How come a married, middle-class Filipino housewife, adequately supported by her spouse in the Philippines, decides to work in McDonalds Honolulu as a waitress? Her son, a good friend, tells me the pay is good (eight dollars an hour) and for her mother, the job's a great opportunity to earn her own keep – something she hasn’t been able to do in the Philippines. But why didn’t she work in the Philippines instead? And why, of all things, as a waitress, a job associated with the working class? The answer lies in context. In Hawaii, or any foreign country, a lot of native cultural expectations regarding class, gender, and family life can be bracketed so that migrants can survive according to the norms of the host country. Middle-class Mama has found in Hawaii a way to free herself from traditional cultural norms to pursue personal projects and not alienate herself from her family. By working as a waitress in Hawaii, and in the long run, saving enough money to help secure the family income, she finds herself both liberated from oppressive traditional norms while still maintaining social acceptance with the home culture. It’s no wonder many Filipino professionals can manage to work abroad in lower status jobs and with low pay -- at least in dollars, euros, yen, or English pounds. Echoing Bourdieu, when the field changes, so does the habitus, and the individuals or agents who inhabit this habitus are free to craft a creative responses to the altered circumstances of their lives.
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