| Summary: | Marrying a foreigner has become a trend and a reflection of a modern lifestyle to achieve gender equity. Nowadays, the number of mixed marriages in Indonesia, particularly among Javanese women who marry French men and subsequently migrate to France, has steadily increased. The Javanese adhere to a patriarchal system called 3M: Macak-Manak-Masak (Beautifying herself–Giving offspring–Cooking), that places and limits the movement of women. Adopting a phenomenological approach, the study observed how the Javanese culture is integrated with the French culture, particularly in understanding how Javanese women who are married to French men balance the cultural differences of the Javanese values of 3M in the setting of France’s Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (freedom, equality, fraternity). Eleven Javanese married women who migrated to Paris were selected through snowball sampling as the study informants. An interesting finding was that Javanese women were given an égalité position with their husbands, contrary to the wife’s role and place in the patriarchal system that is practised in Java. Nevertheless, these women had to first acquire and interpret values that differred from their own culture. Intercultural communication is stressful, but at the same time, they have had to adapt, negotiate, and create blended cultures in order to maintain a harmonious married life in France. In summary, the cultural integration of the Javanese values of 3M, can only be successfully realised if the Javanese women and French men remain inclusive in their approach to cultural diversity. © SEARCH Journal 2024.
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