Shah, B - Laotion Daughters

A major topic that caught my interest in the reading by Binidi V. Shah was the disconnect between immigrant parents and expectations for their children. As immigrants, they are obviously exposed to two distinct forms of culture and life style: their native land and the land they immigrate to. Therefore, they have a very clear comparison when conducting themselves in the immigrated country. However, this is not the same for their children. For those born here or even immigrate at a very young age, they lack that distinct comparison and the life style of their native land or parents becomes foreign. The article talks a great deal about the lack of communication between immigrant parents and their daughters. I think there is an especially difficult struggle between them due to the difference in culture towards females around the world. In America, there is much more freedom for women to pressure their futures. Although equality is not perfect, there is an established view of females being able to control their futures, such as: perusing an occupation, choosing a spouse, or whether or not they want children. So those immersed in this culture and not truly exposed to other views makes it difficult for them to relate to those who have. This is a major reason immigrant parents struggle to convey their native culture to their daughters. As we talked about before, those immigrants who are second or third generation have a particularly important job as being a median between their parents’ native culture and that of their immigrated land. Many will choose to assimilate in order to better fit their new life or gain acceptance. But it is also important to produce their own form of identity and create a form of transnationalism.