Islander American Women Research Articles

Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

Since Asian American history became an established field in the 1970s, the study of women in Asian American and Pacific Islander (Aapi) communities has made rich contributions to U.S. history scholarship. Their experiences have not only challenged the narrow understanding of women's agency surrounding the Black-white binary but also brought fresh insights into U.S. history by critically examining its histories of colonialism, globalism, and neoliberalism. Discovering Aapi women's voices was initially challenging. Early collections such as Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American Women (1989), edited by Asian Women United of California, vividly showed the need to break the silence that continued to surround Aapi women. More recently, anthologies have matured, as seen in Linda Trinh Võ and Marian Sciachitano's edited collection Asian American Women: The Frontiers Reader (2004), Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology (2013), edited by Shirley Hune and Gail M....

A Comprehensive Approach to Risk Reduction for Asian and Pacific Islander American Women With HIV/AIDS

As HIV incidence rises globally, Asian and Pacific Islander communities are increasingly affected. While often overlooked, Asian and Pacific Islander American women have shown the greatest percentage increase in HIV diagnosis rates. The development of a multilevel and multistrategy approach to HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and treatment among Asian and Pacific Islander females requires health care providers to identify personal and cultural barriers to prevention and treatment and implement culturally sensitive and specific measures. The purpose of this article is to illuminate barriers to HIV-related prevention, treatment, and care among Asian and Pacific Islander American females and provide practical application-based suggestions for providers, which may enhance Asian and Pacific Islander female inclusion in comprehensive HIV prevention.

Race/Ethnicity and Changing US Socioeconomic Gradients in Breast Cancer Incidence: California and Massachusetts, 1978–2002 (United States)

We tested the hypothesis that the US socioeconomic gradient in breast cancer incidence is declining, with the decline most pronounced among racial/ethnic groups with the highest incidence rates. We geocoded the invasive incident breast cancer cases for three US population-based cancer registries covering: Los Angeles County, CA (1978-1982, 1988-1992, 1998-2002; n = 68,762 cases), the San Francisco Bay Area, CA (1978-1982, 1988-1992, 1998-2002; n = 37,210 cases) and Massachusetts (1988-1992, 1998-2002; n = 48,111 cases), linked the records to census tract area-based socioeconomic measures, and, for each socioeconomic stratum, computed average annual breast cancer incidence rates for the 5-year period straddling the 1980, 1990, and 2000 census, overall and by race/ethnicity and gender. Our findings indicate that the socioeconomic gradient in breast cancer incidence is: (a) relatively small (at most 1.2) and stable among US white non-Hispanic and black women; (b) sharper and generally increasing among Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander American women; and (c) cannot be meaningfully analyzed without considering effect modification by race/ethnicity and immigration. Our results indicate that secular changes in US socioeconomic gradients in breast cancer incidence exist and vary by race/ethnicity.

Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology

Asian/Pacific Islander American Women is the first collection devoted to the historical study of A/PI women's diverse experiences in America. Covering a broad terrain from pre-large scale Asian emigration and Hawaii in its pre-Western contact period to the continental United States, the Philippines, and Guam at the end of the twentieth century, the text views women as historical subjects actively negotiating complex hierarchies of power. The volume presents new findings about a range of groups, including recent immigrants to the U.S. and understudied communities. Comprised of original new work, it includes chapters on women who are Cambodian, Chamorro, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Native Hawaiian, South Asian, and Vietnamese Americans. It addresses a wide range of women's experiences-as immigrants, military brides, refugees, American born, lesbians, workers, mothers, beauty contestants, and community activists. There are also pieces on historiography and methodology, and bibliographic and video documentary resources. This groundbreaking anthology is an important addition to the scholarship in Asian/Pacific American studies, ethnic studies, American studies, women's studies, and U.S. history, and is a valuable resource for scholars and students. Contributors include: Xiaolan Bao, Sucheng Chan, Catherine Ceniza Choy, Vivian Loyola Dames, Jennifer Gee, Madhulika S. Khandelwal, Lili M. Kim, Nancy In Kyung Kim, Erika Lee, Shirley Jennifer Lim, Valerie Matsumoto, Sucheta Mazumdar, Davianna Pomaika'i McGregor, Trinity A. Ordona, Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman, Charlene Tung, Kathleen Uno, Linda Trinh Vo, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Ji-Yeon Yuh, and Judy Yung.

Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology. Ed. by Shirley Hune and Gail M. Nomura. (New York: New York University Press, 2003. xii, 426 pp. Cloth, $65.00, ISBN 0-8147-3632-7. Paper, $24.00, ISBN 0-8147-3633-5.)

This rich collection heralds the growing significance of Asian/Pacific Islander American women in American history and women's history. The essays cover an impressive breadth of historical periods, specific groups of women, and topics ranging from immigration laws and policies, cultural formations and practices, sexualities, the effects of war and military occupation, and globalization and labor to social and political activism. Alongside chapters by established historians such as Judy Yung and Valerie Matsumoto, the volume showcases the diverse research of emerging scholars. While much of the volume focuses on the twentieth century, several contributors provide an earlier historical backdrop such as the establishment of Native Hawaiian culture between 600 and 1100 or the androcentric Korean households of the Choson dynasty (1392–1910). Pointing out how orientalism frames most histories of women in Asia, which emphasize patriarchy, Kathleen Uno proposes instead a more differentiated and nuanced picture of gender relations. Several essays illustrate...

Reviews of Books:Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology Shirley Hune

Reviews of Books:Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology Shirley Hune

Review: Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology, by Shirley Hune and Gail M. Nomura

Review: <i>Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology</i>, by Shirley Hune and Gail M. Nomura

Disclosure of HIV infection among Asian/Pacific Islander American women: Cultural stigma and support.

Disclosure of HIV infection among Asian/Pacific Islander American women: Cultural stigma and support.

HIV-related sexual risk assessment among Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: an inductive model

Current HIV/AIDS rates among Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) women in the United States are disproportionately low (CDC, 1998). However, there is evidence to suggest that risk for HIV is present, based upon studies on risk behaviors and markers for risk as well as demographic factors that may facilitate transmission among this population. Because a particular threat to A/PI women is heterosexual transmission, which accounts for nearly half of all cases (CDC, 1998), prevention efforts should focus on risk within sexual contexts and how such risk is assessed and acted upon. Using a qualitative methodology, the present study investigated how A/PI American women assess their HIV-related risk in sexual interactions. Based on extensive interview data, an inductive model of risk assessment was generated consisting of cultural and sexual risk schemata. Findings suggest the influence of cultural schemata on sexual risk schemata, which in turn influence whether condoms or HIV tests are requested. Specifically, the cultural values of reticence regarding sex, the accommodation of others and a traditional romantic ideal inhibit open discussion with partners about HIV as well as requests for safer sex behaviors. Instead, A/PI women tend to engage in non-explicit, inferential assessments of partners' risk, which may contribute to an illusory sense of control and safety. Consistent with previous studies on other groups of women, these findings further extend and elucidate theory and prevention strategies for this population.

Disclosure of HIV infection among Asian/Pacific Islander American women: Cultural stigma and support.

Disclosure of HIV infection among Asian/Pacific Islander American women: Cultural stigma and support.

Race, gender, and health

Series Editor's Introduction - John H Stanfield II Foreword - Audrey F Manley Health and Women of Color - Marcia Bayne-Smith A Contextual Overview African American Women - Lorna Scott McBarnette American Indian and Alaska Native Women - Jo Ann Kauffman and Yvette K Joseph-Fox Asian/Pacific Islander American Women - Reiko Homma True and Tessie Guillermo Latino Women - Aida L Giachello Redefining Health in the 21st Century - Marcia Bayne-Smith and Lorna Scott McBarnette