The gambling world of Asian Americans in Des Moines, Iowa

Abstract

<p>Gambling is ubiquitous. Gambling is state regulated through casinos and unregulated on Friday night poker night or a bet between coworkers over a game. Gambling in the Southeast Asian American community is unique because it has been normalized within the community. Gambling in the Southeast Asian Community is always expected when there is a large get-together. In the last thirty years, gambling in the community has changed from underground casinos and illegal microfinancing to legal casinos and the use of financial system, but a remnant of gambling continues in the community at wakes, graduation parties, and even one-year old's birthday parties. These regular events are part of the socialization of gambling in the community. The closed network of the community allows for gambling to continue with the checks and balances of face and trust. Face is the image of self that is given hoping others accept it. Face and trust give power to informal control measures, such as gossip, to keep people from cheating and paying their gambling debts. Participants gambled within a gender-framed masculine hegemony where both the men and women "do gender"— while gambling. There was a gender narrative that everyone knew and acted towards. Sex-segregated spaces are used to prevent men and women from deviating from these narratives. When participants did deviate from the gender narrative, the community responded through direct confrontation or gossip. The gender narratives were one variable in how men and women do money work. There are four types of gamblers (recreational players, capitalist, thrill-seekers, and avoiders) based on how they did money work while gambling. Community, money work, and gender are interwoven together into a larger concept of a gambling world.</p>