Public Loves, Private Troubles
Migration, Technology, and Intimacy in Rural Indigenous Guatemala
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"Anthropologist Meghan Farley Webb's ethnography, Public Loves, Private Troubles, uses the lens of cellphones and other digital technologies to unpack marriage, love, sexuality, and family issues of Kaqchikel Maya women who remain in Guatemala while their husbands are part of the transnational migration workforce. This is the first book to focus on information technology for these types of insights, and Indigenous intimacy has been underexplored in ethnographic literature. Overall, Webb shows how the Maya women are empowered with their more autonomous lives when the husbands are absent but als...
"Anthropologist Meghan Farley Webb's ethnography, Public Loves, Private Troubles, uses the lens of cellphones and other digital technologies to unpack marriage, love, sexuality, and family issues of Kaqchikel Maya women who remain in Guatemala while their husbands are part of the transnational migration workforce. This is the first book to focus on information technology for these types of insights, and Indigenous intimacy has been underexplored in ethnographic literature. Overall, Webb shows how the Maya women are empowered with their more autonomous lives when the husbands are absent but also are constrained by social media monitoring of their activities. To begin, Webb surveys the Tecpâan highland setting and the civil war and migration history. She discusses how neoliberal policies are manifested in the financial and emotional stress of having to leave for the United States for economic opportunities. Education is limited for girls but opportunities are improving. Chapter 1 characterizes the lives of Maya women in Guatemala who "endure" while their husbands are working abroad. Webb describes how marriage, family and the Catholic Church shape how the women see themselves and their situations. Chapter 2 delves into the history and use of technologies, such as cellphones and WhatsApp, and how they affect communication in these transnational households. Insight is given to the family and personhood. Chapter 3 hones in on the prominent use of the Facebook platform. Husbands use the app to conduct extramarital affairs, but the app is also used by couples as a way to express a public performance of devotion and a happy family. Chapter 4 focuses on the surveillance, including malicious gossip, that Kaqchikel women are subjected to from mothers-in-law, who live nearby or in the same household, and absent husbands. The narrative culminates in a discussion of how most wives are happier and more empowered without the men at home, yet they still can experience uncertainty, loneliness, and depression"-- Provided by publisher.
