I’m Nobody’s Puppet
My parents had no problem changing the strings, makeup, and costumes whenever they forced me to dance as their puppet to entertain their audience. I had to be quiet and let them lead, smiling, speaking, and laughing on cue. They even strung the corners of my lips, stretching them wide and painful, censoring my emotions. I had two appearances in my puppeteer form: one as the perfect serene Indonesian Muslim, and the other a humble Peruvian Catholic. My parents were both immigrants who came from complete opposite sides of the world. Considering they were struggling to understand the ways of an American, things weren’t easy when trying to find a job and place to live. However, since my Peruvian father is religiously identified as a Catholic, and my Indonesian mother is classified as a Muslim, another factor that added to their stress was family issues. When with my mother’s family, I had to put on my Muslim costume, wearing a hijab occasionally, dressing so not a single provocative inch of skin would show, and praying at least five times a day. When with my father’s family, I had to go to church, sunday school, and walk up and down the aisle of the church to eat my daily bread. The reactions from each family was …show more content…
And it wasn’t just the catchy tunes, the passionate voices, or the authentic messages that changed me; the fact that the artists were completely unafraid to reveal themselves through music inspired me. It lead me to hum along, my eyes closed when breathing in the essence of freedom of expression. When wandering eyes were away, I’d try to sing some songs myself. Of course, I was no Beyonce at my first try, but when I actually heard me, my real voice, my identity was begging for more. I even discovered my passion for writing, expressing myself with a simple piece of paper and pen, writing poems and stories; the stories were my
My parents had no problem changing the strings, makeup, and costumes whenever they forced me to dance as their puppet to entertain their audience. I had to be quiet and let them lead, smiling, speaking, and laughing on cue. They even strung the corners of my lips, stretching them wide and painful, censoring my emotions. I had two appearances in my puppeteer form: one as the perfect serene Indonesian Muslim, and the other a humble Peruvian Catholic. My parents were both immigrants who came from complete opposite sides of the world. Considering they were struggling to understand the ways of an American, things weren’t easy when trying to find a job and place to live. However, since my Peruvian father is religiously identified as a Catholic, and my Indonesian mother is classified as a Muslim, another factor that added to their stress was family issues. When with my mother’s family, I had to put on my Muslim costume, wearing a hijab occasionally, dressing so not a single provocative inch of skin would show, and praying at least five times a day. When with my father’s family, I had to go to church, sunday school, and walk up and down the aisle of the church to eat my daily bread. The reactions from each family was …show more content…
And it wasn’t just the catchy tunes, the passionate voices, or the authentic messages that changed me; the fact that the artists were completely unafraid to reveal themselves through music inspired me. It lead me to hum along, my eyes closed when breathing in the essence of freedom of expression. When wandering eyes were away, I’d try to sing some songs myself. Of course, I was no Beyonce at my first try, but when I actually heard me, my real voice, my identity was begging for more. I even discovered my passion for writing, expressing myself with a simple piece of paper and pen, writing poems and stories; the stories were my