cultural and gender experience

Cierra Anthony CierraAnthony@wayn.edu 313-358-7056 October 6, 2015 Multi-Source Objective News Cultural and gender experience Indian-American woman speaks about her cultural and gender experience SOUTHFIELD—Internal medicine doctor at St. Johns Providence Hospital speaks on her experience as an Indian-American woman, with an African-American boyfriend and a strict traditional father. Svreet Kaur say’s she was raised in a culture where the parents would invest more into the boys than the girls. “Indian family value boys” says Kaur “not only do the boys carry on the name but they think that the boy will take care of them when they are sick and when they are old.” According to VOA.com “Girls are considered a liability, bringing financial pressure on the mother and father. That is because the parents have to give a dowry, usually money or property, to the family of the girl’s husband.” Kaur say’s “Once the girls get married they will have to take care of their new family, leaving her own family behind so the girl will no longer be a part of her own family anymore so the girl’s parents will not invest in her.” “There’s this big unfortunate aspect of the society that’s especially among the poor and the low socioeconomic status people, says Kaur “they are heavy on female feticide.” According to PubMed.gov “female feticide is a selective abortion of female fetuses,” and “Aborting female fetuses is both practical and socially acceptable in India.” “There’s a big percentage of people who will kill their babies once they find out the baby’s a girl, “ says Kaur “ There are actually doctors who will help kill the babies.” Kaur says that ultrasound is illegal for finding out the sex of the baby, because of female feticide. Kaur says if she were still living in India she would not be the same person, she would not be a doctor and she would not be in a relationship with an African-American man. Kaur says her and her boyfriend Chukwudy Mbagwu met their first semester at American University of Caribbean’s as medical students. Kaur says her mother and her aunt knew about Mbagwu and they was fine with him, but her father did not know about him. “ I did not tell my father about Chukwudy for five years, because I was afraid of his reaction, but once he started sending me emails about potential men in my area that I could date, I felt I had to tell him,” says Kaur. “ When I told my father about my boyfriend he was upset and he told me he do not like the fact that he is black,” says Kaur “There are 20 Indian women in this world who are married to a black man and I will not be the father of one.” She said when her father said that it brought tears to her eyes. “ “ That’s when I realized that it was not about me it was about him and how he would look as an Indian man to other Indian family and friends.” “Chukwudy family is very open to our relationship, they love me and I love them,” says Kaur “the only issue I had with his mother and father was, the fact that they were trying to get me to convert to Catholicism, and I told them that I would go to church with him and I will give our future children the option to choose if they want to be Catholic or not, but I wont force them. Kaur says once her and Mbagwu sat his parents down and told them that she was not going to convert they were ok with their decision. Kaur says after months of talking to her mother her father is currently trying to come around to the idea of meeting her boyfriend and his family, he agreed to have dinner with Mbagwu and his family.