5/16 Shah/Said

The text by Shah raised a lot of problems with being a second-generation Laotian woman. There is a lot of tension involved when you are a second-generation Asian American. There is an existing conflict between the American idea of individualism and Laotian ideal of community and togetherness. Even as a international student I struggle with this conflict from time to time. I believe my household to be relatively progressive with both my parents being very opened minded about a lot of stuff. However for my dad, family is not one of the stuff that he is very open minded about. I usually will get into an argument with him over the smallest disagreement because to him any type of open opposition to his opinion is deem inapprorate cultrally speaking. I can only imagine how these Laotian girl feel when all the men in their family are making all the decision for them.
The documentary about Orientalism was a interesting watch albeit a bit hard to follow from time to time. It si very eye opening to be able to learn about the history of Orientalism and how a lot of the misconception of the East made by the West sparng from the fact that the USA has not have any direct contact with any of the countries in the East. As Said has mentioned in the documentary, what a lot of westerners view of the East comes from many preconceived notions or they are being look at by distorted lenses. It is also a point raised by the documentary that pop culture influence this preconceive notion. For example, in movies Arabs are always portrayed as the terrorists.

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