In addition to economic challenges, women like me navigate different cultural values and gender norms after we immigrate.
Intersections of Immigrant Cultural Identity and Gender
By: Teresa X.
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Poem
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Personal essay (creative nonfiction)
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Poem
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Cookbook
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Poem
Introduction
Asian immigrants to the US face various challenges and identity negotiations.¹,² This project explores two identities that shape Asian American experiences: culture and gender. Korean American first-generation immigrants struggle to maintain their cultural heritage while adapting to US society, especially since they may feel more connected to Korea than the US.³ In Minari (2020), the Yi family attempts to both preserve their Korean heritage and pursue their American dream. This adaptation process—also known as acculturation—is further compounded by gender, which means Korean American women have different experiences than men.⁴
Thesis Statement
Minari illustrates the importance of using an intersectional perspective to understand Asian America. Gender norms interact with the cultural tensions that Korean American immigrants face, so Monica’s experience is shaped by not only the circumstances of her immigration, but also restrictive Korean and American gender norms. This exhibit addresses cultural aspects of immigration as well as norms of femininity that inflect women’s experiences.
I begin by discussing acculturation challenges to contextualize how gender further impacts immigrant experiences.
Media Objects
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This reading exemplifies the intersection of ethnicity and gender and illustrates hegemonic femininity.
Arnaldo, Constancio R. 2021. “‘We’re Just as Good and Even Better Than You’: Asian American Female Flag Footballers and the Racial Politics of Competition.” Journal of Asian American Studies 24(1): 115–44.
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This reading provides a counterexample of how Asian American women approach motherhood.
Francisco-Menchavez, Valerie. 2019. “A Mother Who Leaves Is a Mother Who Loves: Labor Migration as Part of the Filipina Life Course and Motherhood.” Journal of Asian American Studies 22(1): 85–102.
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This article exemplifies the importance of history in shaping immigrants’ experiences.
Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. 2015. “Settler Colonialism as Structure: A Framework for Comparative Studies of U.S. Race and Gender Formation.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 1(1): 52–72.
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This article provides a nuanced understanding of the role of ethnic networks for immigrants in the US.
Hill, Katherine M. 2018. “Sweet and Sour: Social Networks and Inequality in a Chinese Restaurant.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4(1): 114–27.
Readings from Class
Sociological Concepts
Immigration
Acculturation
Culture
Gender
Intersectionality
Hegemonic Femininity
Table of Contents
Immigration, Acculturation, and Asian Americans’ Cultural Positionality
Reconciling the Cultural Past and Future
Language Barriers
Ethnic Networks
Assimilation Approaches and Considerations
The Persistent Duality of Asian America
Intersections of Gender and Culture
Gender Norms and Motherhood
Unequal Decision-Making Power
Reflection on Media Objects
Conclusion
Immigration, Acculturation, and Asian Americans’ Cultural Positionality
Immigration is undertaken to improve one’s life, but it comes with multifaceted challenges, including language barriers, social isolation, employment difficulties, downward socioeconomic mobility, and discrimination.⁵,⁶,⁷,⁸ These challenges are part of acculturative stress: stressors that stem from incorporating new cultural norms.⁹,¹⁰
Reconciling the Cultural Past and Future
Immigrants respond to their new context—in Minari’s case, the US—in different ways. They may fully embrace the US, reject it in favor of their original heritage, or take any approach in between.¹¹,¹²,¹³,¹⁴For example, Jacob embraces the American dream, but Monica is reluctant to assimilate. Monica’s reluctance reflects how first-generation immigrants grew up with the norms of their homeland and thus may not assimilate strongly to the US.¹⁵ As shown in “Things We Carry on the Sea,” immigrants do not simply let go of their past.
“Things We Carry on the Sea” by Wang Ping
Wang Ping’s poem "Things We Carry On the Sea" illustrates how an immigrant considers past and future cultures.
This poem illustrates various dimensions of immigration that Monica encounters. “We carry diplomas…even if they mean nothing to the other shore” references the downward socioeconomic mobility that can occur when vocational credentials from the original country are not accepted in the US, which prevents many immigrants from pursuing their former professional jobs.¹⁶ Similarly, Monica and Jacob work the manual job of chicken-sexing, which they did not do in Korea, due to the lack of US opportunities attainable to them. The poem also indicates the importance of historical events in shaping immigrant memories. The “wars forced upon us” alludes to immigrants’ displacement by war and colonialism, which ultimately shapes Asian Americans’ understandings of race and gender.¹⁷ Additionally, the poem reveals that while immigrants like Monica and Jacob long for a “new life,” they also feel a sense of attachment to their homeland that never fades. Monica is especially attached to Korea, but even Jacob, who is more focused on the US, continues engaging with Korean culture. Thus, this poem indicates the duality of culture in immigration—immigrants engage with both the new cultural context and their old cultural heritage.
Language Barriers
In addition to memories, diplomas, and cultural practices, “Things We Carry on the Sea” shows that immigrants “carry [their] mother tongues” to their new location. Monica’s reluctance to assimilate partly stems from her limited grasp of English. While Jacob converses with other farmers, Monica does not have the language to speak confidently to officials, doctors, or other American families, rendering her isolated. Likewise, the essay “Mother Tongue” illustrates the challenges posed by such linguistic barriers.
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
Amy Tan’s personal essay “Mother Tongue” reflects on an immigrant mother’s language challenges.
In “Mother Tongue,” even an immigrant who understands English experiences discrimination and exclusion because she speaks with an accent. For example, various Americans intentionally ignore Tan’s mother and underestimate her abilities.¹⁸ Language barriers even influence second-generation Asian Americans’ perceptions of their immigrant parents, as shown by Tan saying “my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her.”¹⁹ Similarly, language and cultural barriers prevent Monica from sharing her “intent, her passion, her imagery” with local Americans.²⁰ Her reduced ability to express herself to the local community is part of why the Yi family remains “insular” and isolated from Americans, like many other immigrant families.²¹
Ethnic Networks
Immigrants’ isolation due to cultural barriers can motivate them to befriend other immigrants from the same cultural background, as these individuals share their language and acculturation struggles.²², ²³ Like other immigrants who find community through ethnic networks, Monica finds common ground with a Korean coworker at the factory.²⁴,²⁵ However, she does not feel fully connected to her coworker because they have different views on the Korean church. This disagreement supports sociological findings that despite the kinship a shared language and cultural background may bring, ethnic networks in the workplace are limited and not free of tensions and conflicts.²⁶
Assimilation Approaches and Considerations
Beyond acculturative stress, Asian American immigrants face challenges that are shaped by their specific cultural norms. Their decision to immigrate is facilitated by US economic involvement in Asia that portrays the US as an attractive destination.²⁷ As well, building on the history explored in “Things We Carry on the Sea,” legislation histories impact ethnic groups differently. Much of Asian immigration to the US occurred after the Immigration Act of 1965, so most Asian Americans are not US-born, and older Asian Americans face major linguistic and cultural barriers.²⁸
Among Asian Americans, cultural tensions differ by country of origin because each region has distinct contexts. Korean culture is based on Confucianism, a philosophical tradition that emphasizes familial commitment and contextualizes Minari’s focus on family.²⁹ Church is another major Korean cultural structure, and it is especially meaningful for immigrants because the community it provides empowers them to navigate acculturative challenges.³⁰,³¹ The church helps explain why Korean American immigrants tend to maintain ethnic attachments rather than fully assimilate into US society.³²,³³,³⁴
Conversely, the pressure to assimilate is intensified in communities that do not reflect Korean identity, such as Minari’s predominantly white setting.³⁵,³⁶ Although Monica is resistant to assimilation, she is willing to consume US food and drink like Mountain Dew due to the lack of Korean food near the farm. Similarly, in “Peaches,” the narrator’s family consumes local Georgia peaches due to a perceived need to assimilate to their predominantly white community; their consumption of peaches is related to the pressure of “being Chinese in that part of America.”
“Peaches” by Adrienne Su
The poem “Peaches” by Adrienne Su reflects on food’s importance to culture and family traditions.
As is the case in Minari, living in a community that does not reflect Asian identity makes Asian Americans hyperaware of their cultural position and more willing to adopt US cultural norms.³⁷,³⁸ In this US-centric context, immigrants become even more aware of their dual cultural identities—that they are “both strangers and natives,” experiencing both cultural adjustment and difference as they learn US norms.
The Persistent Duality of Asian America
Yet even immigrants’ methods of adaptation to the US reinforce their connection to Asian culture, and they do not fully assimilate. The Yi family still consumes Korean food; Monica is happiest when Soonja brings Korean snacks. In fact, the Yi family does not understand all the US foods available to them. They consume Mountain Dew, but the family’s incorrect understanding of the beverage as flowing directly from the mountains demonstrates their limited understanding of US norms. Their Korean background influences the way they participate in American culture. The family in “Peaches” also blends foods from their different cultures instead of only emphasizing the US: “juice concentrate” is American, but “foil-wrapped meats” are akin to Soonja’s Korean snacks. Additionally, the poem’s reference to receiving food from “New York Chinatown” parallels the Yi family’s transactions with Korean grocers—these relationships with other immigrants show that many Asian Americans invest in ethnic communities alongside engaging with US communities, rather than choosing one over the other.³⁹,⁴⁰
The way the Yi family combines Korean and American food parallels A Common Table.
A Common Table: 80 Recipes and Stories from My Shared Cultures by Cynthia Chen McTernan
Cynthia Chen McTernan’s cookbook A Common Table features recipes that blend food from several cultural traditions.
Just as McTernan’s recipes blend Chinese, American, and Korean flavors to reflect her multicultural identity, the Yi family blends and alters aspects of Korean and American culture. McTernan argues that food represents both “traditions” and “things that are totally new.”⁴¹ Accordingly, the Yi family’s meals contain traditional Korean dishes alongside new American discoveries like Mountain Dew, so the meals are neither strictly Korean nor American. The cultural duality of being Korean American, as represented through McTernan’s recipe variations, echoes the duality in “Things We Carry on the Sea” and “Peaches.”
Intersections of Gender and Culture
In addition to cultural background, immigrant experiences are mediated by gender. The theory of intersectionality suggests that social identities combine to produce unique outcomes, such that multiple forms of marginalization reinforce each other.⁴²,⁴³,⁴⁴Gender expectations still affect women’s lives after immigration, creating distinct experiences for Korean American women.⁴⁵,⁴⁶,⁴⁷,⁴⁸
Both Korean and US gender norms influence Korean American women’s cultural identities.⁴⁹ In Korean culture, women focus on domestic labor and define themselves by motherhood.⁵⁰,⁵¹ Similar expectations persist in the US, but women’s participation in the workforce has become normalized, and many US women identify more with their career than family responsibilities.⁵²,⁵³,⁵⁴However, Korean American women internalize these cultural norms differently.⁵⁵ Some embrace US gender-egalitarian ideals, others adhere to Korean patriarchal ideals, and some blend the two, finding opportunities for empowerment within the constraints of domestic femininity.⁵⁶,⁵⁷,⁵⁸
Gender Norms and Motherhood
Monica engages with both Korean and US gender ideals. In accordance with Korean norms, Monica focuses on motherhood, constantly worrying about her children’s needs. Following US norms, she works at the factory with Jacob. However, Monica does not value work in an ‘American’ way, as she does not prioritize her job and still expects Jacob to manage the family’s economic concerns. Given that she accepted being unable to work in California, she considers Jacob’s employment more important than her own. Monica even attempts to integrate her family life with her job by bringing David and Anne to the factory, which parallels the US concern of balancing careers with childcare.⁵⁹ At the same time, because Monica does not stop worrying about her children even at work, this choice suggests that she prioritizes motherhood over her job, in accordance with Korean expectations.⁶⁰
Motherhood can take different forms for Asian Americans.⁶¹ Monica’s focus on domestic labor and keeping the Yi family fed echoes “Peaches” and A Common Table, which both include a mother cooking for her family. Their focus on domestic labor shows that Monica and these mothers approach motherhood through direct interaction with their children. In contrast, many Filipina mothers are choosing to work abroad and become their families’ breadwinners, focusing on economic provision instead of direct interaction.⁶² These varying approaches show that the ideal of motherhood is pervasive for Asian American immigrant women but differs in how it becomes adopted and performed.⁶³
Gender expectations are further complicated by acculturation pressures because cultural barriers add to the difficulty of motherhood.⁶⁴Immigrants’ struggle to adjust to the US influences their children’s development.⁶⁵ For example, in “Mother Tongue,” Tan’s mother struggles to provide opportunities for her daughter due to her own language challenges.⁶⁶ Similarly, Monica is limited in her ability to support David’s attempts at assimilation. Since she is struggling to develop her own friendships, she does not know how to connect her children to the local community. Often, women already doubt their ability to be good mothers; Filipina mothers, for instance, feel guilty that they are not physically with their children.⁶⁷ Therefore, the challenges of immigration and acculturation make it even harder to meet gender expectations: any ‘ideal’ approach to motherhood feels less achievable for women when they are also struggling to adjust to the US.⁶⁸,⁶⁹
Unequal Decision-Making Power
Hegemony describes a stratified structure of social power, and hegemonic femininity refers to the norms most expected of women, which are structurally embedded through families, communities, and institutions.⁷⁰,⁷¹,⁷²Hegemonic femininity relates to intersectionality because the forms of marginalization one may face are rooted in a hegemonic power structure that privileges white men.⁷³,⁷⁴Hegemonic femininity ultimately reduces women’s decision-making power.⁷⁵,⁷⁶
Despite being expected to manage family care, Korean American women have less power than men to make decisions for the family.⁷⁷ Korean American women often comply with a husband or father’s decision to immigrate rather than making their own economic and mobility choices.⁷⁸ Monica struggles to appreciate the farm because it is Jacob’s dream, not hers. Women’s obligation to their family can also undermine their own desires, as Korean women often sacrifice their dreams to focus on their children.⁷⁹,⁸⁰ Monica exemplifies this phenomenon, as she urges Jacob to think about David and Anne, but not her own well-being. Whereas Jacob aspires to accomplish more than chicken-sexing, Monica accepts the prospect of chicken-sexing for the rest of her life as long as it means she can care for her children. Notably, Monica’s sacrificial dedication to her family is influenced by not only gender norms but also Confucian familial expectations that differ from US individualism, which highlights the intersectionality of Korean women’s experiences.⁸¹
Women remain constrained by hegemonic femininity even when they exercise autonomy.⁸²,⁸³,⁸⁴A study found that Asian American women athletes challenge hegemonic norms but are still isolated and underestimated due to their distance from white masculinity.⁸⁵ The women were not invited back to tournaments, and they lacked the power to challenge this exclusion, illustrating complex effects at the intersection of ethnicity and gender.⁸⁶ Monica, too, attempts to assert power to no avail. She tries to steer Jacob’s economic decisions but still defers to him. She does convince Jacob to get David’s heart checked at a California hospital, but Jacob is the one who drives, so Monica cannot make the choice for the family independently. Also, while Monica is able to bring Soonja to the US, this choice ends up reinforcing traditional Korean gender norms. At the end of the film, Monica threatens to leave the family—making her own decision and path forward—but after the fire that Soonja started, Monica decides to stay with the family and fulfill her ‘feminine’ responsibilities. Overall, Minari portrays a tension wherein Monica tries to change her life but ultimately succumbs to gendered familial responsibilities.
“I Was a Good Wife” by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
The poem “I Was a Good Wife” by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal explores tensions around being a ‘good’ wife.
“I Was a Good Wife” captures this complex dynamic in Minari, illustrating women’s strength and desires but concluding with a powerless, defeated narrator. The poem’s title reflects Korean American women’s expectation to be good wives and mothers, which motivates Monica’s dedication to her family and the domestic responsibilities described in “Peaches” and A Common Table.⁸⁷ In contrast, the wolf metaphor in the poem implies power and aggression. The juxtaposition of ‘wife’ and ‘wolf’ shows a duality of being both powerful and powerless. This duality corresponds to how Monica exercises power, even while focusing on her familial obligations, by voicing her discontentment with Jacob’s choices and almost leaving the family. The fire metaphor also connotes power, as “ripping” indicates violence and force. Since dresses are considered feminine, ripping the ‘dress’ can mean tearing away hegemonic norms of femininity. Likewise, Monica wants to rid herself of burdensome gender pressures. However, this is only a desire, and Monica ultimately does not subvert gender expectations. Extending the poem’s wolf metaphor, the narrator’s attempt to remember “how to want to come even closer to the wolf I was” shows that she does not even wish to be powerful anymore. Monica, too, gives up on running away and remains a dutiful wife and mother, succumbing to the “quieter violence” of hegemonic patriarchal norms. The maintenance of the status quo in Minari encapsulates how Asian American women may be so fatigued from the difficulties of both acculturation and restrictive gender norms that they give up on challenging the hegemonic order.⁸⁸ For instance, Tan’s mother in “Mother Tongue” accepts that Americans do not take her seriously. Rather than challenging their assumptions, she asks her daughter to speak on her behalf. Likewise, the narrator of “Peaches” does not contest the assumption that she is not American when she is asked “But where are you from originally.” Indeed, many Korean American women have internalized gender norms to the point that they consider employment a mere distraction from motherhood.⁸⁹ Importantly, these experiences are mediated by both gender and culture. Villareal’s poem reflects this intersectionality, as the last two lines allude to cultural differences and a relationship between gender and culture through the wording of “borders.” The poem thus affirms the intersectionality of Monica’s experiences: it is not only acculturative stresses or restrictive gender norms that burdens her, but both.
Reflection on Media Objects
Although this project focuses on first-generation immigrants, most of the media objects are written by second-generation Asian Americans, likely due to language barriers. Nonetheless, the objects speak to the navigation of multiple cultures and gender norms, especially since they are all written by women. They complement each other by addressing different aspects of immigration and illustrating the cultural and gender duality of being Asian American. A Common Table and “Peaches” explore how food reflects multiple cultural traditions. “Mother Tongue” explores the navigation of two languages, and “Things We Carry on the Sea” reveals how immigrants cling to their past. The ambiguity of “I Was a Good Wife” illuminates the complexity of gender, immigration, and power structures.
My media objects are rooted in creative literature and food. Literature reveals the emotional dimensions of broad social phenomena, capturing the individual perspective that partially informs sociological inquiry. Food has both biological and symbolic meaning, so it powerfully encapsulates cultural practices within and across family structures.
Conclusion
As shown through prosaic media objects and scholarship about acculturation, intersectionality, and hegemonic femininity, gender contributes to the cultural tensions that Korean American immigrants face as they develop dual cultural identities. Since gender expectations are a key feature of both Korean and American cultural norms, Korean American immigrant women constantly navigate the intersections of their identities. Despite the demographic growth of Korean Americans, Korean American history has been understudied, and gender has been largely invisible within Korean American history.⁹⁰ This project helps fill in these scholarship gaps, indicating the importance of using an intersectional lens to understand Korean American women’s positionality, Minari as a cultural object, and Asian America as a community to analyze.
Notes
Morey, Brittany N., Connie Valencia, Hye Won Park, and Sunmin Lee. 2021. “The Central Role of Social Support in the Health of Chinese and Korean American Immigrants.” Social Science & Medicine (1982) 284.
Park, In Young, and Marquisha Scott. 2022. “Understanding the Ethnic Self: A Qualitative Study of 1.5 Generation Korean American Immigrants.” Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies 9(2): 171–98.
Ibid.
Seo, You Jung, Charissa S. L. Cheah, and Hyun Su Cho. 2020. “The Gender Ideology of ‘Wise Mother and Good Wife’ and Korean Immigrant Women’s Adjustment in the United States.” Nursing Inquiry 27(4).
Yang, Philip Q. 2010. “A Theory of Asian Immigration to the United States.” Journal of Asian American Studies 13(1): 1–34.
Yoon, Gyunsoo, and Amie M. Park. 2012. “Narrative Identity Negotiation Between Cultures: Storytelling by Korean Immigrant Career Women.” Asian Journal of Women’s Studies 18(3): 68–97.
Park, Chorong, Tanya M. Spruill, Mark J. Butler, Simona C. Kwon, Nancy S. Redeker, Rida Gharzeddine, and Robin Whittemore. 2020. “Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress and Habitual Sleep Duration in Korean American Immigrants.” Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 22(4): 736–45.
Morey, “The Central Role of Social Support.”
Park, “Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress.”
Morey, “The Central Role of Social Support.”
Moon, Seung-jun, and Cheong Yi Park. 2007. “Media Effects on Acculturation and Biculturalism: A Case Study of Korean Immigrants in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.” Mass Communication & Society 10(3): 319–43.
Park, Keumjae. 2007. “Constructing Transnational Identities Without Leaving Home: Korean Immigrant Women’s Cognitive Border-Crossing.” Sociological Forum 22(2): 200–218.
Gerhards, Jürgen, and Silke Hans. 2009. “From Hasan to Herbert: Name-Giving Patterns of Immigrant Parents Between Acculturation and Ethnic Maintenance.” American Journal of Sociology 114(4): 1102–28.
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Ibid.
Morey, “The Central Role of Social Support.”
Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. 2015. “Settler Colonialism as Structure: A Framework for Comparative Studies of U.S. Race and Gender Formation.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 1(1): 52–72.
Tan, Amy. 1990. “Mother Tongue.” The Threepenny Review 43: 7–8. Paragraph 8. Accessed through https://umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20Tan.pdf
Ibid.
Tan, “Mother Tongue.” Paragraph 21.
Tan, “Mother Tongue.” Paragraph 14.
Shin, HaeRan. 2011. “Spatial Capability for Understanding Gendered Mobility for Korean Christian Immigrant Women in Los Angeles.” Urban Studies 48(11): 2355–73.
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Shin, “Spatial Capability.”
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Hill, Katherine M. 2018. “Sweet and Sour: Social Networks and Inequality in a Chinese Restaurant.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4(1): 114–27.
Yang, “A Theory of Asian Immigration.”
Jang, Yuri, Yong Ju Cho, Nan Sook Park, David A. Chiriboga, Seunghye Hong, and Miyong T. Kim. 2021. “Perceived Racial Discrimination and Mental Distress in Older Korean Americans: The Moderating Role of Ethnic Resources.” Ethnicity & Health 1–11.
Park, “Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress.”
Shin, “Spatial Capability.”
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Logan, John R., Richard D. Alba, and Wenquan Zhang. 2002. “Immigrant Enclaves and Ethnic Communities in New York and Los Angeles.” American Sociological Review 67(2): 299–322.
Park, “Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress.”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Moon and Park, “Media Effects on Acculturation.”
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Moon and Park, “Media Effects on Acculturation.”
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Shin, “Spatial Capability.”
Hill, “Sweet and Sour.”
McTernan, Cynthia C. 2018. A Common Table: 80 Recipes and Stories from My Shared Cultures. Rodale Books. (Introduction) Accessed via http://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/592161/
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1990. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43: 1241–1299.
Zhang, Charlie Yi. 2014. “Untangling the Intersectional Biopolitics of Neoliberal Globalization: Asia, Asian, and the Asia-Pacific Rim.” Feminist Formations 26(3): 167–196.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Apostolidis, Paul. 2008. “Feminist Theory, Immigrant Workers’ Stories, and Counterhegemony in the United States Today.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 33(3): 545–68.
Zhang, “Untangling the Intersectional Biopolitics.”
Hari, Amrita. 2018. “‘Someone Kept Sacrificing’: Disentangling Gender Ideology in Immigrant Narratives of Social Reproduction.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 43(3): 539–62.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Ibid.
Choi, Hyaeweol. 2009. “‘Wise Mother, Good Wife’: A Transcultural Discursive Construct in Modern Korea.” Journal of Korean Studies 14(1): 1–33.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Barnes, Medora W. 2015. “Gender Differentiation in Paid and Unpaid Work During the Transition to Parenthood.” Sociology Compass 9(5): 348–364.
Stokes, Allyson. 2017. “Fashioning Gender: The Gendered Organization of Cultural Work.” Social Currents 4(6): 518–534.
Hari, “‘Someone Kept Sacrificing.’”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Kim, Nadia Y. 2006. “‘Patriarchy Is So Third World’: Korean Immigrant Women and ‘Migrating’ White Western Masculinity.” Social Problems 53(4): 519–36.
Choi, “‘Wise Mother, Good Wife.’”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Barnes, “Gender Differentiation.”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Francisco-Menchavez, Valerie. 2019. “A Mother Who Leaves Is a Mother Who Loves: Labor Migration as Part of the Filipina Life Course and Motherhood.” Journal of Asian American Studies 22(1): 85–102.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Park and Scott, “Understanding the Ethnic Self.”
Tan, “Mother Tongue.” Paragraph 14.
Francisco-Menchavez, “A Mother Who Leaves.”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Ren, Huiguang, Charissa S. L. Cheah, Madiha Tahseen, and Nan Zhou. 2021. “A Person-Centered Examination of Acculturation and Psychological Functioning Among Chinese and Korean Immigrant Mothers in the United States.” Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology 27(1): 95–106.
Apostolidis, “Feminist Theory.”
Yee, Jennifer A. 2009. “Ways of Knowing, Feeling, Being, and Doing: Toward an Asian American and Pacific Islander Feminist Epistemology.” Amerasia Journal 35(2): 49–64.
Hari, “‘Someone Kept Sacrificing.’”
Apostolidis, “Feminist Theory.”
Hari, “‘Someone Kept Sacrificing.’”
Apostolidis, “Feminist Theory.”
Hari, “‘Someone Kept Sacrificing.’”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Ibid.
Choi, Jaeyoung, Kaysi E. Kushner, Judy Mill, and Daniel W. L. Lai. 2014. “The Experience of Korean Immigrant Women Adjusting to Canadian Society.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 29(3): 277–97.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Choi, “The Experience of Korean Immigrant Women.”
Kim, “‘Patriarchy Is So Third World.’”
Choi, “‘Wise Mother, Good Wife.’”
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Arnaldo, Constancio R. 2021. “‘We’re Just as Good and Even Better Than You’: Asian American Female Flag Footballers and the Racial Politics of Competition.” Journal of Asian American Studies 24(1): 115–44.
Ibid.
Choi, “‘Wise Mother, Good Wife.’”
Ibid.
Seo, “The Gender Ideology.”
Kim, Lili M. 2008. “Doing Korean American History in the Twenty-First Century.” Journal of Asian American Studies 11(2): 199–209.
Minari (2020) directed by Lee Issac Chung, accessed through https://digitalcampus-swankmp-net.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/vu374190/play/7478190435199d96
Image and Media Credits
Minari (2020) directed by Lee Issac Chung, accessed through https://digitalcampus-swankmp-net.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/vu374190/play/7478190435199d96
Photo by Lachlan Milne https://electricliterature.com/the-hybrid-korean-english-language-of-minari-makes-it-feel-like-home/ and edited by Francesca Ducker
Photo by Lachlan Milne via https://film-grab.com/2021/07/02/minari/
Ping, Wang. 2018. “Things We Carry on the Sea.” New American Poetry. https://poets.org/poem/things-we-carry-sea
Tan, Amy. 1990. “Mother Tongue.” The Threepenny Review 43: 7–8. Accessed through https://umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20Tan.pdf
Su, Adrienne. 2015. “Peaches.” Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poem/peaches
McTernan, Cynthia C. 2018. A Common Table: 80 Recipes and Stories from My Shared Cultures. Rodale Books. Accessed through http://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/592161/
Photo by Lachlan Milne via https://film-grab.com/2021/07/02/minari/
Villarreal, Vanessa Angélica. 2021. “I Was a Good Wife.” Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poem/i-was-good-wife
Photo by Lachlan Milne via https://film-grab.com/2021/07/02/minari/