To be completely honest, going into Anthropology 104, I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I had no idea what this class had to offer me. Despite my initial thought of this class, I am actually really stoked because I feel like I have learned and come to more of an understanding of myself and my beliefs especially with the roles of gender. After doing my research, along with reading everyone else's blogs, I became familiar with different points of views on gender. Which in my opinion is super cool, because I love opening my mind to different views that people have. I learned a lot about my roots as well. As I had previously mentioned in my first blog post, growing up in a small town, where there were less than 20 Asians altogether, it was hard to understand the ways of my parents. Especially with gender roles, seeing as how in the Korean culture, men are extremely dominate. Growing up, from observing my household, my dad was in charge of everything. Despite what my mom would say, nothing was ever "right" if my dad didn't agree. But as I grew up I realized that not every household was the same. Observing friend's families, I came to a point in my life where it became hard to agree with the way of how we were being raised. Here I am, the only Korean in my school, with different traditions and whatnot from all of my friends, it was inevitable that my Korean culture was going to clash with growing up in Paso Robles (hickville).
In Korean culture, men have always been extremely dominate. Women's roles were simply to cater to their families, being housewives, and taking care of the family, while men were the main providers when it came to money and protection. It was really apparent growing up, not only with my immediate family, but also with my dad's side of the family. From my earliest memories, my grandma along with my aunts would always be doing things for the men, and constantly reiterated that women need to make sure they take care of the men in the family. And like in many cultures, men in the family whether it was my uncles or cousins, they were important, because in the end, the men carry on the last name of our family. So, to say the least men in the Korean culture are really just put on a pedestal.
However, now, at least in my family, I've noticed a change in the family dynamic. My family still roots our lives on the Korean culture my parents grew up with, but my parents have come to an understanding that my sister and I had grown up as Korean-Americans, totally different then how they grew up. So, they have become more understanding of our views on life because they know we are apart of two different cultures.
I am thankful to have grown up in the states, being Korean, because it has taught me a lot about different perspectives of life. I had always kind of looked down on Korean culture, because it was so much more strict and one-sided than the American culture, but as I grew older, I became happy that I could have both points of view from both cultures. Now, I am more understanding of different cultures, and I am also really proud of being Korean now!
I know I can keep Korean traditions in my family in the future, but that doesn't mean I have to stay with the gender roles that have been apart of the Korean culture for centuries. I can take bits and pieces from both cultures and still be staying true to my roots.