Chinese Daughters

The experiences of Chinese girls and young adults adopted into U.S. families in the last few decades and of the families who chose them provide us with a fascinating perspective on citizenship, both natural and naturalized, at the individual and also at the group level. What were the values, the understandings of culture and nationality, involved in the choice to adopt Chinese girls? How have adoptive families explained China's population control policies to their daughters? Have they made moral judgments about China's private property laws, laws which still only allow males to inherit property? How have these gender differences shaped attitudes toward civil rights and gender equality consciously or unconsciously for these girls and for the families that have wanted them? What does it mean to be Chinese in appearance but not have a hyphenated cultural identity? What combinations of values and loyalties, cultural fascinations and aversions, assumptions and doubts shape your understanding of what it means to you personally to be a U.S. citizen? What feels natural? What feels naturalized?

Country of Publication

United States