Roy S./Kelly Loves Tony Journal 5/17 - Leigh Bagood

I had never thought about the notion of homosexuality being a Western import as it is viewed by some in South Asia. Being in America, I only view homosexuality through a Western perspective. It’s interesting to think how some people in other countries view activists for LGBT rights simply as people influenced by Western ideals rather than people advocating for their basic human rights. However, I think the notion of LGBT activism being a Western influence due to the expansion of the internet plays into the Orient-Occident binary. I can relate to something I learned in a previous class about Third World Feminism. Middle Eastern women are often viewed by the West as helpless and in need of saving from traditional patriarchal society, propagating the perception of their society as backwards and inferior to that of Western society. Thus, the feminist activism of Middle Eastern women is often undermined and disregarded. This makes me think about how South Asian queer activists could have their actions undermined by the idea that their ideas stem from Western influence, and that they are viewed as incapable of creating their own movements.

In the documentary Kelly Loves Tony, Kelly really demonstrated the intersecting forces of her identity as a Southeast Asian female in America. After becoming pregnant, she is automatically expected to become a domestic wife and mother; she didn’t even know she got engaged until her mother told her. This conflicts with Kelly’s individualistic goals to go to college for a degree and get a good job. This relates to Shah’s article in which she explains the intergenerational conflicts between first and second generation Laotians, the latter whom are pressured by their parents to abide by ethnic cultural expectations while balancing the pressures from American society to breakaway from restrictive familial expectations.