Mass Media and the Tolerance of Middle-Class Immigrant Indian Women in the United States

Implications for their Adjustment Process

Abstract

This paper examines the role of American and Indian mass media in defining the boundaries of a subjective tolerance for middle-class immigrant Indian women wherein they are required to mainstream only 'acceptable' behavior while adhering to the role of being a 'traditional' wife/daughter in the private domain. In other words, 'tolerance' has multiple connotations for these women: (a) Being tolerated by the Indian community (both in the diaspora and at 'home') while re-defining and exploring identities beyond that of wife, mother and daughter; and (b) Being tolerated by the mainstream American community while finding ways to retain certain religio-cultural public characteristics and ways of life that are important to them. In-depth interviews with ten middle-class immigrant Indian women in the Detroit metropolitan area are used to explore the following questions: Are middle-class immigrant Indian women being 'tolerated' by American society due to their use of personal space, e.g., ethnic media, to experience familiar, 'traditional' environments? Are immigrant Indian women being 'tolerated' by the diasporic community because of their subscription to 'traditional' norms in interpersonal relationships? The paper concludes that inclusion and the sense of linkage to the homeland comes at the cost of being an obedient and sacrificing mother and wife. On the other hand, inclusion and the sense of connection to the hostland comes at the cost of being an independent worker who is able to juggle multiple responsibilities on her own. The net result is an overall sense of exclusion that is both perpetuated and assuaged by American and ethnic mass media within a continuous circle. Hence, as suggested by theory, middle-class immigrant Indian women support a bi-cultural identity and the presence of American and ethnic mass media reiterates the need for this bi-culturalism, thereby promoting a subjective brand of toleration.