just because i am asian does not mean i eat with chopsticks

[drphoenix]

More new friends! Welcome to changetje and malimono ~! Have an intro post. :D

Anyway, my teacher used me as an example today in English because I'm apparently well-behaved and listen to my parents. Because I'm Asian. :| I thought about it after class and realized that just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I'm obligated to do so. Yes, it's the stereotype, but I'm more

Comments

[ryogrande]

This is probably not helpful at all, but I'm severely white and I don't wear shoes in my house. I totally see the reasoning there.^^

Those people suck for making assumptions about you like that. *kicks them*

[drphoenix]

Mmph, I know about 75+ percent of white people don't actually wear shoes in the house but when I get people that do and ask why, they'll just point out that I'm Asian and wouldn't get it. agnfdg;alf I just really want to know why people wear shoes in the house, not make fun of their floors.

I-I guess I'm getting used to it though? /D;;

[miss_jelly]

Aren't stereotypes fun? When I was in kindergarden, I hadn't grown into my eyefolds yet, so I had Koyama-eyes going on, so people automatically assumed I was asian and started to treat me as such- calling me names like 'pointy-eyes' and things. When they learned I wasn't actually asian but native american, I got all the tee-pee jokes :\ little kids stereotype a lot, man

[drphoenix]

I TOTALLY HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE NATIVE AMERICAN now I feel like I missed something important. D:

But stereotypes are really freakishly annoying orz. I always got the pulling-at-eyes thing when I was younger and it was really upsetting except the teacher refused to stop them because she didn't notice or didn't care. I'm not really sure. :| When we learned in the 5th grade that in southern China they'll eat dogs, I immediately got bombarded with "YOU DOG-EATER D:" and "does it taste bad? o_o" even though my family's from the north. The most exotic meat I've eaten is alligator, fml.

But no, I understand, especially about the requirements thing. :|

[miss_jelly]

no prob, no prob XD

oh man, the teachers were never any help when I got teased, they just told the other students to be quiet :\ There were a lot of Pocahontas jokes and people asking whether or not I've ever eaten a buffalo :p

but seriously, people get these expectations before they even know you just because you're asian or middle eastern or whatever, it's crazy.

[mikan]

I'm actually a half, so I can understand abit your situation, though mine is definately different, being half palestinian, and being more of a cultural mess more than anything..

People are used to stereotypes, it's hard not to classifie things in tiny little boxes, but I really understand your frustration, sometime you juat really want them to just shut up, that you're own person, and that while your heritage influnce you, it doesn't define you.

[drphoenix]

I feel like I don't know what half of my flist is anymore. :| But half-Palestinian? That's really cool~!

while your heritage influnce you, it doesn't define you.
ksgfkjd do you know how much I love you for that? BECAUSE IT'S A LOT.

[mikan]

♥ Don't worry, I just fail at the presentation thing xDD
Yeah, half italian half palestinian, isn't that weird xDDD? And I look completely white, too, which make for interesting discoveres, since people often think my name is just because of Aladdin and they just let their mouth run xDD

Well, it was corny but I guess it makes the point
LOVE YOU TOO A LOT♥

[malimono]

Yea, stereotypes can get pretty annoying, although I'm usually of no help to these types of things just because I tend to embody most of those stereotypes. xP I'm Taiwanese btw. I play the piano and violin, get straight As (although my history grade's starting to fall :/), eat with chopsticks yadda yadda....
I don't speak Chinese to my parents either! Ha, I'm too lazy. And I'm nowhere near as conservative as my parents.

I mean, some stereotypes are kinda amusing (haha, smelling like incense, although that's actually true for my relatives :P), but they get really annoying when people keep expecting a bunch of stuff out of you because of them. "Oh you should be getting these grades and doing these things just cuz you're ASIAN." -__-

[drphoenix]

Taiwan! :D I'm pretty typically Asian when it comes down to it, but I hate having to think that I'm a "typical Asian". Sometimes I wonder where the terms "typical ___" come from anyway, because people are always so different.

I think it's mostly because I'm that sort of Asian that I get the expectations that I do. No one expects me to be good at singing but they figure that I'm awesomepants at math or something. But oh, so is life. /D;;

[chauxe]

I don't understand why people wear shoes in the house either. I was raised that it doesn't really matter either way, but I'm looking forward to the day when I have my own place and can have sparkly clean floors because people take off their shoes when they come inside my home. Regardless of where it started, I think it's a great idea :3

once when I was in school, someone asked a hispanic friend of mine if she was korean. ... I couldn't help it, I laughed at them. Out loud. ;; whoops.

My heritage consists of scots-irish (or scotch-irish, I'm not sure which is correct), english, and german. I'm fair-skinned with freckles, and have dark hair and green eyes. Fun fact? (:

Anyhow, I try not to stereotype people, and if I do end up doing it I don't say my thoughts out loud. I like people to get to know me before they judge me, and try to do the same. Like jasj said, heritage can shape you but it doesn't define you. How much would it suck for everyone to have these thick dark lines outlining how their personality should shape up according to

[drphoenix]

It iiiiis. Saves so much cleaning time and your carpet stays the right colors. /D;;

Scots-Irish! :D I had to learn about them in AP, so I remember because that section gave me grief oh god. Aw, I love green eyes. They're so pretty~

Stereotyping's normal, I think. I figure that as long as it doesn't affect the way a person gets to know you and they can keep it to themselves, it'd be nice. Mmph, I figure the world'd be pretty boring if we had that sort of separation between heritage. :|