Post by 3ajesse on Oct 7, 2014 3:29:37 GMT
everydayfeminism.com/2014/09/thats-not-who-i-am/
Reading this article (link above) made me feel a bit better about my situtation because at least a group of other people feel this way too. Throughout my 15 years I have been asked if I was a ninja, if I could do martial arts, if I’ve eaten dog, if I had a tiger mom (if you don’t know me, my mom is very white and not at all like a tiger), if I wanted to be a doctor, if the person at the nail salon was related to me. The list goes on forever; most of it is really offensive. And no, none of those ring true to who I am.
Earlier tonight I was talking to my friend Talia. We are both adopted from China by white mothers. I asked her about what she would write about for the “I am…” assignment and she mentioned ‘Asian’ (implying being “Asian”) This single word ensued a tsunami of angry messages back and forth about how even though we consider ourselves as white or American, we aren’t. Our society will never get past our exterior of being Asian to understand that we don’t feel as though we are. Many of our own friends don’t understand how it feels to be on the outside of what we secretly wish to be. We don’t speak any Asian languages, I don’t know anything about their culture and yet we’ve both been shoved into a box labeled “Asian”.
The saddest part is that this label has made people assume things about me. I can’t speak “Asian”. I don’t play the piano or violin. I am so terrible at math so don’t ask or assume I’m remotely okay it at. Please, don’t ask if I can see you. I most likely have better vision than you and my eyes are quite wide. Besides those terrible stereotypes, people have called me really annoying names. I don’t want to be considered a twinky or banana and don’t call me a yellow- oreo. People find these names funny because they’re food but 1. I am not a food and 2. It’s really offensive. It can be jokey and you can say “calm down, it’s just a joke” but it’s hurtful. I want to be considered an American. And no I don’t want to be an Asian-American. That category mixes how I look and how I am together. Why? I have an American citizenship, American passport, and an American accent, what more can I do to be considered an American?
I hope this doesn’t come off as in your face and we (Talia and I) know that things won’t dramatically change. It’s more about the awareness. Not just to stereotypes but some ones background and how people can be perceived differently than how they feel. I also know that this may not be true for every person but in our instance this is how it is.
Reading this article (link above) made me feel a bit better about my situtation because at least a group of other people feel this way too. Throughout my 15 years I have been asked if I was a ninja, if I could do martial arts, if I’ve eaten dog, if I had a tiger mom (if you don’t know me, my mom is very white and not at all like a tiger), if I wanted to be a doctor, if the person at the nail salon was related to me. The list goes on forever; most of it is really offensive. And no, none of those ring true to who I am.
Earlier tonight I was talking to my friend Talia. We are both adopted from China by white mothers. I asked her about what she would write about for the “I am…” assignment and she mentioned ‘Asian’ (implying being “Asian”) This single word ensued a tsunami of angry messages back and forth about how even though we consider ourselves as white or American, we aren’t. Our society will never get past our exterior of being Asian to understand that we don’t feel as though we are. Many of our own friends don’t understand how it feels to be on the outside of what we secretly wish to be. We don’t speak any Asian languages, I don’t know anything about their culture and yet we’ve both been shoved into a box labeled “Asian”.
The saddest part is that this label has made people assume things about me. I can’t speak “Asian”. I don’t play the piano or violin. I am so terrible at math so don’t ask or assume I’m remotely okay it at. Please, don’t ask if I can see you. I most likely have better vision than you and my eyes are quite wide. Besides those terrible stereotypes, people have called me really annoying names. I don’t want to be considered a twinky or banana and don’t call me a yellow- oreo. People find these names funny because they’re food but 1. I am not a food and 2. It’s really offensive. It can be jokey and you can say “calm down, it’s just a joke” but it’s hurtful. I want to be considered an American. And no I don’t want to be an Asian-American. That category mixes how I look and how I am together. Why? I have an American citizenship, American passport, and an American accent, what more can I do to be considered an American?
I hope this doesn’t come off as in your face and we (Talia and I) know that things won’t dramatically change. It’s more about the awareness. Not just to stereotypes but some ones background and how people can be perceived differently than how they feel. I also know that this may not be true for every person but in our instance this is how it is.