Blog 10 – Korean-Latina-American Women in the World

By Eric Yu

Understanding the perspectives that Korean women born and raised in Latin America is particularly interesting due to how gender relations happen differently in this location. In particular, both Korean men and women were strongly influenced by particular sexual expressions from Latin American culture and have expressed such desires (Park, 2002). These desires have also been noted to go against Korean-American expressions of sexuality, which such people claim that those Americanized supposedly “suffered from an inferiority complex” (Park, 2002, p. 170). Additionally, it is interesting to note how the definition of whiteness compares between this group and Japanese-Brazilians. For Korean-Latin-Americans, a number of them feel that being white is a goal that they cannot achieve and must instead suffer under racism (Park, 2002). On the other hand, however, Japanese-Brazilians were able to manipulate the idea of whiteness in order to take on higher-ranking positions within society, such as banking or legal roles (Lesser, 2005). Ultimately, such differences raise further questions about the differences that ethnic groups in varied geographic areas face because of differences.

K-Pop is yet another example of how Korean influences are affecting Latin America, despite how the Korean-Latin-American lifestyle differs in comparison to the adaptation of popular culture.

Original Text: “South Korean boy band Super Junior performing in São Paulo on April 21, 2013”

Source: “Trevidi, A. (2013). Forget Politics, Let’s Dance: Why K-Pop Is a Latin American Smash. Time. Retrieved from http://world.time.com/2013/08/01/forget-politics-lets-dance-why-k-pop-is-a-latin-american-smash/”

Question: Can you think of other examples of diasporic relationships have affected the production of one’s own identity and how has this occurred (aside from the United States)?

References

Lesser, J. (2005). From Japanese to Nikkei and Back. In W. W. Anderson & R. G. Lee (Eds.), Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas (pp. 112-121). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

Park, K. (2002). “10,000 Señora Lees”: Changing Gender Ideology of Korean-Latina-American Women in the Diaspora. Amerasia Journal 28(2), 161-180.

Trevidi, A. (2013). Forget Politics, Let’s Dance: Why K-Pop Is a Latin American Smash. Time. Retrieved from http://world.time.com/2013/08/01/forget-politics-lets-dance-why-k-pop-is-a-latin-american-smash/