Promise of Gender Equality, Disrupted: Finnish Working Life in Experiences of Migrant Women

Abstract

<div>Despite Finland’s globally acknowledged image as a happy country that has achieved gender equality, migrant</div><div>women in Finland experience intersecting forms of discrimination and gender-based violence while also being</div><div>the least employed demographic in the country. This qualitative study examines how migrant women navigate the</div><div>contrast between an idealised narrative explicitly taught to migrants and their lived experiences of oppression.</div><div>The research combines data from in-depth interviews with eight migrant women and five experts on sexual</div><div>harassment, autoethnography, and desk research. Utilising Sara Ahmed’s concept of the ‘promise of happiness’<br></div><div>and affective dissonance provided deep insight into the affective dimension of oppression in the ‘happiest country</div><div>in the world.’ I argue that the gap between the ‘promise of happiness’ and real-life experiences produces affective</div><div>dissonance, which migrant women process in various ways. Reactions to this dissonance can be anti-liberating,</div><div>such as denial of oppression or attributing gender inequality to the figure of the ‘Other’. Alternatively, processing</div><div>affective dissonance has emancipatory potential, including solidarity, resistance, and rejection of the ‘good migrant’</div><div>narrative.</div>