were favored. I recall that always my brother received more freedom and more privileges. I never understood this, have resented it, and have tried to accept that maybe this attitude on the part of my parents, especially my father, is just left over from the old country.
My parents' over-protective manner toward me continued, even escalated during my teen years. I was not encouraged to have a boyfriend nor to have girlfriends sleep over at our house. Even though I always had a curfew, my brother was allowed to run around at will. My parents always discouraged me from American style dating, cautioned me about protecting my virginity and reputation, and indicated that probably an arranged marriage would be best for me. It seemed that my brother had unlimited sexual freedom and I had none. These discrepancies, as a second generation American, have caused a certain amount of confusion, anger, and perhaps a feeling of not really fitting in anywhere. I am not like my parents and their old ways, but I'm not like the hip, cool young Americans I have around me
...