Hmong Gender Roles

The roles of gender have long shaped the society as a whole. Commonly, women recognized as dependent, weak and passive. On the other hand, men perceived as independent, strong and dominant. These traits define the roles of gender, but it impacts one culture more than others. The majority of the Hmong populations are people who lived in the hills of Laos. Large groups of Hmong people lived in poverty, had no or little education, and survived on farming. They are independent people who cared most for the survival of their family, thus; they do anything to make ends meet. The Americans recruited the Hmong people to fight in the Vietnam War and in exchange for their support, most of the population relocated to the United States in 1970s; some of …show more content…
Survival is an important aspect of the Hmong people, but on the other side of the green grass, hinders the gender roles of the Hmong women that will advance them beyond their traditional stance. The Hmong men overshadowed the patriarchal system, ruled cultural and civil needs of the family and villages. On the other hand, like how women are perceived by America, Hmong women are passive and submissive. From the moment of birth and inhaled her first breath on earth, she is already subordinate. She is powerless because she is not strong like men who hunts bravely by himself, nor carry or move heavy miscellaneous hardware. The gender role plays a major factor in the Hmong culture. Conventional responsibilities include the following: childbearing, household errands, embroidery, and social liability. Foremost, the people believe that the purpose of why women exist is to expand the family tree of her husbands. Hence, childbearing plays a factor in marriages on account if she cannot bear any children or …show more content…
She is the youngest and the only person of the eight siblings in her family to have a secondary education. At a young age when she and her family first arrived in America, little she knew that her role and life will change. "Had I been in Laos and/or in Thailand, as a female in a large family, I would not have had an opportunity to gain an education." (42) Culturally, the majority of Hmong male were the ones who had access to schooling. Although men are likely to have an education, others are not as fortunate due to a tight budget or no money. For the females, most of them stayed home to babysit younger siblings and prepared meals for the family and their diligent parents when they returned from the long work day at the farm. Further, the high numbers of Hmong women had limited or no academic resources and thus countless young girls believed that their life depended on their future husbands to support