Gendered Processes: Korean Immigrant Small Business Ownership (The New Americans)

Lee examines gendered processes of becoming small business owners among Korean immigrants in the New York City metropolitan area. Immigration necessitated Korean wives to work outside the home, but this economic transition did not change gender relations. Married couples run small businesses together, but husbands exercise rights as owners and wives are primarily viewed as sources of labor. The immigrants hold onto traditional gender values and patriarchal family relations. Paradoxically, immigrants’ deep-seated gender norms have been catalysts for the dominance of women as nail salon owners. Korean immigrant men were unwilling to acquire on-the job training in what they considered as a feminine work.