Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories

A collection of true stories from 54 racialized immigrant and refugee women create an eclectic mix of three generations of voices. Women in their 20s to those in their 70s provide snapshots that begin in the 1960s and go to the present. Together these vividly recounted entries capture historical and everyday moments that reveal striking similarities and differences. Resilience and Triumph provides readers with an eye-opening glimpse into 50 years of immigrant women's lives in Canada.

“I felt like an alien who fell down to earth, not understanding the rules of the game, making all the possible mistakes, saying all the wrong things.” “Your whole life is in the hands of other people who do not always mean well and there is nothing you can do about it. They can decide to send you away and you have no control.” “The moment I enter the house, I shelve my American self and become the 'little obedient wife' that my husband wants me to be.” “The most difficult part is to find myself again. At the beginning I lost myself.” This jargon-free book documents and analyzes the experience of immigration from the female perspective. It discusses the unique challenges that women face, offers insights into the meanings of their experiences, develops gender-sensitive knowledge about immigration, and discusses implications for the effective development and provision of services to immigrant women. With fascinating case studies of immigration to the United States, Australia, and Israel as well as helpful lists of relevant organizations and Web site/Internet addresses, Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories is for everyone who wants to learn or teach about immigration, especially its female face. “It was like somebody sawed my heart in two. One part remained in Cuba and one part here.” Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories examines the nature of immigration for women through the eyes of those who have experienced it: how they perceive, interpret, and address the nature of the experience, its multiple aspects, the issues that it presents, and the strategies that immigrant women develop to cope with those issues. The women in this extraordinary book came from different spots around the globe, speak different languages and dialects, and their English comes in different accents. They vary in age as well as in cultural, ethnic, social, educational, and professional status. They represent a rainbow of family types and political opinions. In spite of their diversity, all these women share immigration experience. This book provides an understanding of the journeys they traveled and the experiences they lived to bring you new insights into what it means to immigrate as a woman and to frame effective strategies for working with—and for—immigrant women. “My father is the head of the house. When he decided to move to America [from India] my mother and us, the daughters, did not have much say. My mother and I were not happy at all, but it did not matter.” Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories provides you with historical and global perspectives on immigration and addresses: legal, political, economic, social, and psychological dimensions of immigration and its aftermath deconstructing immigration by age, gender, and circumstances major issues of immigrant women—language, mothering, relationships and marriage, finding employment, assimilation (how much and how soon), loneliness, and more resilience in immigrant women immigration from a lesbian perspective guidelines for the development and delivery of services to immigrant women “You may say that I am the bridge, the desert generation that lost the chance to have it my way. But I will do my best to raise my daughters to have more choices than I.” In this well-referenced book, immigrant women from Austria, Bosnia, Cuba, various parts of the former Soviet Union, Guatemala, India, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines tell us their stories, recount what their experiences entailed and what challenges they posed, and teach us ways to help them cope successfully. “This was the best decision we could have made and the best thing we had ever done.”

The experiences, both happy and sad, of a diverse group of women who came to Canada seeking a new life.

This look at the traditional and subversive world of women's folklore examines the realm of women's talk, exploring the ways Italian immigrant women from Montreal use classic folk genres to stretch the boundaries of their culture. Through songs, lullabies, bawdy riddles, and trickster tales, these women subvert, redefine, and alter what it means to be Italian and female in North America. More than just a study of Italian Canadians, this essay delves into broader themes of gender, immigration, and ethnicity, showcasing voices that contradict homogenizing interpretations of traditional historical scholarship.

“I felt like an alien who fell down to earth, not understanding the rules of the game, making all the possible mistakes, saying all the wrong things.” “Your whole life is in the hands of other people who do not always mean well and there is nothing you can do about it. They can decide to send you away and you have no control.” “The moment I enter the house, I shelve my American self and become the 'little obedient wife' that my husband wants me to be.” “The most difficult part is to find myself again. At the beginning I lost myself.” This jargon-free book documents and analyzes the experience of immigration from the female perspective. It discusses the unique challenges that women face, offers insights into the meanings of their experiences, develops gender-sensitive knowledge about immigration, and discusses implications for the effective development and provision of services to immigrant women. With fascinating case studies of immigration to the United States, Australia, and Israel as well as helpful lists of relevant organizations and Web site/Internet addresses, Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories is for everyone who wants to learn or teach about immigration, especially its female face. “It was like somebody sawed my heart in two. One part remained in Cuba and one part here.” Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories examines the nature of immigration for women through the eyes of those who have experienced it: how they perceive, interpret, and address the nature of the experience, its multiple aspects, the issues that it presents, and the strategies that immigrant women develop to cope with those issues. The women in this extraordinary book came from different spots around the globe, speak different languages and dialects, and their English comes in different accents. They vary in age as well as in cultural, ethnic, social, educational, and professional status. They represent a rainbow of family types and political opinions. In spite of their diversity, all these women share immigration experience. This book provides an understanding of the journeys they traveled and the experiences they lived to bring you new insights into what it means to immigrate as a woman and to frame effective strategies for working with—and for—immigrant women. “My father is the head of the house. When he decided to move to America [from India] my mother and us, the daughters, did not have much say. My mother and I were not happy at all, but it did not matter.” Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories provides you with historical and global perspectives on immigration and addresses: legal, political, economic, social, and psychological dimensions of immigration and its aftermath deconstructing immigration by age, gender, and circumstances major issues of immigrant women—language, mothering, relationships and marriage, finding employment, assimilation (how much and how soon), loneliness, and more resilience in immigrant women immigration from a lesbian perspective guidelines for the development and delivery of services to immigrant women “You may say that I am the bridge, the desert generation that lost the chance to have it my way. But I will do my best to raise my daughters to have more choices than I.” In this well-referenced book, immigrant women from Austria, Bosnia, Cuba, various parts of the former Soviet Union, Guatemala, India, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines tell us their stories, recount what their experiences entailed and what challenges they posed, and teach us ways to help them cope successfully. “This was the best decision we could have made and the best thing we had ever done.”

Reprinted several times since it was first released in 1990, this 2015 new edition features an updated format and Preface by Adrienne Jansen. I have in my arms both ways. I can see my Tokelau way, it’s good. I can see the papalagi way, it’s good. I don’t want to put one down, and lift the other one up, or put the other one down and lift that one up. I can carry them both. Novena Petelo Immigrant women bring to New Zealand rich experiences of lives spent in other cultures. But their stories are rarely told. In this book ten women, who have come to New Zealand through three decades from the 1960s, speak in depth about growing up in their first countries, and their lives in New Zealand. They talk about childhood, marriage, discrimination, language, their aspirations for their children, and the role of women in their first culture and in New Zealand. They also, often poignantly, point to what they cannot speak about. The ten women come from India, the Philippines, Tonga, Tokelau Islands, Chile, Iran, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Vietnam and Laos. With portraits by Gil Hanly.

ONE OF OPRAH'S FAVORITE THINGS 2021! A 2021 NATIONAL PARENTING PRODUCT AWARDS WINNER! As Oprah says on Oprah Daily, "Reading can inspire you to do great things—what a great gift for a preteen! This series features boundary-breaking women and includes stories about some who have moved me the most—like Toni Morrison. They even included me!" The third installment in the New York Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, featuring 100 immigrant women who have shaped, and will continue to shape, our world. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World is the third book in the New York Times bestselling series for children. Packed with 100 all-new bedtime stories about the lives of incredible female figures from the past and the present, this volume recognizes women who left their birth countries for a multitude of reasons: some for new opportunities, some out of necessity. Readers will whip up a plate with Asma Khan, strategize global affairs alongside Madeleine Albright, venture into business with Rihanna, and many more. All of these unique, yet relatable stories are accompanied by gorgeous, full-page, full-color portraits, illustrated by female artists from all over the globe.