Generation and Gender Roles in Hmong Society - Hmong Studies ...

Kou YangProfessor of Asian American StudiesEthnic and Gender Studies DepartmentCalifornia State University, Stanislaus© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

The Hmong of Vietnam: Gender Roles© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionMap and flag are from CIA World Factbook:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vm.html

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

A Hmong coupe and their child© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang No duplication without permission• A father and his son

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission• Older sister babysits for her younger siblings

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission• A young mother and her child in Can Cau, Bac Ha

At the Saturday Market Place in Can Cau2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

Women come to themarket to sell theirproduces and othergoodsMany men cometo the market todrink with theirfriends© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission• Like people of other countries, man does the driving

Globalization and adaptation© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionIt is unusual for a woman to plough the family’s rice paddy field, but here itis; because her sons work in the city

Gathering firewood© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

The Hmong of China: Generation and GenderRolesMp and Flag are from CIA WorldFactbook:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html© 2008 Kou Yang No duplication without permissionChinese Flag and Map: from CIA World Factbook: Link to

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionThis sculpture honors both man and woman Qeej masters as symbol of the Hmong

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionCooking for the New Year Feast is the responsibility of the Men while cooking forevery day is done by the women

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission• New year feasting: Men eat in a separate table

When parents hold their children, boy with dad and girl with mom© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

A girl comes to the market with her mother© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission• Women do the sale

Both boys and girls play together© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionThe wife feeds the animals while the husband does the watching with their child

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionA grand father and his grand daughter

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionPlough the land is usually man’s work: two men train a young ox to plough the land

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionA mother and her adult daughter

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionEqual, but not so equal

A grand father and his grand child© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

Two future Qeej masters play side by side© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionGender equality: officials of both gender toast each other

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionA younger person offers a toast to her senior person

Men perform the Qeej and woman does the dancing© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permission

© 2008 Kou Yang. No duplication without permissionHmong museum paintings show women carrying foods home and men performing the Qeej

Discussion Topics/Questions• Background:• History: list historical events that have contributed to the making ofHmong patriarchal society• List some aspects of Hmong legend/folk tales that are related to genderin/equality or gender roles• Identify Hmong words that help you to understand Hmong genderroles and issues• Identify some of the roles of the paternal grand‐parents in the home?• List roles of maternal grand‐parents that differ from paternal grandparents• List some of the roles of the husband and father• List some of the roles of the wife and mother

Discussion Topics/Questions• Agriculture and Geography• How do the climate and geography of the regions whereHmong live affect their patterns of generation/genderroles , and patriarchal practices• How do their agricultural practices affect their way oflife, culture and patterns of generation/gender roles• Hmong Language• Does Hmong language show preference for male orfemale?• What aspect of Hmong language and religion that mightindicate past matriarchal society

Discussion Topics/Questions• Hmong Religion and Culture• What aspects of Hmong culture and religion support theirpreference for boy over girl?• Do both maternal and paternal grand‐parents have equal share ofcaring and socializing their grand‐children?• How is knowledge about various aspects of life passes on from onegeneration to the next?• People of Diaspora• Compare and contrast gender roles of the Hmong in differentcountries• Identify some of changes in gender roles among the Hmong in Laos,China, and Vietnam?

Discussion Topics/Questions• Hmong Americans• Gender/Generation roles• In which and what ways have gender roles changed in HmongAmerican society?• Donnelly (Donnelly, 1997: 113) found tremendous changes in theconduct of daily life of the Hmong in the US and stated thatchanges was proceeding at lightning pace, too fast too record.Identify some of the changes?• List factors that influence the changes of gender roles in HmongAmerican society• Compare and contrast Hmong gender roles in Laos and in the US• Others:

References• Barney, George, L. Christianity: Innovation In Meo Culture A Case Study in Missionization. Unpublishedmaster's thesis. University of Minnesota (1957). http://www.como.stpaul.k12.mn.us/Vue‐Benson/.• Donnelly, Nancy D. Changing Lives of Refugee Hmong Women. Seattle: University ofWashington Press, 1994.• Geddes, W.R. Migrants of the Mountains. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1876).• Lemoine, Jacques. “What is the actual number of the (H)mong in the World?” HmongStudies Journal, 6 (2005). Available from: http://hmongstudies.org/LemoineHSJ6.pdf• Lee, Gary Yia, Diaspora and the Predicament of Origins: Interrogating Hmong Postcolonial History andIdentity. Hmong Studies Journal, Viol. 6 (2007). 1‐25._ _ _ _y_ _ _ _The Hmong of Laos: Overview of their Transnational Adaptation, a paperpresented at the first international workshop on the Hmong/Miao in Asia 11‐13 September 1998,Aix‐en‐Provence, France (retrieved on May 13, 2008). Link to view from:http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Topical/hmong%20of%20laos.html#Demography%20and%20economHmong World View and Social Structure (Cited on November 10, 2008). Link to viewfrom:http://home.vicnet.net.au/~lao/laostudy/hmrelate.htm_ _ _ _ The Shaping of Traditions: Agriculture and Hmong Society. Hmong Studies Journal, Vol. 6(2005). 1‐33.• Hamilton‐Merritt, Jane. Tragic Mountains. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1999.• Moua, Mai Neng. Bamboo Among the Oaks. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002.

References• Olney, Douglas P. “We must be organized: dual organizations in an American Hmong community.”Ph.D. Diss., The University of Minnesota, 1993.• Pfeifer, Mark, and Serge Lee. “Hmong Population, Demographic, Socioeconomic, andEducational Trends in the 2000 Census.” In Hmong 2000 Census Publication: Data andAnalysis. Hmong National Development, Inc., and the Hmong Cultural and ResourceCenter, 2004.• Ranard, D. (Editor), The Hmong: An Introduction to their History and Culture. The Center forApplied Linguistics, 2004.• Swinkels, Rob and Carrie Turk, Explaining Ethnic Minority Poverty in Vietnam: a summary ofrecent trends and current challenges. Draft Background paper for CEM/ MPI meeting onEthnic Minority Poverty, Hanoi (28 September 2006). Link to view from:Resources/Ethnic_Minority_Poverty_in_Vietnam7.doc.• Toyota, Mika, Subjects of the Nation Without Citizenship: The Case of the ‘Hill Tribes inNorthern Thailand. In, Kymlicka, Will and Baogang He, Multiculturalism in Asia, OxfordUniversity Press (2005). Link to view from: google.com/books?isbn=0199277621.• Vuong Xuan Tinh, Looking for food: The Difficult Journey of the Hmong in Vietnam (No Date).Link to view from: www.ies.wisc.edu/ltc/live/vxt0211loo.pdf• Yang, Dao. Hmong at The Turning Point. Minneapolis: WorldBridge Associates, 1993.‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ The Hmong: enduring traditions. In Lewis, J. (Ed.), Minority Cultures of Laos:Kammu, Lua, Lahu, Hmong, and Iu‐Mien. Rancho Cordova, CA: Southeast Asia CommunityResource Center‐Folsom Cordova Unified School District, 1992.

References• Yang, K., Contemporary Hmong Americans – In, Ling Huping, Emerging Voices: TheExperiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans, Rutgers University Press (2008)._____ Hmong Americans at the Dawn of the 21 st Century. Accepted to be presented at the16 th World Congress of the Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences,Kunming, China (to be held from July 15 to 23, 2008; postpones until July 27‐30, 2009)._____ The Immigration and Emigration of Hmong Americans. Accepted to be presented atthe 16 th World Congress of the Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences,Kunming, China (to be held from July 15 to 23, 2008; postpones until July 27‐30, 2009)._____ An Assessment of the Hmong American New Year and Its Implications for Hmong‐American Culture. Hmong Studies Journal, Vol.8 (2007). Online link to view:http://hmongstudies.org/KYangHSJ8.pdf._____ Research Notes from the Field: Tracing the Path of the Ancestors – A Visit to theHmong in China.” Hmong Studies Journal 6 (2005):1‐38. Available from:http://hmongstudies.org/YangHSJ6.pdf.‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Hmong Americans: 30 Years In‐Review. Paper presented at the First InternationalConference on Lao Studies, DeKalb: May 20‐22, 2005.‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Hmong Americans: Felt Needs, Problems and Community Development. HmongStudies Journal, 4 (2003): 102‐124.‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Hmong Diaspora of the Post‐War Period. Asian Pacific Migration Journal 12 (3) (2003). 271‐300._ _ _ _ Hmong Men’s Adaptation to Life in the United States. Hmong Studies Journal Vol. 1,No. 2 (1997).