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Q-A-A-A

"Q-A-A-A" Otherwise known as Queer, Adopted, Asian American

 

Before coming to SSU, I did not yet know the complexities of the term "Intersectionality." Having been able to study intersectionality more closely, I can now say that even though intersectionality is but a framework to conceptualize people affected by multiple systematic discriminations and disadvantages, it is also the ability to recognize them and to find the language to understand them better.

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With these papers below, I feel they all relate to my experience as a queer, adopted Asian American. While they relate to my own experiences, I think they also embody intersectionality and feminism itself.

A Red Thread

May 21, 2021

I wrote this for WGS 370, a class that focused on gender in Asian America. Our final project was to do a skit, a performance, or some other type of self expression. As an adoptee who has not been brought up with her Vietnamese culture, I feel like I am missing a piece of myself that I yet do not know. However, there is one part I regret because it sounds stereotypical: the line about math, especially after just writing about the Model Minority Myth. Maybe it was a bit of self-helplessness in my own shortcomings, but now I can see that everyone can apply stereotypes to other people and themselves.

 

At the end of the poem, I mention researching my culture. This year, I have made more of an effort. For example, this lunar new year, I went to my first lion dance. It was a small event at a library, but it was so cool to see other families also brining their young kids to the performance.

Banana Girl

April 29, 2023

The final project for WGS 474 was to write our own Manifesta/x of an issue we want to change. I grew up not knowing a lot of where I came from, only that I was loved and "chosen." I wish that I had the resources as a child to be more connected to my heritage. I wrote this in the style of letters addressing the big 3: Adopted Children, Adoptee Parents, and the Adoption Industry itself. 

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I have also included the presentation, though am not sure why it has grey boxes.

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Transracial Adoption

Nov 21, 2021

This final paper from WGS 385: Transnational Feminisms is a paper that is very important to me. I always knew I was adopted, but I never had a lot of big feelings ™ about it until my last year of high school and in college. Being able to research transracial adoption with a developing background of Transnational Feminisms was really eyeopening for me. It gave me a chance to better explore that side of me, as I had already done a lot of soul searching with my queer identity.

 

Transracial adoption affects all parties involved: the birth mother, her reproductive rights, the child, and both countries. This essay, therefore fits great within intersectionality because there are a lot of identities that are almost tangled up and need to be processed and worked through. 

Lesson Plan: Queer Experiences of POC

May 10, 2021

I'm just going to say that this is one of my favorite projects I've done for a class! In WGS 375, Youth: Gender Perspectives, we read a lot of YA books written by diverse people about diverse subjects. I love reading, so this class was so cool to be able to read books I like and have discussions on them. This project was to imagine that I was a teacher teaching different YA books. I think this assignment was helpful because I am a strong believer in when you are able to teach something, you know it very well. Being able to choose my own books and articles was fun, but also tricky because I had to be precise in the message I wanted to add to the book and its "unit."

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All the books I chose to discuss were good examples intersectionality because they are all about different life paths and experiences. I'm so glad that young audiences have so many diverse books to choose from, I know I would have been over the moon if I read these kinds of books when I was younger.

Feminist Thought In Action

March 2, 2020

Growing up, I really did not see a lot of Asian Representation in the media, unless it is to be mocked on screen, for example, Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles, or in Lady and the Tramp with offensive caricatures of Chinese people through the Siamese cats. Other people of color have also experienced mockery and ill-fitted "representation." This essay is important because it showcases how the media portrays different people and how harmful it can be. Something else that I find interesting is how movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Parasite, and Get Out all have to be box office hits, whereas white creators don't have to make something extraordinary to be seen as a visionary. 

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As feminists, it's important to be able to look at media critically and see the inequalities that are present. But as a person of color in America, it is important to see yourself on the big screen, to see people like you.

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