ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the extent to which the shift of women workers in the Visayan region of the Philippines, from what may be regarded as the ‘fringes’ of economic activity to the ‘frontier’ of contemporary development efforts, has influenced prevailing patterns of gender roles and relations. It discusses export-manufacturing, international tourism and sex work in turn, dealing with the grounds on which female labour is absorbed into the export sector, focusing on recruitment patterns and gender stereotyping within the workplace, assessing the implications of their employment in the wider context of social relations particularly at the household level. Having established that gender is a major entry criterion for firms, the female workforce was also differentiated by age, educational attainment and marital status. Any assessment of the outcomes of export-manufacturing employment for women’s lives should explore how gender relations in wider society and particularly within the household have been affected.
