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14 Managing Survival Economic Realities for Vietnamese American Women Linda Trinh Võ Since we moved to the United States in 1979, my mother has worked in an assembly line at a factory, operated a mom-and-pop Oriental food market, transported garment pieces between the factories and seamstresses who sewed from their homes, served Chinese fast food at the mall, and become a beautician, an occupation she still maintains. In Vietnam, she worked as a waitress at a restaurant and as a maid in a hotel, both of which catered to foreigners in Vietnam. As a war bride, she does not represent the“typical ” Vietnamese American story; however, the jobs she has held are typical of women of her ethnicity. I have seen her overcome her linguistic and educational limitations, work tireless hours, and struggle against exploitation. I begin with the story of my mother’s experience to bring into focus the economic realities of Vietnamese refugee and immigrant women who survived the turmoil of war, dislocation, and resettlement. Far from the perception of them as fragile and passive victims of war, they are resilient and strong survivors who have sought to control the often bewildering and uncertain socioeconomic transformations that have confronted them.1 Unlike other Asian immigrant groups, Vietnamese Americans were not brought to America to fulfill labor needs, although they have in fact fulfilled the demands of U.S. capitalism, particularly in the service sector and production work. Like other Asian American women, Vietnamese American women who are sole providers for their families and who contribute to a family income engage in a variety of income-generating activities for economic survival and self-sufficiency.2 Ironically, as a result of racism and sexism, they have been provided economic niches where they find themselves in segregated occupations defined by their status as women,minorities,and immigrant/refugees. In some cases,employers’preferences forAsian immigrant women in the paid labor force has given Vietnamese American women more employment options than their male counterparts. The general American public likes to believe that Vietnamese Americans are the quintessential embodiment of the “model minority,” who basically arrived with nothing and,as a result of hard work,have achieved the American Dream.3 However,a closer examination reveals that this myth masks the multiplicity of their economic experiences and overlooks how gender and racial factors impact their lives. In this chapter, I analyze Vietnamese American women’s socioeconomic diversity and the various re237 sources and strategies they have used to cope with their economic circumstances.Structural conditions growing out of decades (even centuries) of resistance to colonial powers , along with civil war and their diaspora, are powerful forces that have altered women’s economic experiences, in both oppressive and liberating ways. The economic history of Vietnamese women in this country is shaped by a legacy of economic, political, social, and cultural interventions by foreign powers in Vietnam. The Vietnamese experienced one thousand years of Chinese domination, over three hundred years of French colonial influence, Japanese occupation during World War II, and attempted recolonization by the French that was followed by approximately ten years of occupation by U.S. military forces in the Vietnam (American) War. The North Vietnamese Communists declared victory on April 30, 1975, when they captured the southern capital of Saigon, ending the longest war in modern history. This war contributed to the massive displacement of approximately one-third of the South Vietnamese population. It is estimated that over 4 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians on both sides were killed, representing more than 10 percent of the total population, and countless others were wounded. The war also created over 879,000 orphans and over 1 million widows. In the 1960s, there were approximately three thousand Vietnamese in the United States, and most were university students from elite families; some were diplomats or military employees. The majority of the Vietnamese women were wives of U.S. military personnel or U.S. civilians. Since 1975, some Vietnamese women have arrived as refugees,while others came through provisions set aside for immigrants and Amerasian children and their families. In the early 1970s, there were about fifteen thousand Vietnamese in the United States. By 2000, there were over 1 million, concentrated in California and Texas but living in all regions of the country. Each immigrant’s occupational experience is affected by the life of her family in Vietnam, her method of arrival, and the resources available to her. The Pre-1975 Groups: International Students, War...

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