{"id":3222,"date":"2022-11-14T09:04:52","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T09:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soc.hamiltonlits.org\/sharingsociology\/?p=3222"},"modified":"2022-11-15T16:41:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T16:41:39","slug":"made-in-china-raised-in-america-identity-tensions-amongst-adoptees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soc.hamiltonlits.org\/sharingsociology\/fall-2022\/made-in-china-raised-in-america-identity-tensions-amongst-adoptees\/","title":{"rendered":"MADE IN CHINA RAISED IN AMERICA: Identity Tensions Amongst Adoptees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Chitalianese!”<\/strong><\/span> My relatives exclaimed this term, attempting to come up with a word that could encapsulate my multifaceted identity as a Chinese female adopted by white, Euro-American parents.<\/p>\n

While their intentions were not malicious, internally, I was jarred. The different remnants of my Asian parents embedded in my DNA and my Italian-American upbringing tug at me, provoking questions that elucidate a plurality of contradictory identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chinese folklore says, “When a child is born, invisible red threads reach out from a child’s spirit and connect it to all important people who will enter the child’s life. As the child grows, the threads shorten, bringing closer those people who are destined to be together<\/strong>.” <\/p>\ncohen 2015<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1.<\/strong> 3D animated gif of a red DNA helix to symbolize the red thread narrative and a plurality of identities associated with Chinese adoptees. Chinese folklore states that an invisible red thread connects adoptees to their adoptive families, meaning that they are meant to be together (Cohen 2015). Red in the animation is also in reference to blood: the biological component of an adoptee’s identity. As the animation slows down, the red helix shows words associated with the bargaining of multiple identities. The words\/phrases are the connectors in the DNA helix. The presence of these emotionally charged words indicate that an adoptee’s identity cannot be simplified to the biological components of their DNA, rather, this animation highlights the duality of biological and emotional connectors embedded in an adoptee’s sense of self.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

HISTORY OF CHINESE ADOPTEES IN THE UNITED STATES<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The internalized tensions between my different identities are not unique to my experience.  With the implementation of China\u2019s one-child policy between 1979 and 2016, the number of adopted children from China into the United States skyrocketed. Ninety-five percent of Chinese adoptees were female (Johnson, Banghan, and Liyao 1998). As a result, Chinese adoptees are placed in a vulnerable position as they invisibly negotiate and reconstruct multiple binaries such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n