Being on the Outside

Abstract

Focusing on the experiences of culturally diverse second-generation migrant women, this chapter gives voice to their reflections of growing up as children of immigrant parents and of the cultural conflicts they encountered in everyday life during their youth. Mallman presents her own and the women’s narratives by beginning with their early experiences of discrimination, the barriers caused by cultural language acquisition and mental health, and the oversight of parents who did not recognise their children’s struggle of living in between cultures. The significance of this chapter is to show how early childhood experiences influence the lives of children of immigrants, and how these early memories are important to the construction of their ethnic identity later in life.