“Lao’d and Proud”: Lao and Cambodian American Girls’ Negotiation of Femininity and Culture

• In Event: Reframing the Status Quo With Critical Voices From Minoritized Populations

Abstract

This paper explores how Lao and Cambodian American girls make meaning of their femininity at the intersections of race, schooling, and ethnic community, and argues that girls resist subordinated racialized gender identities. It complicates the dominant view of Asian American cultures as “traditional” or “gender oppressive” and expands perspectives that embracing ethnic gendered norms is not inherently incompatible with modern girlhood. The paper contributes to culturally sustaining pedagogy by unpacking the culturally-constructed notion of agency and what a “liberated” girl can look and be like.

Author

• Diana Chandara, University of Minnesota