Hmong-American Subculture

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Subculture Research: Exploring the life of Hmong Americans

In the past three years, I've been learning little by little about the south-east region of Asia overall. I've made close friendships, started enjoying the cuisine, visited China town in Chicago multiple times where a fairly large Hmong community resides and became a fan of anime movies directed by Hayao Miyazaki. A close friend of mine is a Hmong-American and she shares stories and facts about the lifestyle from time to time; a combination of the movies by Hayao show a glimpse of customs that are foreign to me. As a result, I’ve been curious about the different traditions and values in that particular region of Asia for a while now. I felt the first-generation Hmong-Americans would be a good subculture to explore granted I have more access to their culture and assume that I could find some relativity with these individuals since also experienced split cultures in my life because I myself am an immigrant to this county and know how a mix of cultures play a big role in …show more content…
I remember stories of a close friend named Diance telling me about the strong ways of Hmong culture and how it affects her life and the conflicts that happen because of it. She also told me she believes in Shamanism. I remember taking a picture with my sister wearing ball party masquerades and Diance seeing the photo and saying "In my culture, those masks bring evil spirits" or the times we would go to China town and she would explain to me that different stones would bring qualities such as happiness, health, love, etc. She would also traduce gestures people made and their meaning. What was surprising to me was that even though she was born in the US, she always referenced back to Hmong traditions. When I enter her house beside the girly stuff that we girls like to have to look

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