Migration, Masculinities and Heterosexuality

Connell and Messerschmidt (2005, p. 841) suggested that ‘research on masculinity needs to explore the relationship of hegemonic ideologies of “being a man” with the mismatches, tensions and resistances evident in daily life’. Indeed, in virtue of their positions as migrants, male migrants’ masculinities can be challenged and transformed by a change in geography. This is noted by Datta et al., who observe that gender norms are often so entrenched that ‘migrants often become particularly aware of the relational and contextual nature of gender as they attempt to fulfil expectations of identity and behaviour that may differ sharply in the several places they live’ (cited in Datta et al., 2008). Observations such as this have pushed for researchers to apply not just a gender lens, but also a masculinity lens to labour migration. In particular, there is a growing body of work focusing on male migration (Datta et al., 2009; Batnitzky, McDowell and Dyer, 2008, 2009; Charsley, 2005; Datta, 2004; Levitt, DeWind, and Vertovec, 2003; Osella and Osella, 2000). However, work (and economics) is often the focal point in the literature on migrant men (Datta et al., 2009; Batnitzky, McDowell and Dyer, 2008), with little attention paid to their roles as partners and lovers. Heterosexual migrant men, in particular, are understudied. Neglecting migrant men's heterosexuality or studying migrant men's sexuality only in terms of ‘deviance’ from heteronormativity takes for granted migrant men's (hetero)sexuality.