participants will introduce 29.

(32) more acquaintances to the field. Snowball sampling is one of the forms of accidental sampling that can be used in research in which participants are difficult to find, such as homeless individuals, undocumented migrant workers, or any subjects who are difficult to locate (Babbie, 2010). The limitation of snowball sampling in the study is that the interviewees might have similar social economic status, ages and jobs.. 3.3 Defining ICTs Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are defined as all digital. 政治大 communicate and to create, disseminate, 立. devices, tools, content and resources and as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to. store, and manage. information” (Rajsekhar, 2013). ICTs include radio, fixed lines and mobile phones,. ‧ 國. 學. computers and networks, as well as the equipment and services inherent in these. ‧. technologies and associated with software and hardware, such as electronic mail. ICTs. sit. y. Nat. also consist of the hardware, software, networks, and media for collection, storage,. io. er. processing, transmission and presentation of information, such as voice, data, text, and images, as well as related services (Rajsekhar, 2013:171). In order to better. al. n. v i n C hdivides ICTs intoUthree categories based on their categorize various ICTs, this study engchi. functions: text-based communication, voice-based communication, and multimedia communication (Madianou & Miller, 2012: 103-139). The interview guide will consist of basic questions related to participants’ use of ICTs in terms of types, frequency, and duration of applications used, the topics discussed, and the barriers encountered in order to understand the implications of ICTs choices (Chib et al., 2014).. 30.

(33) 3.4 Research Limitations Due to distance limitations, this study utilized online calls placed through voice calls on Line or Skype to interact with all the participants that are difficult to examine the facial expressions from the informants. The audio recordings of the qualitative data will be necessary to analyze the content of interview. A researcher conducting a qualitative study must be aware of the roles he/she plays in our daily lives, and their own interpretations and thoughts about social phenomena (Oran, 1998). As both a daughter and the researcher of this study, it is crucial to recognize that the researcher’s. 政治大 close to the researcher. You (2010) also demonstrated that the researcher should be 立. life experiences as a daughter might influence the story of the participants who are. conscious of the limitation on information that is shared by participants, and also to be. ‧ 國. 學. aware that the production of results made by the researcher will be less close to social. ‧. io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. reality.. Ch. engchi. 31. i n U. v.

(34) Chapter 4 Transnational daughters in the Netherlands. 4.1 Supportive parents This chapter offers an introduction to the background of transnational daughters and their families in order to understand the intergenerational relationships and communication between the interviewees and their parents beyond borders. Family expectations of daughters from their parents are influential to intergenerational. 政治大. relationships and to the roles of daughters and to adoptions of ICTs in transnational. 立. contexts.. ‧ 國. 學. Most interviewees illustrate their parents as open-minded and supportive parents who respect daughters’ decisions of working and living abroad. Transnational. ‧. daughters describe themselves as a high given autonomous daughters so that they are. sit. y. Nat. able to go abroad for further studies and reside in the Netherlands. The phenomenon. n. al. er. io. is different from Kung’s (2014) depiction of traditional Taiwanese culture, in which. i n U. v. children are obedient to their parents and children are obligated to listen to parents’. Ch. engchi. orders, as described in many existing studies.. My parents are open-minded….My father wanted to go abroad for further studies but failed because of financial issues. So he might think that he would support his children to do anything they want if the family didn’t have any financial issues (Jolin). They all said that I only need to be happy. They didn’t ask me to be somebody after growing up and they didn’t force me to do something that I don’t want, which is more open minded (Cat). 32.

(35) They don’t have specific expectations, and they just want me to be happy. I think if they really put a lot expectation on me, I wouldn’t be here in Holland. If your parents have expectations for you, they would expect you stay with them, not to marry foreigners, and so on. You and your parents would have many bonds in between (Candy). They don’t interfere with my choices. They know it is different now so that they respect and trust children’s choices (Home).. 政治大 In addition to open-minded and supportive parents, the supportive siblings who 立. 4.2 Supportive siblings. are able to maintain the intergenerational relationships between transnational. ‧ 國. 學. daughters in the Netherlands and parents in Taiwan are important as well in this study,. ‧. which will be addressed in Chapter 3. This study indicated that 11 transnational. sit. y. Nat. daughters have siblings, and 8 out of 12 are oldest daughters. Some informants. io. er. indicated that the reasons for them to become transnational daughters are due to the fact that they are the oldest daughters who have acquired more resources earlier than. n. al. other siblings. Furthermore,. v i n C h the help of siblings with in engchi U. Taiwan, transnational. daughters find it much easier for them to pursue their careers in the Netherlands and have less worries and burdens than single daughters without siblings.. My mother actually expects her children to stay with her but I have already escaped away from them earlier than my young brother (Yammy). Because there are other siblings staying with them, I can stay in Holland. I would have some pressure if I am a single daughter without other siblings (Candy).. 33.

(36) My parents would think my siblings are accompanying them and at the same time they have their own social ties with their friends so they don’t have a sense of losing a child (Peggy). 4.3 Expectations surrounding transnational daughters Even though daughters are separated from their families, they are required to comply with certain expectations from their families in Taiwan. In this study, most parents are described as healthy parents by their daughters without the need of care and with their own social life. Therefore, most informants demonstrated that parents. 政治大 traditional Taiwanese culture 立that children are expect to take care of their parents once do not require them to accompany them and take care of them with regard to. ‧ 國. 學. parents need it. In this study, transnational daughters are only expected to be able to take good care of themselves by having a stable job and a happy life in the. ‧. Netherlands. Unlike their male siblings who are expected to be responsible to take. sit. y. Nat. care of their parents once they grow older, daughters are expected to get married and. al. er. io. support their husbands’ families rather than become financial supporters in their. v. n. original family, which is instead perceived as the sons’ responsibility. Some. Ch. engchi. i n U. informants demonstrated that parents don’t put high expectations on daughters as they only expect daughters to have a happy life and take good care of themselves. The expectations between daughters and sons are different in these transnational families. Some informants demonstrated that daughters are less expected to be responsible for taking over the family economy and taking care of their parents through financial support than male siblings are. Daughters are often expected to leave their original families behind after they get married and follow their husbands’ families. In this study, some informants as daughters are perceived as family members who would eventually leave their original families based on the traditional family 34.

(37) values, so that their parents only expect them to have happy life with financial independence in the Netherlands. That is, most daughters find it easier to work and live abroad than their male siblings.. I think for sons it would be more difficult than for daughters to stay abroad. Because daughters will be married in the future, and that my parents have kept that in mind. One of my young brothers has taken over my family’s business. Even my parents had discussed how to deal with my room with my brothers when I studied abroad in the first year, because they thought that I would be married and move out someday…(Tender).. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. ‧. My father thinks that it is my life so I have to be responsible to myself by making my own choices. Parents in Taiwan have different expectations of sons, because sons are sons. As for my mother, she only thinks that I can take care of myself through financial. y. Nat. er. io. al. sit. independence (Pinky).. n. I think daughters who stay abroad have fewer restrictions than sons. There are many sons who studied in Holland and have to go back to Taiwan after graduation because of the pressures from traditional cultures…Sons are expected to carry on their family’s names (Candy).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In addition to taking good care of themselves and having a happy life, transnational daughters are expected to become involved in a marriage. All the informants who are composed of 5 single daughters who don’t have partners, and 7 daughters with cohabited partners, are mostly beyond their 30s and all of them are in an unmarried relationship. For single daughters, parents pay attention to their daughters’ social lives and expect them to have relationships. Intergenerational 35.

(38) relationships are maintained by the topics of marriage and relationships with those single daughters.. Mother eventually thinks that daughters are girls, so she wishes me to find a nice husband. And she also worries about me giving birth to a baby because of my age (Candy). Of course they want me to get married. So the topic is about daily life and looking for nice guys (Sara).. 政治大. My father cares more about my marriage, for he said that my young sister has good job now and my young brother is old enough to make money. So I should start to look for my life partner(Tender).. 立. ‧ 國. 學. As for the transnational daughters with cohabited partners, parents expect. ‧. them to get married because marriage is represented as a relatively stable relationship. y. Nat. io. sit. and life. Giving birth to a baby is also an important topic in transnational. n. al. er. intergenerational communication. Cat, who has a foreign boyfriend who she lives. i n U. v. with, is a single daughter without other siblings and has close ties with her mother.. Ch. engchi. Her mother expects her to get married and have baby as soon as possible when she and her boyfriend are connecting with each other.. My mother expects me to have baby and take care of her. She asked me when will I get married recently and I replied to her that it is not my decision. She even asked my boyfriend how many kids he wants (Cat). My mother would expect me to get married. But sometimes she is in a dilemma because she knows that it is not easy to stay abroad to have a family because of unstable economy factors (Janny). 36.

(39) Mothers in intergenerational communication become main contact person in these topics, and express more expectations than transnational fathers during the conversation, even though both fathers and mothers expect them to get married and have baby in the future.. 4.3 Using ICTs in transnational families The adoption of ICTs is essential to the maintenance of intergenerational relationships between transnational daughters in the Netherlands and their parents in. 政治大 Transnational daughters. Taiwan. In the study, all of the informants have regular interactions with their parents beyond borders through ICTs.. 立. adopt various ICTs to. maintain family relationships, such as email, Line, Skype and Facebook. The most. ‧ 國. 學. common applications for these transnational families is Line, for they have family. ‧. groups with parents and siblings on Line (See Figure 1) in order to maintain. sit. y. Nat. intergenerational relationships across borders. Most of the transnational daughters. io. er. adopt more than one device while maintaining intergenerational relationships with their families (See Figure 2). 12 participants mainly use smart phones and computers. al. n. v i n C except to adopt ICTs mentioned above, who doesn’t use a smart phone. h e nforg cFancy hi U Fancy uses emails via computers instead to contact with her parents. Among the. devices, smart phones to smart phone and smart phone to tablet are the most common devices for daughters and their parents to communicate with each other.. 37.

(40) Technological devices. ICTs 12. 6. 11. 5. 5. 10. 4. 4 8. 3. 6 6. 5. 2. 2. 1. 1. 4 2. 1. 0. 1. 1. 2. 0 Skype. Line. Facebook Wechat. Figure 1. ICTs. 3. 4 and more. Numbers of devices. Emails. Figure 2. Technological devices. 政治大. This study distinguishes among text-based communication, voice-based. 立. 學. ‧ 國. communication and multimedia communication. All of the participants use text-based communication, such as text messages through Line, emails, and postcards to interact with their parents at least once a week (See Figure 3).. ‧. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Frequency of contact via Text-based communication ( 12 participants). n. a l 8% v i n 25% Ch e n g c h i U Everyday. At least once a week 67%. Once a month or less. Figure 3. Frequency of Text-based communication 7 out of the 12 transnational daughters contact with their parents through voice-based communication, such as voice calls via Line and Skype at least once a week (See Figure 4).. 38.

(41) Frequency of contact via Voice-based communication (7 participants). 29% At least once a week Once a month ot less. 71%. Figure 4. Frequency of Voice-based communication. 政治大. In addition to the text-based and voice-based communication, transnational. 立. daughters also use multimedia communication to interact with their parents.. ‧ 國. 學. Multimedia communication includes social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook and video calls (webcam) via Skype and Line. 6 out of 12 transnational daughters. ‧. adopt video calls to interact with their parents via Skype and Line at least once a week. n. er. io. al. Frequency of contact via video calls in Multimedia Communication (6 participants). sit. y. Nat. (See Figure 5).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 17% 16% Everyday At least once a week 67%. Once a week or less. Figure 5. Frequency of video calls in multimedia communication Half of transnational daughters use Facebook with photos and text messages to give updates about their daily lives to their parents who have their account are able to be involved in their daughters’ transnational life. Line is not only the most common 39.

(42) tool for text-based communication, but also the most common tool for multimedia communication. Most of transnational daughters would post videos about traveling and daily life in a family group on Line. Fancy, who doesn’t have smart phone and her parents don’t have Facebook, makes video and sends it to them via emails on her parents’ birthdays.. My parents and I are Facebook friends so they basically know my daily life in Holland. We know about each other’s lives through Facebook, which is quite enough for me, so we seldom make phone calls (Tender).. 政治大 Mostly I would post some photos while traveling or 立 some interesting photos that are worth sharing with. ‧ 國. 學. family on Line (Janny).. ‧. Time differences and daughters’ working hours are indicated to be the foremost. sit. y. Nat. reasons for transnational daughters to choose between various based communications.. io. er. Text-based communication, photos, and video sharing are more accessible tools for daughters to interact with their parents during weekdays. The voice calls and video. al. n. v i n calls would be adopted duringC the weekend, for theUinformants would spend more hengchi. time contacting with their parents continuously during that time.. I prefer texts because I need to work on weekdays. But I would like to have video calls with them on the weekends (Peggy). I seldom have voice calls or video calls in weekdays (Pinky). Parents’ digital literacy and skills tend to be the significant in the reasons behind daughters’ ICT adoption. Transnational daughters prefer to use the tools that their 40.

(43) parents are more familiar with. Fancy and Home whose parents have reached 65 and are relatively older than other transnational daughters’ parents would rather buy an International package on Skype to call their parents at home.. My parents are not familiar with technology, so I use voice calls to contact with them for five minutes to ten minutes. I usually call them on the weekends because of time differences through the International package of Skype or Line sometimes (Home). I think my parents prefer voice calls so I adopt the International package on Skype to call them. And my parents are not very comfortable with cell phones, so they use telephone at home instead (Fancy).. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. In sum, transnational daughters adopted various Internet technologies with. ‧. different types of communication on account of the time difference, daughters’. sit. y. Nat. working hours and digital literacy of parents to maintain intergenerational. n. al. er. io. relationships in transnational intergenerational communication.. Ch. engchi. 41. i n U. v.

(44) Chapter 5 ICTs adoptions as family expectations. 5.1 Ideal daughters in transnational intergenerational communication This chapter aims to discuss the daughters’ reactions to parents’ expectations through ICT-mediated communication. These expectations, as discussed in the previous chapter, include taking good care of themselves and getting married. Madianou and Miller (2012) in the context of migrant mothers moving from the. 政治大 demonstrated that the distance 立 and separation can increase the appreciation for the. Philippines to the UK while their adolescent children remain in the Philippines. ‧ 國. 學. absent daughters and mediation is able to create the ‘ideal distance’ between autonomy and emotional support. Thus, transnational daughters in this study are. ‧. somehow struggling with this ideal distance. The distance in this study would cause. sit. y. Nat. uncertainty and worry among the parents, so that transnational daughters have to ease. n. al. er. io. the worry through carefully representing their lives to their parents during. i n U. v. intergenerational communication. It is essential for transnational daughters to prove. Ch. engchi. that they are independent and able to take good care of themselves in mediation.. I feel that I am a daughter and a kid who lives so far away from my parents in Holland, so I should let them know what I am doing, how I am recently and where I am going (Jolin). The distance between my parents and I may cause uncertain fears to my parents. I don’t want my parents to worry about me too much (Candy).. 42.

(45) The informants adopted ICTs to maintain intergenerational communication through which they aim to satisfy parents’ expectations in two ways. The first strategy is proving that they have ability to take care of themselves, and second is attempting to find a partner to take care of them.. 5.2 Taking good care of oneself Daughters are perceived as vulnerable and needed to be taken care of in. 政治大 go abroad, the expectations from their parents center on the daughters’ ability to take 立. traditional Taiwanese culture compared to their male siblings. Once these daughters. good care of themselves. In consequence, transnational daughters put lots of effort. ‧ 國. 學. into achieving their parents’ expectations though regularly informing them of their. Nat. sit. y. ‧. safety and reporting only good news to their parents.. io. er. 5.2.1 Informing safety. In order to achieve parents’ expectations, transnational daughters would regularly. al. n. v i n share their schedules with their C parents to express theirUsafety. Transnational daughters hengchi adopt various ICTs with the most instant tools, for example text-based communication. through email and family groups on Line. Daughters also use voice- and visual-based communication via Skype or Line while they are communicating with their parents in order to inform them of their safety, especially their traveling schedules. I talk about my daily life on the family group on Line actively. For example, I would tell them I will be busy recently, or I will have business trip, which is a kind of informing safety (Hana).. 43.

(46) I always inform my parents about my safety. I know some children don’t inform their parents before going out, but I will tell them before going out, including booking flight tickets, which is a kind habit (Yammy). It is necessary to call my parents at least once a week and tell them I am still alive and I am really safe (Home). We have family video calls once a week on the weekends. In the beginning, we (kids) would tell parents our schedules and plans next week, for example, who is going out for traveling, who is going shopping…My parents seldom talk about themselves, they usually ask us about our schedules (Janny).. 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Cat, whose parents have only one daughter, contacts her mother, who knows about her daily routine intensively every day.. ‧. Nat. y. sit. n. al. er. io. Because I am single daughter without siblings and I am really close to my mother. We have voice calls every day through Line and share our daily lives in detail with each other. For example, I would tell them I am going to supermarket and will be back very soon. Even though she can’t see my messages immediately, I still text her (Cat).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 5.2.2 Reporting only good news In addition to informing safety to their parents regularly, transnational daughters would only express positive things to their parents and avoid certain topics, such as when they expose themselves to some countries where are perceived as dangerous countries in Europe, or when they feel not very well, and to avoid telling their parents in order not to let them worry in them too much from such a far distance. 44.