本文站在送出國而非接受國的立場，從離返與性別規範的關連性切入，解構一九六○至一九七○年代沖繩諸島臺灣女工的跨國生命經驗，並以嘉義縣大林鎮八位女工的訪談內容進行描述與分析。研究發現：一、女工出國工作被當成是一種夫家的家族生存策略，從夫家對於女工出國動機的左右、夫家對於女工移動形式的干預、以及夫家在女工出國期間的支援等三點可以看出，這個策略的決定和行使，不在女工身上而是在於夫家。二、女工在這趟「苦工旅行」中，必須承擔精神上的苦痛也就是想家，女工返鄉後，確實對於改善夫家家計有所貢獻，但她們對辛苦賺來的金錢無權過問，與夫家成員的關係變化也不大，更沒有去反省身處農村性別規範下的困境與卑微，只能繼續默默地吞忍。究其原因，她們本身對於傳統性別角色的認知根深柢固，而且農村父權制家庭內的倫常關係確實難以轉變。

Viewing from the perspectives of “roundtrip and gender norms”, this
paper analyzes Taiwanese female emigrant workers’ transnational life
experiences in Okinawa islands from 1960 to1970 from the standpoint
of sending country instead of the receiving one. The data were obtained
through interviewing eight woman workers in Dalin township, Chiayi
County.The main findings are: (1) For wives to work as emigrant workers was considered a strategy of sustenance and improvement for their husbands’families. The husbands’ families exert influence on the wives’ motive of working abroad and their migration style. (2) Not only had the female emigrant workers to endure all kinds of hardship, but also financially contribute to their husbands’ families when they return. They had no power to dispose any of their income, and their situation in the husbands’ families remained unchanged. Moreover, these women never reflected on their inferior positions under the village’s patriarchal culture.To conclude, the “roundtrip” experience bring no change to the status quo of these female workers because (1) they are deeply influenced by the traditional gender role; (2) the hierarchical system in the village’s traditional patriarchal family is almost impossible to accept any change.