Gender Relations in Singapore Malay (Muslims) Dual-Income Households: (Un)changing Views and Practices

Suriani Suratman and Toseef Azid

Chapter 20 in Economic Empowerment of Women in the Islamic World:Theory and Practice, 2020, pp 415-444 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Over the last four decades the labor force participation rate of women in Southeast Asia has been steadily increasing. While gender relations are changing in the public sphere as more women play dominant roles in the employment sector, whether gender relations in the domestic sphere are changing is rather ambiguous. In this chapter, the author looks at gender relations in Singapore Malay dual-income households. She shows that there are existing cultural perceptions of Malays regarding the roles of women and men in the family, i.e., women see to care-giving and men see to bread-winning. She also argues that parallels of this perception can be found at the state level as well. The Singapore government too is of the view that the primary caregiver in the family is the woman. The author illustrates this by using the example of the discourse on the “supermom” in Singapore to show the government’s expectations of women’s role as mother. There is external support which makes Malay women affirm their maternal role. In conclusion, the author suggests that Malay women and men’s decisions around the division of labor must be conceived within the wider framework of society. Explanations for persistence of unequal division of labor in Malay dual-income households must take into account state views of gender roles.

Keywords: Islam; Gender Studies; Women Studies; Quran; Sunnah; Female Empowerment; Shariah; Prophet Muhammad; Business in Islam; Patriarchal Fundamentalism; Secular Feminism; Women's Rights; Human Rights; Aceh; Gender Empowerment Measure; Globalization; Press Freedom; Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; Education; Arab World; Nanofinance; Microfinance; Labour; Ottoman Empire; Iran; Waqaf; Waqf; Malaysia; Pakistan; Singapore; Dual-Income Households; Bangladesh; Food Security; Human Capital; Saudi Arabia; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 J16 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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