My family actually is from the country of Laos, therefore, I can relate plenty to this piece. SInce many Laotian daughters are second generation, we feel obliged to stay connected to are cultural ties and traditions. Most of these traditions are encourages by our parents.
My parents did not speak English and most likely felt subordinate to the American system. I understood when the wanted me to do something even if it did not make sense in American culture. However, I did notice who you dated mattered. Fortunately, what ethnicity I dated did not matter to my parents, but it seemed to matter more with Asian family and friends. I was in a 6-year relationship with a Mexican American. I often got jokes like "Kerry don't like Asians" or "Kerry thinks she is Mexican." Now I am in a relationship with a Vietnamese person, and I get no ridicule. It makes me realize how comfortable my ethnic group is and want to remain in tact with Asian descents. Intergenerational marriages are becoming prominent in my small ethnic group because my generation see each other as family and think it would be weird to marry in. Therefore, our ethnic group is slowly fading. This is not to say it bad because I think opening yourself to other group can expand your world view.
The definition of orientatalism is dependent on the country of origin. In European countries it is meant to categorize of systemic affects. However in the U.S. In is used more negatively because we have built a stereotypical stigma around the word Orientals. We assume all asian groups are the same and attach a stereotype to this group s a whole.
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