Author : Gina Maséquesmay
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)
Book Synopsis Becoming Queer and Vietnamese American by : Gina Maséquesmay
Download or read book Becoming Queer and Vietnamese American written by Gina Maséquesmay and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What happens when a sexually marginalized group of Vietnamese females decide to form a support group? Arguing that they face racism and cultural ignorance from predominantly white gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender organizations and homophobia from sexist co-ethnics, a group of Vietnamese lesbians, bisexual women and female-to-male transgenders founded 0̂-Môi, 'a social support network that endeavors to support and advocate the rights and visibility of Vietnamese- bisexual women, lesbians and transgender people.' Given the diverse gender and sexual identities of the group as well as their diverse connection to Vietnamese culture (recent arrivals vs. those who have been in the U.S. longer vs. younger generation vs. older generation; Chinese-Vietnamese vs. Hapas vs. 'pure Vietnamese'; variegated Vietnamese/English language abilities), how do 0̂-Môi members coalesce and construct a collectivity meanwhile validate and support the diverse gendered, sexual and ethnic experiences of one another? Using Michael Burawoy's extended case method, I examine 0̂-Môi's organizational evolution and dynamics in context of the sexual, racial, ethnic and gender landscape of Southern California. Extracting from the literature on 'identity, ' I propose the concept 'identity work' to examine how identity issues are evoked and negotiated in interaction among 0̂-Môi members. My three-year ethnographic findings from participant-observation and 33 individual interviews suggest that 0̂-Môi has been relatively successful to include support and validate its members' multiple marginalized identities. At the same time, pragmatic attempts to coalesce by drawing group boundaries in everyday interactions tend to pattern into a hierarchy that centers and normalizes experiences of bicultural-bilingual Vietnamese lesbians. These processes render the marginalization and invisibility or tokenism of bisexual and transgender people as well as those who are Vietnamese monolingual and to some extent English monolingual, monocultural, and biracial. I discuss how organizational structure (volunteer group), discourse resources, personal struggle, and political struggle orient members and mold their interactions that lead to affirmation and/or marginalization of certain members' experiences. I conclude with what these findings of provisional identity works tell us about how the hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality are challenged or reproduced in everyday interaction and what the future holds for 0̂-Môi and similar groups"--Leaves x-xi.