Welcome to "Transcending the Binary: Gendered Representations of Refugees"

About the Exhibit

This exhibit examines the tensions inherent in traditional gender representations that refugees are often expected to adhere to, contrasting these expectations with their lived experiences. By examining material culture of ancient and modern refugees, we encourage you to consider how prescribed gender stereotypes influence the representations of displacement and asylum. At the same time, we challenge you to think beyond this binary and reflect upon the complex realities of refugeehood.

Understanding the Binary of Gender in Refugee Portrayals: Insights from Antiquity

The political rhetoric surrounding the seeking and granting of asylum today finds its roots in Greco-Roman antiquity, where the sanctity of hospitality and the protection of foreigners were governed by both divine decree and civic virtue. However, the representations of seeking and granting asylum in these ancient contexts often carried gendered connotations, reflecting societal expectations and roles that subtly persist in modern practices.

Let's compare the rhetorical techniques and strategies used by two ancient refugees, Aeneas and Medea, in their quests for asylum.

Euripedes’ play Medea tells the story of Medea, a former princess from Colchis, whose status as a foreigner and "barbarian" woman in the Greek polis is jeopardized when her husband, Jason, abandons her for a Greek princess. Pay attention to the rhetoric of a desperate mother employed by Medea when she asks for asylum from King Creon:

How do Medea's arguments for asylum compare to those made by Aeneas? What do these differences reveal about gendered expectations of refugees?

Description: Red and pink woolen women's button-up sweater worn by Ms. Nguyễn Thu Nhi at the Marine Corps base of Camp Pendleton, CA, in 1975. She was relocated after escaping from Vietnam to Guam. The sweater was handmade by her using two blankets from the airplane taking her from Guam to Camp Pendleton.

What significance can be drawn from Ms. Nguyễn Thu Nhi engaging in a traditionally feminine act of sewing on a predominantly masculine military base like Camp Pendleton?

Description: Beige cotton button-up shirt with a bullet hole in the right side of the chest. Mr. Nguyễn was shot by pirates after a freedom escape at sea in 1981. After 2 days in the South China Sea, the boat was robbed and brutally attacked, landing ashore two days later with the remains, on the island of Pulau Bidong, Malaysia.

What might Mr. Nguyễn's decision to keep and memorialize the shirt with a bullet hole suggest about his personal confrontation with trauma and survival, contrary to the typical male stoicism emphasized in many cultures?

Description: The diary we are including in our exhibition is pink, with a flower-decorated cover, and a white bunny belonging to Nguyễn Doan from approximately the 1980s. He wrote his diary during his year-long imprisonment in Thailand after escaping Vietnam. His journey by boat with about 100 others included two pirate attacks. One of these attacks resulted in a girl's abduction by Thai pirates, and the second involved the refugees fighting back and killing several pirates. This led to the arrest of Nguyen and 18 others, who were then imprisoned for nearly a year.

What assumptions might we make about the owner of such a diary based on its appearance, and how does Nguyễn Doan’s story of resilience and survival prompt us to reconsider those assumptions?

Description: This shirt was handmade in a re-education camp from an old sandbag by Phan Anh Tuấn, a former Captain in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. It features his name stitched into the front pocket. According to a note he provided, inmates had to make their own clothing due to a lack of supplies. The shirt, made from nylon sandbags used in wartime bunkers, was ideal for both hard labor and warmth. The needle was fashioned from metal wire, and threads were pulled from the sandbag material itself.

How does the act of Phan Anh Tuấn, a former military captain, sewing his own shirt in a re-education camp challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes associated with sewing?

As we conclude this exhibit, we encourage you to reflect on the diverse narratives that challenge traditional gender representations of refugees. Through poignant artifacts and stories, from Nguyễn Thanh Thủy's prisoner uniform to the trials of Aeneas and Medea, we've seen how gender both shapes and is shaped by the refugee experience.

This exploration through different times and cultures has highlighted the enduring impact of gender norms on refugee representations. These norms are not only framing experiences but are actively contested and reshaped by resilient individuals like Thuy. The artifacts showcased demonstrate a spectrum of strength, vulnerability, ingenuity, and survival, transcending traditional gender binaries.

In line with the foundations of critical refugee studies, we leave you with some questions to reflect further upon:

1. How do our perceptions of gender influence our understanding of strength, vulnerability, and leadership in the context of displacement?
2. How does challenging these perceptions deepen our understanding of refugeehood and its mainstream representations?