“We’re not just Canadian” : Identity negotiations of Canadian Sikh women living with their in-laws by Sanita Dhillon A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Professional Communication Royal Roads University Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Supervisor: Dr. April Warn-Vannini August 2017 Sanita Dhillon, 2017 Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 2 COMMITTEE APPROVAL The members of Sanita Dhillon’s Thesis Committee certify that they have read the thesis titled “We’re not just Canadian”: Identity negotiations of Canadian Sikh women living with their in- laws and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the thesis requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Professional Communication: Dr. April Warn-Vannini [signature on file] Dr. Zhenyi Li [signature on file] Final approval and acceptance of this thesis is contingent upon submission of the final copy of the thesis to Royal Roads University. The thesis supervisor confirms to have read this thesis and recommends that it be accepted as fulfilling the thesis requirements: Dr. April Warn-Vannini [signature on file] Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 3 Creative Commons Statement This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/. Some material in this work is not being made available under the terms of this licence: • Third-Party material that is being used under fair dealing or with permission. • Any photographs where individuals are easily identifiable. Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 4 Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank my supervisor and advisor, Dr. April Warn-Vannini for the guidance and wisdom she provided me throughout my research. I would also like to thank Dr. Zhenyi Li, as well as Virginia McKendry, Associate Professor, and Gareth Kirkby, Associate Faculty Member, for providing me with sound advice throughout this process. Thank you to the women who participated in this study for believing in the purpose and sharing their stories with me. I would also like to thank my family. Thank you to my parents who continue to make many sacrifices to support their daughters in pursuing their dreams. Also, thank you to my sisters for taking a genuine interest in my research and motivating me to keep going! Lastly, thank you to my dear husband, David Shapka, for his tireless support. From listening to me think aloud, to driving me to interviews and proofreading, I could not have done this without your loving support. Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 5 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 11 Patrilocality in Punjab, India ................................................................................................................... 11 Sikh Families in Canada and Patrilocality .............................................................................................. 13 Sikh Women’s Perceptions and Experiences of Patrilocality ................................................................. 14 Communication and Resistance within Patrilocal Households ............................................................... 17 Theoretical Framework: Identity Constructions ..................................................................................... 18 Definitions. .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Method .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Critical Paradigm .................................................................................................................................... 21 Postmodern Interviewing. .................................................................................................................. 22 Narrative Inquiry/Life Story Interviewing. .......................................................................................... 22 Reflexive Dyadic Interviewing. ............................................................................................................ 23 Sharing Circles. .................................................................................................................................... 24 Data Collection ....................................................................................................................................... 25 Understanding Lived Experience through Life Stories ........................................................................... 28 Ethics ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 30 Navigating Cultural Discourses .............................................................................................................. 31 Socialization. ....................................................................................................................................... 32 Negotiating Non-traditional Gender Roles. ........................................................................................ 34 Acceptance and Pride in Punjabi Culture. ........................................................................................... 40 Navigating Private Space and Public Space ........................................................................................... 43 Parenting. ............................................................................................................................................ 44 Living Space. ........................................................................................................................................ 48 Shared Resources. ............................................................................................................................... 51 Navigating Patrilocality .......................................................................................................................... 55 Communication. .................................................................................................................................. 55 Support from Women in the Family. .................................................................................................. 59 Negotiating Identity: An Internal Struggle ............................................................................................. 62 Dialogical Self and Voice. .................................................................................................................... 67 Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 70 Comparison to Previous Studies ............................................................................................................. 72 Limits and Exclusions ............................................................................................................................. 73 Future Research ...................................................................................................................................... 75 References ..................................................................................................................................... 77 Appendix 1: Theoretical Framework Visual................................................................................. 86 Appendix 2: Letter of Free and Informed Consent ....................................................................... 87 Appendix 3: Advertisement .......................................................................................................... 90 Appendix 4: Initial Contact ........................................................................................................... 91 Appendix 5: Interview Introduction and Questions ...................................................................... 93 Appendix 6: Interview Attendance ............................................................................................... 96 Running head: SIKH WOMEN LIVING WITH IN-LAWS 7 Abstract It may be unusual to hear about married couples choosing to live permanently with the husband’s parents, especially in Canada. However, it is common knowledge among Canadian Sikhs that the tradition of patrilocality remains a cultural ideal in their community. This study provided an opportunity for Canadian Sikh women to speak to this topic as their voices have not been significantly heard within academic literature or within the Sikh community. The research took the form of a narrative inquiry through sharing circles in which five women, including myself, shared their stories and reflected and interpreted the meanings together over the course of three sessions. The findings were analyzed using the theoretical concepts