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In her article “The Confucian Four Feminine Virtues,” Ngo ThiNgan Binh interviews contemporary Vietnamese women living in HoChi Minh City (formerly called Sai Gon) to highlight and analyze thecontradictions and expectations of family members governing femalebehavior and actions. Binh’s ethnographic research regarding how“modern” females--or contemporary young women--should followtenets of societal expectations is significant when examining the storiesof the two females I studied. These two individuals are Chi or Minh(the older sister nay transgender brother of the author) and AndrewPham (the subject of Marlo Poras’ documentary Mai’s America). Thisessay explores the shifting identities of these Vietnamese females asthey travel from their “home”--or natal country--of Vietnam to inhabitthe borders of the US nation-state. In making this transnational move,they undergo a type of racialization familiar to travelers and thosewho relocate, but it plays a particular role for people of color, whohave immigrated or have been part of a racial or ethnic group living inAmerica. For example, people from the Caribbean, Latin America, or 8Africa who are noticeably dark become grouped into the category ofAfrican Americans, though their migration histories and patterns maybe quite different from African American counterparts (whose past isoften connected to the former US slaves).Moreover, these other groups may speak Spanish, Patois,Creole, as well as other languages. This racialization within the Blackcommunity is very similar to those in the Asian and Asian Americancommunities living in the US nation-state. For example, Asians fromcountries as diverse as China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.are considered “all alike” by those unfamiliar with the heterogeneity ofthe Asian body. Also, like many other non-white groups, individualsare gendered and sexualized into designated subgroups. Thus, I intendto analyze and to interrogate how Chi/Minh and Mai complicate andchallenge racial, gendered, and sexualized expectations of themselvesby others. I will not address what their intentions for exploring and“performing” different gender paradigms means to them (because Ireally could not do so), but I will try to formulate the traces or remnantsof how their performances of their gender and sexuality have affectedthose emotionally and physically close to them, not to mention to theiraudiences.

The aim of this study was to examine the gender standards of male nurses in women-dominated workplaces. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors that influenced the psychosocial working environment of male nurses, based on gender perspectives. To get a wider perception, we also studied social support and expectation from the surrounding linked to previous research on male nurses' working conditions. Our intention was to identify gender-related differences that characterize the occupational role. The method used in the study was qualitative and the empirical material was obtained through semi-structured interviews. We interviewed six male nurses based in different medical departments, all located in Western Sweden's health and medical care. We analyzed the results with a focus on gender norms and its impact on the psychosocial work environment. We used Karasek and Theorell's “Demand-control-and support model” in line with Jeding et al. (1999) psychosocial model “The individual program” as an essential tool to reveal potential explanations. Due to regulations and general advice in Swedish health-and medical care, we chose to neglect the aspect control, since it did not have an impact on the results of the study. The findings of the study are that all male nurses who participated in our interviews were experiencing their psychosocial work environment as highly over-loaded. The results also revealed that there is a difference between a gender aspect, in the profession. The majority of the respondents also confirmed they felt expectations to perform certain duties, based on their gender role. By indicate these social structures, we hope to contribute to an increased understanding of the certain conditions that many gender minorities may get involved with, based on social structures and gender norms.