Premium Essay

Hmong Marriage Problem

Submitted By
Words 1753
Pages 8
Imagine the day of your wedding, the day where you are taking another step into your life with your lifelong significant other. Often, this is the day of relief and happiness but this is completely the opposite of marriages in the Hmong community. In the Hmong community, marriage is a business transaction. The word for “to get married” in Hmong means “to buy”; marriage is a source of income. In preparatory to a wedding, both sides of the bride and groom will decide on the price of the bride. Women will have a price tag and men will have to pay the bride price. The bride price will range between $3,000 and $10,000. It may increase or decrease depending on the bride’s educational level, if she has no sisters, her reputation, her virginity, etc. Regarding a proposal, there are three ways a couple can initiate a wedding. The first option is a formal proposal, which means that the man and his family representatives will do a formal house call. They will …show more content…
Families may think that a marriage is a way out of poverty but it will instead ruin a girl’s life. A way to solve this problem is for the government to education women and men. Clan leaders will also need to participate and understand how this problem can cause a huge impact on families. People who do not agree with this may think that this is part of a traditional practice because it has been passed down for many generations, but abuse and force should not be part of a cultural custom. Another way to solve this problem is for individuals to participate and learn about the harming effects of this religious practice. When you decide to take the next step into life with your partner, remember that many other young girls do not have the opportunity to live their future so freely like us. Do not take things for granted, especially the day when you pledge to love and care for your significant

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Hmong Family Research Paper

...dynamics of a family vary vastly between different cultures. The Hmong people in particular are a group of people whose history and traditional values strongly influences the family dynamic. It’s a culture whose principles strongly revolve around hierarchy and patriarchy. Many times the system of patriarchy overpowers within Hmong cultures and women get left behind and often times become victims of abuse. This is an important issue that not many people in the community have addressed because of importance on cultural beliefs, norms, and family honor. I will first start off with a brief history of the Hmong. Hmong people are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China. But because of political unrest and ethnic cleansing...

Words: 1585 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Vietnam War Research Paper

...the Hmong were losing to the uprising of the Vietnamese army and the tactics of guerilla warfare was used against the US soldiers in Vietnam. There were enemies everywhere and they were all hard to take out because a majority of the enemy did not have uniforms and dressed up just like civilians. As the US fought the war it was also fighting against another war at home with its people, who were protesting against the war. As time progressed and the US knew there was no hope of winning the war the US then tried to find a way out withdrawing all its troops and getting out of the war. When a ceasefire agreement between both sides was made on February 1972, the US then quickly evacuated their troops and left the Hmong allies to fight the North Vietnamese alone. (Quincy 1995) After US left, the Hmong genocide soon came afterwards for aiding the...

Words: 1150 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Hmong Population

...Hmong Population The Hmong people are considered one of the largest hill tribes. They originate from Laos however; they have migrated to areas of Southeast Asia including Vietnam and Thailand (Cultural Survival, n.d.). During the mid 1980’s the Hmong have began immigrating to the United States (n.d.). According to the 2010 census, there were approximately 260,076 Hmong citizens in the United States (Hmong American Partnership, 2010). States with the highest population of Hmong individuals were California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (2010). In Oklahoma, as of 2010, there are 3,369 Hmong individuals within our state (2010). Health issues Within the Hmong community, there are certain ailments that are common within individuals who have resettled...

Words: 1343 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Hamong World View

...Hmong World View and Social Structure According to Durkheim (1961), the source of what we regard as sacred or religious lies within our own image. The deities and spirits we pay respect to are but "society transfigured" for in the final analysis we only worship our society. It is society which is both the cause and the expression of religious sentiments through regular ritual representations (Aron, 1967: 53) These rights constitute beliefs enacted for the purpose of preserving a sense of belonging for the participants and maintaining them together as a group. They not only tie the members of the group to each other "but also to the past and the future generations" (Cohen, 1871: 180). Religious ideas, in the words of Bachofen (Leaf, 1979: 118), define fundamental relations in society, showing internal structures similar to the actual behaviour or the believers. The supernatural order is in general based on the social relationships of the group. It validates and regulates these relationships, thereby conserving the social orders. In this paper, I will discuss the social organisation of the Hmong of Laos and Thailand in relation to their religious beliefs in order to see if the two spheres mutually interact to maintain the broader social system. It has been said that ancestral spirits are no more than "a projection of the authority system of the living - the lineage elders elevated to a supernatural plane" (Keesing and Keesing 1971: 309). How true is this of the Hmong? I will...

Words: 6450 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Hmong People

...Promoting Cultural Sensitivity A Practical Guide for Tuberculosis Programs That Provide Services to Hmong Persons from Laos U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Hla dej yuav hle khau; Tsiv teb tsaws chaw yuav hle hau. “When you cross a river, take off your sandals; when you emigrate from one country to another, take off your hat.” –Hmong Proverb Promoting Cultural Sensitivity A Practical Guide for Tuberculosis Programs That Provide Services to Hmong Persons from Laos Female elder. © Frank Carter. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2008 For Additional Information For more information or for a list of available guides, please contact: Division of Tuberculosis Elimination National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop E-10 Atlanta, GA 30333 Phone: (404) 639-8120 Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/tb Suggested Citation Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Promoting Cultural Sensitivity: A Practical Guide for Tuberculosis Programs That Provide Services to Hmong Persons from Laos. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2 Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

Words: 19162 - Pages: 77

Free Essay

Personal Reflecton

...Tedesco 1 Justina Tedesco Professors name Subject 30 April 2012 The Women Of Laos Before Understanding the women of this beautiful culture, one must first look into its past. The modern state was established by French colonialism between 1893 and 1954: The French delineated the borders and wrote the first national history of Laos. It was also the French who began restoring monuments and constructing a "national" literature. This work was continued by a small group of intellectuals under the RLG associated with the Literature Committee and by the Royal Academy. A nationalist movement was encouraged by the French during World War II, and became an independence movement, the Lao Issara. This movement is a claimed by both Communists and anti-Communists. The current regime claims to be the true nationalist heir, but it came to power and survived only with the military assistance of the Vietnamese. This reliance tarnished its nationalist credentials after 1975, but declining reliance on Vietnam in the 1990s boosted those credentials. More people of Lao ethnic origin live in Thailand than in Laos. Laos was almost absorbed into Siam and that has tinged Lao national identity with fears of disappearance. The fact that most ethnic Lao in the Thai northeast do not identify themselves with the Lao nation-state is a source of confusion, blurring the cultural boundary between Laos and Thailand. Although Lao and Thai languages are very close, central Thai is the key Tedesco 2 cultural...

Words: 1725 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Resocialation

...life, we expect a marriage life to be happily ever after like the children’s stories, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, but it isn’t always the case. In reality, some marriage life does last forever but some doesn’t. As for mine, it only lasted for a couple years till I finally draw the line and said, “No more of this miserable life.” As time goes on, I have been living in a more stable and happy life compared to the married life I have before. How and why did I do it? Basically, I did it by re-socializing to adapt and cope to the married life I have now. What do I mean by re-socializing? It means that I must learn from my past experiences and make a dramatic change in the area concerning my behaviors, attitudes, expectations, and values to improve my new life. Before I get into my behavior change, I want to give a brief discussion on the topic why people get divorced. There are many reasons why people get divorced, but I will list a few of the important ones. First reason has to do with the break-down in communication and disclosure. This occurs with when both party starts to limit the communication between them. When one stopped talking to the other, it showed a lost of interest to be with the other one. If this goes on, both parties will eventually have negative thoughts such as, he or she is cheating, he or she don’t love me no more, or he or she is up to something no good. These kinds of negative thoughts aren’t good in a marriage life. Another reason...

Words: 2467 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

The Spirit Catches You and You Call Down

...09/09/2013 Assignment 1 1. What do you think of traditional Hmong birth practices (pp. 3-5)? Compare them to the techniques used when Lia was born (p. 7). How do Hmong and American birth practices differ? I find the traditional birth practices peculiar and very unsafe. The conceiving of a child should be done in a sterile environment by professionals, so that the risks of negative effects like infections, wounds, etc. is minimized. Nevertheless I think the tradition, that the placenta is buried by the father, so that the soul can return to it’s first jacket, in order to continue it’s after death journey, is a wonderful way of believing what comes after death. Professional doctors handled Lia’s birth the American way, with her mother lying on a metal table with sterile drapes and no anaesthetics. This is a big difference to the Hmon customs, where Foua would have squatted on the dirty floor and pulled the baby out by herself, while trying not to touch the floor and not waking her other kids, until the new-born starts to cry. Another difference is that the Hmong bury the baby’s placenta and the Americans incinerate it. After birth a soul calling ceremony officially in order to confirm the quality of Lia’s name and pleasing the soul to reside in Lia’s body to protect her from illness and evil spirits. 2. Over many centuries the Hmong fought against a number of different peoples who claimed sovereignty over their lands; they were also forced to emigrate from China. How...

Words: 4637 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

Eqweqeqqe

...Praise for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down “Fadiman describes with extraordinary skill the colliding worlds of Western medicine and Hmong culture.” —The New Yorker “This fine book recounts a poignant tragedy…It has no heroes or villains, but it has an abundance of innocent suffering, and it most certainly does have a moral…[A] sad, excellent book.” —Melvin Konner, The New York Times Book Review “An intriguing, spirit-lifting, extraordinary exploration of two cultures in uneasy coexistence…A wonderful aspect of Fadiman’s book is her even-handed, detailed presentation of these disparate cultures and divergent views—not with cool, dispassionate fairness but rather with a warm, involved interest that sees and embraces both sides of each issue…Superb, informal cultural anthropology—eye-opening, readable, utterly engaging.” —Carole Horn, The Washington Post Book World “This is a book that should be deeply disturbing to anyone who has given so much as a moment’s thought to the state of American medicine. But it is much more…People are presented as [Fadiman] saw them, in their humility and their frailty—and their nobility.” —Sherwin B. Nuland, The New Republic 3/462 “Anne Fadiman’s phenomenal first book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, brings to life the enduring power of parental love in an impoverished refugee family struggling to protect their seriously ill infant daughter and ancient spiritual traditions from the tyranny of welfare bureaucrats and intolerant...

Words: 134140 - Pages: 537

Premium Essay

High Risk Nutrition

...University: HLT 324 V November 15, 2014 Abstract The importance of knowing your culture and where you come from can help you understand other people’s culture. This can also aid in improving how you work and what you can do. Being aware of what you are will also help prevent chaos between the patient and healthcare staffs. Being aware and mind sufficient will help one to open one’s eyes to see things in a different perspective such area where nutrition is at a high-risk. Researching the different cultural problems and identifying solutions will assist the writer to comprehend their way of life and lifestyles. High Risk Nutritional Practice There are many health care risks that we are unaware of. We need to research and figure out what we need to do. How do we prepare others in a high-risk nutrition situation? The healthcare physicians will continue to look forward to discuss the cultures that are identified and the solutions to their various problems. Chinese Heritage The Chinese heritage is a culture that is difficult to determine their health risk factors. One case the writer believes to be a high health risk among the Chinese heritage is smoking in the men and teenagers. Smoking has killed millions of people each year and yet these numbers are still rising. The second high risk factor known to the Chinese culture is drinking alcohol. Alcohol consumption has known to increase in men than women. Chinese women do not smoke, but they do...

Words: 2936 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Lit Review

...I. Investigate global market 1. Defining global market In the aspect of marketing, global market is the set of many foreign markets which include every available buyer or potential buyer of a product or a service. This concept allows international company forecast the capacity of the market in an effective way. A country’s overseas market includes foreign customer market, industrial market and government market. 2. Investigate global market Investigate global market is the process of gathering materials and information about target market, compare and analyze these information, to withdraw the fluctuation tendency of global market in every production lines, production groups to build a foundation to every business strategy of international companies To investigate global market, we must study the environment of the target market, more specifically, study about every details of the region of this market. The term Business Environment is composed of two words ‘Business’ and ‘Environment’. In simple terms, the state in which a person remains busy is known as Business. The word Business in its economic sense means human activities like production, extraction or purchase or sales of goods that are performed for earning profits. On the other hand, the word ‘Environment’ refers to the aspects of surroundings. Therefore, Business Environment may be defined as a set of conditions – Social, Legal, Economical, Political or Institutional that are...

Words: 4923 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Ethics

...r{,r,, ^'r\. J. L !--.,,r'*- A 4l^ 4^ *- rwc,\ l*"d , Cr^V*Voa^{Y /Aotql [ss^'/> ?**, o^ft*^Na JJ rrr! alt i , 3 cz €);o\t -', , l)*s*xY YUrrur(J Susan Moller Okin "ls Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" Ethics in Society and Profe.ssor o,f.Politiin Western Political Thought andJustice, cal Science atStanford rJniversity, isthe authorofwomen Cender, and the FamilY. Susan Moller Okin, the Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of arise between acceptance of diversity In this article, Okin explores some of the tensions that the rights and well-being of women' (a key telnA of multicultural'ism) and concern for ' As You Recd, Consiiler This: ,'Eeminism" .and "multicultur rtlism" 1. fine each of these terms? aTe two key terms in okin's arlrcle' How does she de- originallypublisheditlheBostonReview,october/November199?'ReprintedinsusanMollerOkin'IsMulticulc' Nussbaum (Princeton: PrinceMatthew Howard' and Martha turalism Bad for women? edited by Joshua cohen, Press, 1999). ton UniversitY Chapter 7 . Gender 287 2. Why, according to Kymticka, do certain minority groups deserve special group rights? 3. \Mhat is the liberal response to Okin's crlttque?'Nhatrejoinder does Olcrn offer to this response? Until the past few decades, minority groups-immigrants as well as indigenous peoples-were typically expected to assimilate into majority cultures. This assimilationist expectation is now often ...

Words: 6045 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Human Trafficking

... The Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1963 by Abraham Lincoln. Many enslaved Americans were thought to be freed. slavery still exist today all over the world. This form of modern day slavery is called human trafficking. The United Nations defines human trafficking as "The recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring of persons, by means of the threat or use of excessive force. Strong-arming a person against their will is abduction then to receive payments for the purpose of exploitation."(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) is “Human trafficking”. Human Trafficking is a global epidemic, which occurs daily, in every country in the world. It’s an international industry that is a growing problem. (Patrick Belser) of ILO has estimated human trafficking to be a $31.6 billion industry. Human Trafficking is the second worst epidemic to the drug trade. The 2010 Trafficking Report by the (U.S. Department of State) estimates that there are 12.3 million people are being confined and held unwillingly around the world. Globally 80% of human trafficking victims are women and 60% are children. Many articles have shown that males are not exempt from trafficking. Human trafficking, is usually a forced act of a person, performing sex 3acts or hard labor in a sweat shop. Some victims agree to be trafficked in order to repay a debt for being brought to the U.S.A. others are transported from country to country against his...

Words: 5674 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Research Paper on Human Trafficking

...Adriana Ambari Writing 100-14 December 6th, 2012 Project 4 Human Trafficking: A Global Epidemic When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963, we thought this was the end to slavery, but the sad truth is that it is still occurring today all over the world. This form of modern day slavery is called human trafficking. The United Nations defines human trafficking as "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation."(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Human trafficking is a global epidemic, which occurs everyday, in almost every single country in the world. It’s an international industry that is rapidly expanding. Patrick Belser of ILO has estimated human trafficking to be a $31.6 billion industry. This is second only to the drug trade. The 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S. Department of State estimates that there are 12.3 million slaves being held captive around the world. This is second only to the drug trade. Globally 80% of human trafficking victims are women and 60% are children. In the minute it took you to read this paragraph two children have become victims to human trafficking. There...

Words: 5935 - Pages: 24

Free Essay

Logistics

...RESEARCH and WRITING CUSTOM EDITION Taken from: Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide, Eleventh Edition by James D. Lester and James D. Lester, Jr. To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments by Gilbert H. Muller and Harvey S. Wiener ISBN 0-558-55519-5 Research and Writing, Custom Edition. Published by Pearson Custom Publishing. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Custom Publishing. Taken from: Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide, Eleventh Edition by James D. Lester and James D. Lester, Jr. Copyright © 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Published by Pearson Longman, Inc. New York, New York 10036 To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments by Gilbert H. Muller and Harvey S. Wiener Copyright © 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Published by Pearson Longman, Inc. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Custom Publishing All rights reserved. Permission in writing must be obtained from the publisher before any part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 0-536-97722-4 2005240359 AP Please visit our web site at www.pearsoncustom.com ISBN 0-558-55519-5 PEARSON CUSTOM PUBLISHING ...

Words: 70562 - Pages: 283