Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society in Vancouver includes a bonsai
club, table tennis, bowling, a golf club, Taiwanese opera, ocarina (flute)
instruction, Karaoke, a reading group, finance and investment seminars,
computer application lessons, a youth club, a health seminar, aerobics and
rehabilitation classes, ten English grammar classes, a cancer support group,
paper artwork and food making workshops, yoga and tai chi classes, a walk-
ing club and others. The larger Hong Kong population was able to support
an even more complete programme of activities.
Only one unexpectedly dark cloud remained on the horizon for some
women, the return of the patriarch on a seasonal family visit. Ambivalence
about their husband's return was mentioned by a number of Vancouver
women, a reaction that generated complex and confusing emotions. 9 Leisure
activities had to be suspended; more formality was expected in household
arrangements especially at meal-time (the number of dishes was a common
sticking point). Wings of freedom were clipped. 'All my attention had to go
back to the family. I had to cut out some of the (social) activities because of
my husband' (Waters 2002). Another woman told Waters: 'The boss is back!
And then he controls the family'. A third response ended enigmatically in
laughter: 'When he stays in Canada, he is always at home. Everything, he
don't like. He argues to me. If he stays in Taiwan I am free. My heart is free,
you know' (laughing).
From the perspective of both genders, there are two theoretical conclu-
sions. First, separation weakens male patriarchy; neither male influence nor
emotional support is as easily sustained from afar. Control, like emotion, is
variable across the complex meanings of space. Second, places exercise their
own cultural effects through the routines of everyday life, so that as partners
are separated on opposite sides of a shared transnational social field, they
become socialized to different regional subcultures; the husband consoli-
dates established patriarchal values in Asia Pacific while his wife accultur-
ates toward the gender practices of the nation in which she is living. The
gravitational fields that draw men to Asia and sameness, and women to
Canada and difference, open up lines of separation across the transnational
social field that can sometimes become an unbridgeable chasm.
Astronaut and Satellite Kids
Other lines of separation may develop between parents and children.
Thrown into an English-language culture at school, children often become
more acculturated and linguistically competent than their parents. This can
lead to some awkward examples of role reversal in a patriarchal household,
as children navigate their parents through daily tasks. In interactions with
school teachers, health professionals, repair companies or public officials,
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