A boy is compared to a gem. And it is said that when white is muddied, it can never be washed to the purity and cleanness it once had. Gems, on the other hand, can be cleaned to shine brighter. Enslaved within a cultural double standard, Khmer women in America have been unfairly judged. The atrocities of war, the violence and the hardship have drenched the white cloth with a deep rouge.
Blood is harder to wash than mud.
The responsibilities they must take just to survive and make a living for their children ostracize them from the traditional definition of Khmer women. To deviate from the definition, the image so entrenched in Khmer literature and culture, a women ceases to be defined as Khmer. The backlash in response to resettlement in America has been an adamant urge to control younger Cambodian women from attaining a higher education, from entering the work force and from leaving the family home. Older Cambodian men complain of an increasing generation gap and say that younger people have lost their culture and no longer listen to their parents. What they do not realize is that the demands on the Khmer woman have changed dramatically.