Hue Thao

Previously on Asian American Studies 150 E, with the hardcore and intensive lectures and film watching. Gender role plays a huge part in society. When specifically narrowing down to the Mien people, one must first present an educational synopsis or background information of who they are and where they came from. That way people can learn and connect more with the Miens, also it seems interesting since I never met one before, but more on that later. Regardless of the case, there was much to be told from the presenters; therefore, we take you back in time to Tuesday of May first where the discussion of the Mien women were being portrayed...

I am going to be totally honest and say that it was difficult to comprehend the presenters. Their voices were as soft as Tweetie. At first I was pretty excited to learn more about the Mien people, possibly how they are advancing to this day. Gender roles were a great way to start off by initially stating the roles women play from decades ago up till now. If one were to compare and contrast such difference between the clash of the difference in the gender roles back then as to now, most certainly there will be a huge change. At the same time, there will always be that strong fort of one’s own identity and roles that are played due to wanting to be accepted into the culture itself.

The presentation was very short so there was not much to critique on, nor is there much to analysis the work. I do however, want to impose this question to the group, “Why are the three characteristics the group talked about important to the roles of specifically Mien women?” These three characteristics I am referring to are perseverance, acceptance, and patience. How do these three traits differentiate (if at all) from the other subgroup women? The three traits are so generalized that they can honestly be directed towards - say Hmong women also. So to revise a final question, with the previous sentence in mind, what makes those three traits any different from other subgrouped women? Is there a significance about those traits that distinguished the Mien from the others? Those are potential questions that might want to be answered before stating otherwise because I feel that those three characteristics are terms that can very well describe any type of people, regardless of gender or race. That is all I have for the group. In terms of critique, presentation skills needs to be more clear but I know it is difficult so I can’t really preach on this matter. The information that I comprehended were of great interest so they did well overall.

After the presentation, having some of the lecture notes were indeed a helpful. The movie on the other hand, was not very intriguing like the previous videos. I was hoping it might be something like Little Saigon. I guess you can say I have seen many situations in which the story can relate to some of my distant relatives. I just see disappointment whenever I hear someone, at the age of high school, getting pregnant. It saddens me even more, knowing that the two couples in the movie is similar to some of those relatives. I am sure life is pretty damn hard when you are so little and already have children. To see her wanting to go to college is an inspiration...but there is only so much I can say. In this day an age, what part of life is not hard?