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Hmong women face dual cultures, challenges
America is a diverse country, and with diversity comes a wide array of cultural issues.
Women on Wednesday presented one such cultural issue Wednesday � "Navigating Two Cultures: Issues Affecting Hmong Women."
Speakers Dia Cha, an assistant professor in ethnic studies; Kathy Mouacheupao, an educator for Community Outreach for Asian Women United; and Va Vang, a student at SCSU, spoke about the different issues, challenges and myths that Hmong women face in America today.
There are plenty of challenges for any culture to face when living in a new environment, especially in the U.S. Each of the speakers agreed that there are several challenges that Hmong women face living in the American culture.
"The biggest challenge I have faced is the individual interest against the group interest," Cha said. "The Hmong culture doesn't take the individual thought as the most important. It focuses on your people."
Cha pointed out that the Hmong culture wants to think about the group interest before they take action. She was not comfortable telling other people about how she felt when living in America. To Cha, her culture said she should keep quiet about her individual feelings. This always brought a challenge for her.
"Because I don't live the Hmong life here," Cha said, "how am I supposed to make a Hmong identity?"
Cha said there are no classes of Hmong history taught here. She doesn't wear traditional Hmong clothes on a day-to-day basis. There are no recognized Hmong holidays that she can take off from work.
"I should maintain my culture, my identity," Cha said. "But how am I supposed to maintain it?"
For Mouacheupao, the biggest challenge she feels is for her parents. They came from Laos and raised their children in America. Upon arriving in America, they settled in a fairly white community. They were the only Hmong family there. The biggest barrier was language. Just being able to understand others caused enough trouble.
Once Mouacheupao's mother was given the opportunity to receive an education, there was a major change. It changed and influenced her to raise her children a different way. She began encouraging her children to get higher education because she didn't have those opportunities when she was younger. It also brought internal conflict with fellow Hmong family and friends. Hmong women are supposed to be a certain way, act a certain way. She was the breadwinner and brought power issues into the family. It was an non-traditional Hmong family.
"It was very not traditionally Hmong for the woman to earn more money, to be outspoken," Mouacheupao said.
There are also social dynamics that play a role in the transition into American life. Women are expected to work outside the home.
When Cha attended school in America, she had been taught in her culture not to question authority. She didn't challenge her teachers, she did not speak up in class and in turn she was docked in her grades because of what her culture taught her.
Besides the transitions of cultures and lifestyles, there are several misconceptions of Hmongs in America.
"The biggest misconception, I believe, is that Hmong people have big families," Vang said. "That's not true."
Another large misconception she feels is that many people think Hmong people live on welfare. Vang points out that many of the Hmong families have come a long way to America, and use welfare only as a way to get started. Many go very far to get out of the welfare system.
Mouacheupao feels that a big misconception is that Hmong families can't be Americans.
"Our elders say we're Hmong," she said. "Another big misconception is that if you're Hmong, you can't be American. But we've advanced a lot in the short amount of time we've been here."
Cha believes there are other misconceptions.
"People think we come here and take away jobs, that we get everything for free from the government," Cha said. "We have to pay for things."
Mouacheupao also sees the prejudged attitudes people have about Hmongs and their speaking capabilities.
"They expect that they (Hmong) can't speak English or have accents," she said. "The nonverbal is the most revealing."
Mouacheupao knows the frustration of being female and Hmong. She was the only daughter and she sees the difference between how boys and girls are treated.
"Because they are boys they have all the privilege," she said. "It never seemed right or fair. There are clear cut roles when you're a woman or a man."
If there wasn't a law saying that she had to go to school she doesn't know if she would have gone.
Vang knows the frustration of gender roles as well.
"I was not really close to my dad. Part of it is culture," Vang said.
There are differences between the U.S. culture and the culture of Hmong people in regards to family structure as well, which sometimes causes misunderstandings between the two cultures.
"There is a change in family structure. You have more than three generations in a house," Cha said. "Then the U.S. Immigration service breaks them up."
Cha also points out that because of the Vietnam War, most men were recruited to fight and most are dead or missing. Now without the men, who held most of the traditions of their cultures and religion, their ways are gone. Now without the elders, the ways for the culture is missing, they are missing out on these rituals.
All of the women who spoke agreed that there are several boundaries and obstacles each Hmong woman must face, regardless of anything else.
Nissa Billmyer can be reached at: [email protected]
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