Abstract:

From the perspective of new cultural geography, space not only carries material attributes but also represents a container of social relations. Family is usually discussed in terms of ethics and regarded as an ethical organism. However, family always takes the form of spatial entity that reflects a complex and subtle power structure among its members. Using the framework of the economic, emotional, and social components of family resources as well as the practical, decorative, and defensive characteristics of home space, this study examined how Vietnamese wives of the transnational families in Huashi Town, Luoding City, Guangdong Province practice self-empowerment in everyday life by occupying, dividing, decorating, and utilizing their home space. The study found that: 1) The Vietnamese wives who contribute most to their household incomes have more power than their husbands in making decisions about the set-up and arrangement of the home space. 2) The Vietnamese wives view their home space as a channel of expressing self-emotion and identity and establish control of the space by decorating the home. 3) Being excluded from the public space due to the lack of social resources, the Vietnamese wives use their home space as a defensive fortress to avoid socializing with neighbors. It is suggested that while women in transnational marriages are able to exert power in their home space, such power is confined within the home and difficult to expand to the outside world. The study contributes to existing literature of cultural geography by deepening the current understanding of gender in home space.

Key words: female cross-border marriage immigrant, home space, spatial practice, family resources, gender power, Luoding City of Guangdong Province