Sadaf Sadiq- Section 3- Week 8

Sadaf Sadiq

Section 3

Week 8 Reading

One of the topics of this week is centered around Asian Americans and sexuality. In Boyoung Lee’s “Teaching Justice and Living Peace: Body, Sexuality, and Religious Education in Asian American Communities”, she raises the topic of how women are controlled by patriarchal views to this day. I was appalled to learn that women today in the United States still feel pressured to get hymen restoration (408). This surprisingly unknown procedure is only directed at women, creating a prejudice between the genders. It raises the question of why women have to go through the pain and financial burden of such an inconsequential procedure when it is not expected that men have to go through something that can “restore their virginity”. In fact, the patriarchal view is what constitutes these “social norms” that women have to uphold. The old Confucius views only valued women as housekeepers and to bear sons. These old ideals translate to young Asian American being pressured to follow the same experiences and expectations of women from thousands of years ago. They fear speaking up about their sexual orientation and are either given the options of suppressing their sexuality or being ostracized from their family and community. The problem lies with this oppressive system that drives Asian American youths to either feel so excluded as to develop mental health issues or suffer the psychological consequences of being separated from family because of their lifestyle.

Question: Why do these women get surgeries to restore their hymens when it does not give back their virginity? Are they hiding it from their marriage partners and pretending to be a virgin?

References:

Boyoung Lee (2006). Teaching Justice and Living Peace: Body, Sexuality, and Religious Education in Asian American Communities, Religious Education 101:3, 402-419.

Ha, A. (2016 May) Overview of Asian American LGBT+. (Digital Image). Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjj86_q4dPgAhUGCawKHSPsDRAQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fexpectasian.com%2Ftag%2Fasian-american%2F&psig=AOvVaw1eGn6DSlGSJDlogB7RMIz-&ust=1551076884678111