Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific
CFP: Parenting, parenthood and gender in contemporary Asia
The rapid societal and demographic transformations across Asia have had a profound effect
on family life and intergenerational relations. Changing notions of family life are reflected in
declining birth rates, increasing numbers of nuclear and single households, delayed marriage
and childbearing, and so forth. At the same time, research shows that intergenerational
relations still play a crucial role, as both older and younger generations continue to invest in,
as well as benefit from, intergenerational expectations and obligations. In this context, it is
interesting to ask in what ways parenting strategies and the meaning of (having) children are
reinterpreted and renegotiated, how norms and ideals about parenthood are changing, and
what bearings these have on family formation.
Research on social change and family life indicates that the resource flows from parents to
children tend to expand in modern societies. In many parts of contemporary Asia, parents
with sufficient means invest massive amounts of resources and energy into their children’s
upbringing, sometimes at the expense of their own careers (mostly mother’s). Cindi Katz has
described this ‘over-elaboration of the work (and play) of childrearing’ as a form of ‘parental
involution,’ 1 a phenomenon directly related to a configuration of children as accumulation
strategy, typical of contemporary modern societies. This reconfiguration of children is largely
gendered, and implicates new norms and expectations of motherhood and fatherhood. It is
also likely to play out differently depending on whether parenting involves raising daughters
or sons, particularly in parts of Asia where patrilineality is strong.
At the same time, welfare systems in much of Asia still hinge on the family as the basic unit
for providing social economic security, presupposing resource flows from adult children to
their elderly parents. This means that the parent-child contract continues beyond the point
when the child has reached adulthood,2 and it often entails expectations on behalf of parents
that their adult children should marry (heterosexually) and procreate. With delayed age of
marriage and childbearing, and the emergence of non-heterosexual lifestyles, such
expectations sometimes cause intergenerational tensions, and have led to parents assuming
new roles in shaping the family formation strategies of their adult children.3
But how can we understand the cultural logics and variations of parenting strategies and
practices, and what are their consequences?
This edition of Intersections invites papers that address the ways in which material and
emotional investments in childrearing are rendered meaningful, and its implications for family
life, parenting strategies and gender relations. The aim of the special issue is twofold: (1) to
contribute with a more nuanced understanding of the empirical realities of shifting norms and
practices surrounding parenting and parenthood, and (2) to further develop theory which
contributes to understanding the intersections between gender, sexuality and generation when
1
Katz, C. C. (2008). Childhood as spectacle: Relays of anxiety and the reconfiguration of the child. Cultural
Geographies, 15(1), 5-17.
2
Göransson, K. (2009). The Binding Tie: Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore. Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press.
3
Eklund, L. (2013). “Marriage squeeze and mate selection – Analysing the ecology of choice and implications
for social policy in China”, in Economic and Political Weekly, 48(35): 62-69
Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific
it comes to parenting and parenthood. We invite papers from researchers working in relevant
fields, such as anthropology, sociology, gender studies, media studies, Asian studies, history,
social work, and more. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

family formation, reproduction and childrearing in relation to aspirations of
continuous upward social mobility (e.g., through investing in children’s education and
upbringing);

the transformation of parenting arrangements and strategies, and possible implications
for gender equality within the family and/or on the labor market;

the role of population policy and/or family planning policy in shaping images of the
‘value’ of children, and in what ways ’desirable’ and ’undesirable’ reproductive
behaviour is constructed in state policies and/or in everyday life. How do states shape
and define notions of parenting and gender in and through existing policies?

Changing parenting strategies of raising daughters vs raising sons

Parenting and sexuality.
o How is heteronormativity shaping parenting strategies, and what are the ways
in which heteronormativity is challenged?
o What does it mean to be a homosexual parent, which strategies, compromises
and sacrifices are made? How do parents of homosexual (adult) children devise
their parenting strategies?

Media representations of parenting. How are ideals of motherhood and fatherhood
constructed?

Parenting and time. How is the timing of parenthood itself managed and negotiated?
How is timing of various parenting practices planned and negotiated?

Comparative perspectives on parenting strategies/parenthood and gender in Asia and
other parts of the world (in particular we encourage comparisons between Asia and the
Pacific).
Abstract submission date (ca 500 words, including theory, methods and material, and
expected/preliminary findings): 15 February 2015
Paper submission date (5000–6000 words): 15 June 2015
Expected publication date: January 2016