Contesting "Culture": The Perspectives of Hmong American Female Students on Early Marriage

This article complicates the meanings of early marriage among Hmong American female students. It moves beyond explanations of cultural difference in the examination and explication of the discourse and practice of early marriage among female adolescents in the Hmong community. Drawing on the perspectives and experiences of Hmong American female students, this article reveals that early marriage may be an expression of students' opposition to the structures of and experiences with school and family. The significance of this analysis is its recognition and illumination of the fluidity of cultural and social practices, and the tensions between and within ethnic groups.