scholarly journals Like A Dew Drop On A Lotus Leaf: Perceptions Of Aging Well In South Asian American Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1019-1019
Author(s):  
Mushira Khan ◽  
Sheetal Shah ◽  
Ajla Basic
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
South Asian Americans ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Aging Well ◽  
Perceptions Of Aging

Abstract Past research has underscored four key themes prevalent in popular and scientific discourse on successful aging in North America – the emphasis on individual agency and control; continuing productive activity into old age; the value of independence in late life; and an ideal construction of permanent personhood, wherein the realities of mortality and decline are inadequately addressed (Lamb, 2014). Yet, the meanings attached to successful aging differ across cultures and are not very well-understood. The Perceptions of Aging Well in Diverse Populations study aims to acquire a holistic understanding of the attitudes and beliefs around aging well across cultures and to identify the similarities and differences in these perceptions within diverse racial and ethnic groups. This presentation highlights preliminary findings from in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with South Asian Americans 50 years and older (n=19; 9 men, 10 women). Participants shared that a sense of inevitability and aging with “grace”, “dignity”, and “wisdom” were key components of successful aging. Maintaining good health, keeping a positive attitude, and remaining independent in later life appeared motivated primarily by a desire to remain connected to, but not necessarily “burden” adult children with caregiving responsibilities. Religious faith and spiritual well-being, availability of support systems, and a sense of community were key facilitators. Limited English proficiency and loneliness posed challenges to aging well, particularly in late-life immigrants. These findings provide unique insights into subjective perceptions of successful aging and may help inform programs and policies that support the health and well-being of older South Asian Americans.

The (Asian) American Dream

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa S. Davé
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
American Dream ◽  
American Culture ◽  
National Identities ◽  
South Asian Americans ◽  
Hollywood Films ◽  
Film Comedy

This chapter focuses on the film comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), an alternative to the immigrant journey often seen in Hollywood films where the old country is full of hardships, but the new country of America offers freedom and opportunity. Because the film is a stoner comedy, it is not readily recognizable as an Asian American story. However, within the genre of the stoner comedy, these films create a new narrative that normalizes Asian Americans and South Asian Americans as a central part of American culture and in the process redefines the boundaries of American regional, cultural, and national identities.

Animating Gandhi

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa S. Davé
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
South Asians ◽  
The United States ◽  
White Masculinity ◽  
South Asian American ◽  
American Character ◽  
South Asian Americans ◽  
Asian History

This chapter discusses how the Indian American character is the accent or the suburban “sidekick” character to the dominant narratives of young, white masculinity that are prevalent in American culture. The representation and use of the historical figure Mohandas Gandhi in the MTV animated series Clone High revisits and challenges American representations of Asian Americans and South Asian Americans as model minorities. The use of the historical leader Gandhi as a teenage “geek” sidekick without recognition of how Gandhi fits into South Asian history and influences South Asian American communities shows how American stereotypes dwarf any other representation of South Asians or South Asian Americans in the United States.

scholarly journals Social Media Use and Misinformation Among Asian Americans During COVID-19

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella K. Chong ◽  
Shahmir H. Ali ◽  
Lan N. Ðoàn ◽  
Stella S. Yi ◽  
Chau Trinh-Shevrin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
South Asian Americans ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Vaccine Decision Making

Social media has been crucial for seeking and communicating COVID-19 information. However, social media has also promulgated misinformation, which is particularly concerning among Asian Americans who may rely on in-language information and utilize social media platforms to connect to Asia-based networks. There is limited literature examining social media use for COVID-19 information and the subsequent impact of misinformation on health behaviors among Asian Americans. This perspective reviews recent research, news, and gray literature to examine the dissemination of COVID-19 misinformation on social media platforms to Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and South Asian Americans. We discuss the linkage of COVID-19 misinformation to health behaviors, with emphasis on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and vaccine decision-making in Asian American communities. We then discuss community- and research-driven responses to investigate misinformation during the pandemic. Lastly, we propose recommendations to mitigate misinformation and address the COVID-19 infodemic among Asian Americans.

Category Crisis: South Asian Americans and Questions of Race and Ethnicity

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-320
Author(s):  
Susan Koshy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
South Asians ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
South Asian American ◽  
South Asian Americans

The identity of South Asians in the United States has proved to be problematic, both for the self-identification of the group and for the identifying institutions and popular perceptions of the host society. As a result, a certain exceptionalism (commonly indexed as ambiguity) has come to attach itself to the historiography of South Asian American racial formation. This exceptionalism, in turn, has formed the ground for two competing constructions of South Asian American racial identity that wield significant influence today. One view, represented by some of the major immigrant organizations and reproduced by many middle-class immigrants, stresses ethnicity and class and denies or mitigates the historical salience of race for South Asians in the United States. This position emphasizes the anomalous status of South Asian Americans among racial minorities and embraces the rhetoric of a color-blind meritocracy. The second position, associated mainly with scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences and with some activists, treats South Asian color consciousness as equivalent to white racism and criticizes the immigrant community for denying its own blackness. These critics advocate that South Asian Americans politicize their identity, like their diasporic counterparts in Britain, by forming coalitions with other people of color. Ironically, both positions tend to construct racial identification as a choice, inadvertently reproducing the American ideology of self-making and possibility in discussing one of the social arenas where it has been least applicable.

De-Privileging Positions: Indian Americans, South Asian Americans, and the Politics of Asian American Studies

2000 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa Dave ◽  
Pawan Dhingra ◽  
Sunaina Maira ◽  
Partha Mazumdar ◽  
Lavina Dhingra Shankar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
American Studies ◽  
Asian American Studies ◽  
South Asian Americans ◽  
Indian Americans
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