Rodriguez/Gonzalez + Kelly Loves Tony(pt 2) Journal 5/23 - Leigh Bagood

This article made me think more about how the construction of Asian masculinity in the culture of import cars can be contradictory. While it is going against the grain of common stereotypes that paint Asian American males as less masculine, in a way it is assimilating to hegemonic notions of American masculinity. Furthermore, this is a gendered process as asserting masculinity involves the hypersexualization of Asian women. It is not a completely progressive process then since Asian American women already tend to be hypersexualized in the media, and as Asian males challenge their own stereotypes of a lack of masculinity, they contribute to these perceptions of Asian American women. Thus, I can’t help but view this “Asian American masculine identity” as nothing new, but a reinvention of hegemonic masculinity in America for the Asian American male.
In the latter half of Kelly Loves Tony, we see Kelly struggle even more with her expected responsibilities as a daughter-in-law in a traditional Mien family. Not only is she expected to be a mother to her own child, she carries the responsibilities of caring for Tony’s family by doing housework. Tony doesn’t seem to understand why this is difficult for Kelly since in their culture, this is what is expected of the female. However, it is because Kelly doesn’t view Tony’s family as her own as she is unable to mesh well with their culture. In addition, they don’t understand that Kelly has her own academic goals and ambitions, which is reason for why Kelly is the only one not ecstatic about becoming pregnant again. Kelly demonstrates the frustrations that Laotian women experience having to deal with the clashes between their desires for agency and the pressures from their Laotian culture enforced upon them by their parents. She tries to challenge the traditional position of Laotian women but as Shah states in her article, it is not simply a process of Americanization, but it is what she must do to make it in a society like America.

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