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As the second generation got older, they yearned to be more American. They were split between their two cultures. They were Asian Americans and they wanted to express that. They wore American clothes and began to adapt the American style. Their parents looked to them as ignorant because they were becoming too American. The generation gap between parents and second generation children was difficult to deal with. Second generation wanted their independence and freedom that their parents disallowed. The second generation did what they could to fit in besides the clothes and styles of the American; they even changed their names. Many Chinese and Japanese children changed their names to more American ones. So in turn they had two names, the ones that their parents gave them which they used at home, and the American ones that they used at school and on the playground. Even though the second generation Chinese and Japanese had the same experiences, they also lived two different lives that were also filled with discrimination.
The Chinese were separated from the "American world." They lived in their Chinatowns away from the Americans. The Chinese had different parental issues then the Japanese. The Chinese, especially the women, wanted their independence that was disallowed by their parents. Chinese women were not supposed to be educated and should be married at a young age. The second generation women didn't want to get married through an arranged marriage. They wanted to fall in love and not be match-made with some guy that their parents wanted them to marry. The women also wanted to continue with their education and go to college even if their parents disliked it. Some even left the house because of their parents control over what they wanted, their independence. The boys were prioritized and had the independence they wanted because it was said that the boys continued the family heritage. The Chinese also faced a different experience then the Japanese during the World War II.