Words can hurt too
by Chamroeun Yin

When I was learning the dance, they were always thinking dance was for ladies only and the people called us (all the boys who do the dance): "aktoeuy." That's a way of cursing. It's like saying "faggot" in English. When my friend heard the people calling us names like that, he wanted to stop dancing. But my teacher told us, "You know who you are. You know how to do the dance. You have to preserve your culture."

I was hurt too. I didn't want them to call us "aktoeuy", but I didn't want to fight with them or to swear at them either. I thought about all the problems I had seen in my life. I thought about war and I thought about my family. I thought about our culture too. So many of the dancers had died in the war and under the Khmer Rouge. I didn't want the dance to end. My teacher said, "If you stop dancing, you lose. Then the one cursing you is the one who wins. Remember that you will be the one on the stage, and they will know nothing." I tried to remember that. I kept on dancing. But the words always hurt.

back to lesson 8 (K-4)