Week 4_Uyen Ngo_ASA150E

In her book “Radicals on the Road: Internationalism, Orientalism, and Feminism During the Vietnam Era”, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu explores the role of women during the Vietnam war and offer insight on how individuals of different backgrounds and ethnicity form political relationships. From my personal experience and narrative, I often have been told by my parents that the choice to immigrate was so that I, a girl, would have more opportunities in America rather than if I had stayed in Vietnam. So naturally, I have always associated the Vietnamese side of myself with being the feminine, soft side while the American side of me to be the strong and independent version of myself. This idea came even decades after the union of both sides at the VWU. It was important for me to read of this event as it is a reminder that despite different cultures, both side share the common goal of fighting for their rights as a woman and that the sharing of their narrative is a vehicle to better their chance of winning that battle. It is just joining and friendship amongst the sides that becomes the fire that unites both perspectives. This also crosses into other ethnicity such as Chicano's, in which I have seen transpire in my own life. My own best friend is Latina and despite growing up thinking that I had nothing in common with Chicano culture, I have come to learn that in fact, as female children of immigrant cultures, we face very similar battles, just as others have recognized in this narrative.