5/18 Roy & Kelly Loves Tony


In Roy's article, he discusses how South Asian queers lack the visibility and resources in both spaces of their identities. Being South Asian, many cannot fully express their queer identities because the culture is extremely conservative and homophobic. There is hostility towards being queer and it is frowned upon. Being queer in America, they are surrounded by white, liberal queer spaces that is not quite intersectional. Many feel that people cannot relate to their experiences, because they do not have to deal with South Asian characteristics such as arranged marriages or extreme homophobia. I can partially relate to some of the narratives being described in this article. Being Southeast Asian and queer, I do not have room to fully express my identity among my family. Being queer is still as considered taboo in Cambodian culture. One interesting thing the author pointed out that is present in many cultures and languages is that there is no neutral term to describe queer folx. Many are derogative and intended as an insult. For instance, my family would called queer folx, khtuy, which was is usually said in a negative way. I am not sure if there is any neutral term to describe queer folx that isn't offensive.

In Kelly Loves Tony, the life of a Mien high school graduate is showcased as she struggles between achieving her goals of going to college and being engaged and having a newborn. Throughout the film, Kelly tries to balance her life between staying home to care for her newborn and in-laws and going to school. She faces obstacles as her fiance does not quite understand her personal goals of going to school and the pressures of getting engaged. In many Asian cultures, women are expected to drop all of their personal goals in order to care for their family. This role is so rooted in Mien culture, which starts to become a problem as Kelly is becoming Americanized and learning her independence and value. She starts to realize that there is more to her than just being a mom and daughter-in-law.

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