Abstract
Traditionally, women had the day-to-day responsibility for eldercare. However, social changes have created alternatives for men to take on what is generally considered a “female duty.” Particularly, as the prevalence of dementia has increased in China, men are increasingly becoming the primary caregivers for their kin. Yet, we have limited understanding of male caregiving. Based on twenty months’ ethnographic study of 60 men taking care of a relative with dementia, this paper examines motivations, practices, struggles and strategies of male caregivers. While acknowledging the gendered nature of caregiving, I argue that eldercare goes beyond solely social construction of gender roles and power asymmetries between males and females. Men—both husbands and sons—who engage in caregiving are motivated by love, affection, moral obligation, reciprocity based on past assistance, and property inheritance. Male caregivers’ care practices and their responses toward challenges vary from case to case, yet, these differences have less association with gender identity but more with cohort variations. The expanding home roles of male caregivers call attention to the social transformation of gendered care practices in China and beyond.
Highlights
Social scientists have documented major changes in gender roles and relationships in China since the Mao era
Compared to husband caregivers who can deal with their emotional stress by referring to their marital contract or intimacy, son caregivers often do not have a positive association with the increasing care demand from their parents. They spoke regretfully of a loss of the sociability and a sense of failure because of lack of improvement of their parents’ health conditions. Some said that they had to figure out some time to read newspapers or watch TV to participate in some elements of their “normal” life, whereas others coped with this sense of loss by reinterpreting caregiving as an opportunity to repay their parents rather than focusing on issues of gender identity
This paper examined the experience of the “Cinderella men” taking care of their ill family members
Summary
Social scientists have documented major changes in gender roles and relationships in China since the Mao era. Such “appropriate” and “inappropriate” behavioral differentiation may encourage women to adhere nurturing activity and prevent men from engaging in care tasks (Montgomery 1992) This gendered approach to family caregiving for elders with dementia has demonstrated statistical differences between males and females. The social construction of gender roles is further complicated by cultural factors; in Japan, even though demographic changes have caused men to participate in caregiving, women are still considered “professional housewives” (Vogel 1978) and the main caregivers for seniors (Long and Harris 2000; Traphagan 2003) This gendered division of labor has led to different experiences of caregiving. If so, are there any individual and cohort variations within the group of male caregivers, e.g., between husband- and son- caregivers in the extent of hands-on care, attitudes toward caregiving, and relations with other family members? the examination of men’s caregiving experiences will shed light on the dynamics of cultural values, family structure, and social change in China and beyond
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