Sylvia Duarte Dantas DeBiaggi

DeBiaggi studies the effect of immigration to the United States on gender roles and the marital satisfaction of recent Brazilian immigrants.

DeBiaggi focuses on recent Brazilian immigrant families. There are over 600,000 Brazilians in the U.S., the majority in metropolitan New York (230,000) and Boston (150.000). Drawing on the methods of cross-cultural and gender studies, DeBiaggi interviewed 50 Brazilian families, husbands and wives, in Boston. Using quantitative and qualitative data, she found that immigration to the U.S. affected both the husband's and the wifeÕs gender roles as well as their relationship. Coming from a more patriarchal society, Brazilian families face changes in their attitudes towards women and in their division of household labor and childcare. In turn, these changes affect how satisfied husbands and wives are in their marriage. Finally, the study indicates the importance of women's rights to the development of fairer and more egalitarian relationships.

Table of Contents

1. Review of the Literature
2. Method
3. Results
4. Discussion
   
References
Index