Proving asianness among white-phenotype hapas

[coagulated fat]

Seems to me like a lot of hapas who look on the whiter side have a greater need to "prove" their asianness by taking part in cultural clubs, events, learning the language, etc. than those who look more asian. They also may be more likely to identify as asian just because they are tired of passing as white. Just speculation, but wondering if you think there's anything to this?

There was a thread similar to this sometime before but think it got cleaned out.

[coagulated fat]

p.s. so this is your essay, eh?
Shut up.

Well I figure white-looking hapas, or hapas that can more easily pass for white or another ethnicity, may resent being mistaken for that ethnicity and as a result seek out cultural influences perhaps not originally present in their households that mark them as asian.

[BeTheReds]

I totally agree with the trend. Perhaps I am the examplefication of it. Who knows.

Tho I certainly don't think it's true for everyone, take Tommy Chong for example.
Or my older bro.

[Seamus]

I hadn't really noticed. I think that all of my male hapa friends, past and present, have looked more white than Asian, but we've always been really matter-of-fact about our Asianness. Maybe some dudes are "insecure," but most of the guys I know are pretty comfortable in their own skin. Maybe it's because we don't really talk about ethnicity or our Asianness all that much, and don't try to "bond" around it.

I'm not mixed, but truth be told, I think sometimes I'm even a little insecure about my Asianness. I think it's because I know so many Asian Asians from China, Korea, etc. in my department, and maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I get the feeling from some of them that they feel kind of sorry for AAs and see us as some kind of a half-baked, weird species. I try to do stuff like practice my Mandarin by speaking with the Chinese students in Mandarin rather than English, etc., but they're always all amused and overly generous in their praise for my paltry efforts. A bit disconcerting.

But I feel better now because while my friends used to be all white, now I have a little Asian/hapa gang going on. Not that we sit around masturbating to how great it is to be Asian or anything and affirming ourselves or whatever, but it's nice to have some friends who are into stuff that my Irish Catholic friends wouldn't necessarily be into.

[SynRG]

Prof. Frink is right, there's a bazillion factors that contribute to which "side" a hapa will identify with more, however, I think how you look is a pretty big one.

If people don't know you, they are almost always going to judge you at face-value, thus I can definitely see how that may push a hapa that personally identifies more "Asian" but looks more "not-Asian" to go out of their way to "prove" their Asianness to other Asians, particularly if they are members of an Asian community that is not too accepting of white people.

I've found though, that alot of times if you just be yourself other Asians will see the Asian in you. There's really no reason to go out of your way to prove your Asianness to anyone, 'cuz if they're unable to look past how you look than that pretty much says something about them anyways.

[BeTheReds]

Anyway I'm wondering what it was that made you notice this?

Maybe the Asian lookin ones could also be doing the same thing, but it doesn't look so out of place since it is easier to accept that they are Asian for some people.

[rice cracker]

Wow, I'm lazy as hell. I do nothing to prove my "Koreanness" other than eating Korean food.

You know, I think I can understand why one would want to go above and beyond expectation to involve themselves in extra-curricular activities to somehow strengthen the bond with their culture, especially if they look more white than Asian. But for me, personally, I'm as Korean as I'm gonna get, and I have no desire to prove how "Asian" I am to anyone else, because frankly I hate people and I couldn't care less about their stupid opinions.

[Mr.Lum]

I dont try to prove Im Chinese, cause thats not important to me. my family has been here too long for that shit. I could see if we were like 1st gen, but my Chinese culture is here. nobody that is Chinese and blood related to me speaks Chinese. I have blood relatives that speak Arabic and Fijian and Tongan, but not Chinese. I dont need to prove anything to anyone. Im me and I dont give a fuck how it "looks" to "full" Asians.

[kimpossible]

I just don't try to fit in at all. I'm sure I would if I could, but at a quarter Asian - what's the point? I have red hair. Though, when I think on it for a bit I do realize that I have a few strategies that I employ to let Asians know that they don't have to do the condescending Asian Culture 101 seminar bullshit with me. Essentially, don't go out of your way to treat me like an Asian but don't go out of your way to try to make me out to be a total foreigner either.

But ultimately, who cares. I pretty much do what I want anyhow and I have a good life.

[BeTheReds]

BUMP!

Important issue!

By the way, anyone who wants to bump anything feel free...

[LaiSteve66]

I've never noticed such a trend.

[jongeh]

i think i do may do that. more to prove to myself than anything

[Chad]

the idea of how a Chinese person is supposed to look and act in the American imagination is the cause of this. if a hapa has a Chinese parent who doesn't look like the stereotype of a Chinese person in America, there will be some confusion about the hapa's identity in other peoples' minds since there is confusion about the full-blooded parent's race.
this same goes for other ethnicities, i just used Chinese as an example since it is most relevant to me.

[BeTheReds]

I think more than having to prove it to other people some of us need to prove it to ourselves.

[yoMAMA]

the idea of how a Chinese person is supposed to look and act in the American imagination is the cause of this. if a hapa has a Chinese parent who doesn't look like the stereotype of a Chinese person in America, there will be some confusion about the hapa's identity in other peoples' minds since there is confusion about the full-blooded parent's race.
this same goes for other ethnicities, i just used Chinese as an example since it is most relevant to me.

you raise a good point.

[stickyriceHK]

Seems to me like a lot of hapas who look on the whiter side have a greater need to "prove" their asianness by taking part in cultural clubs, events, learning the language, etc. than those who look more asian. .

This is a good issue and I am interested in what others say.
Seems like your saying Hapas have some guilt or neurosis about their race/ethnicy and that they compensate for it by "over achieving" in outreach efforts to asian causes..
I haven't noticed this and I don't percieve it in my behavior. I'm half Italian and half Chinese(Hong Kong) I was raised in a beach town in california so my speech reflects that. The issue of race etc never comes up unless I am with either my mother's side of family or my father's, then they seem to always have a comment , like, "Hey, you not really italian or "Oh, you not from Hong Kong?" Those remarks stil annoy or hurt me.

[ThatMixedGuy]

Well, I don't think its fair to lump all white-looking hapas into one category. Do we have stats, data, etc. to back up these observations? In my personal experience, I see some white-phenotype hapas that have a close bond with their asian side, and ones that don't. To me its about 50-50.

[BeTheReds]

No, there are no stats for anything. Also keep in mind though that your personal experience is going to be different from most everyone else's this is why everyone's perceptions differ. As hapas have no natural connectivity, all we have to judge other hapas is our own personal experience. Given that YW is a forum for Asian-Americans, it's definately possible that most of the hapas here are more in touch with their Asian sides, and because of that, those of us who look whiter would feel like we have to prove to the world who we are. Common identity crisis at its best.

[KcYmH92]

yupyup i do this all the time ehh

[Anaestacia]

Yes, I notice this. I've come from the east and many of the quirks or opinions I have are/were a direct result of having lived there for so long. When I came to the west, I saw firsthand (in dating a mixed person who was born and raised in the west, and looked more white) how my quirks were not acceptable.

I always thought it ironic and strange that that same person^ would want to travel to the east (having never seen it before) and is so entirely obsessed with the culture and language. Frankly I wonder if he'll make it or survive it there.

[BeTheReds]

??? New York and LA aren't really THAT different are they?

[Powerful T]

Got issues with proving your Asian heritage? Take this handy test!

How Asian are you?
_______________________


Section 1:
[ ] Are you Asian in the first place?
[ ] Were you born in an Asian country?
[ ] Can you use chopsticks?
[ ] Have you taken Chinese/Korean/etc school as a kid?
[ ] (does a lil tagalog, chinese, and japanese count?)] Can you speak an Asian language?
[ ] Is your favorite subject math/science?
[ ] Do you eat rice almost every single day?
[ ] Do you spike/highlight your hair?
[ ] Do you have an "azn crew"?
[ ] Do you get at least a 3.0 GPA?
Score: __

Section 2:
[ ] Do you listen to Asian music?
[ ] Have you watched Asian movies?
[ ] Can you rave?
[ ] Are you a master at DDR?
[ ] Do you drink pearl milk tea or bubble tea?
[ ] Do you play CS, Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, etc?
[ ] Do/Did you play the violin/piano?
[ ] (with words)] Do your parents beat you if you get bad grades?
[ ] Are you going/taking/took any honors/AP classes?
[ ] Do you/your parents drive an Asian made car?
Score: __

Section 3:
[ ] Are you or were you once a fob?
[ ] Is your last name Nguyen, Park, Lee, Chang, Wang, Wong, Kim, Chow, Vo or Vu?
[ ] Have you dated/want to date Asian boys/girls?
[ ] Have you designed a website before?
[ ] Does your SNS/e-mail have/had the words: AzN, gurl, boy, sweet, cute, hot, dragon, babe, angel, lil, princess, Xx...xX, oO..,Oo, etc?
[ ] Do you have both an Asian and an English name?
[ ]Do you take off your shoes before entering someone's house?
[ ] Do you know the song "Got Rice"?
[ ] Do you watch/read anime?
[ ] Do you listen to trance?
Score: __

Section 4:
[ ] Have you eaten dim sum/dumplings before?
[ ] Are your parents fobs?
[ ] Is the mall your hang out place?
[ ] Do you think you're short?
[ ] Do you have tons of cousins/siblings/uncles/aunts/etc?
[ ] Can you twirl a pencil between your fingers?
[ ] Have you ever solved a rubik's cube?
[ ] Do you read manga?
[ ] Do you/your parents save ketchup packets/napkins/etc from restaurants for later use?
[ ] Do you have AzN PrIdE?!
Score: __

Section 5:
[ ] Are you a very good artist?
[ ] Do you speak your Asian language with your friends?
[ ] Do your relatives own a restaurant/market in an Asian community?
[ ] Do you slurp soup?
[ ] Do YoU tYpE lIkE tHiS aLoT? (fuck that shit! annoying as hell lol)
[ ] Have you visited your home country at least once?
[ ] Does your house smell like incense once in awhile?
[ ] Do you have/had glasses or braces?
[ ] Do you like to read?
[ ] Do you NOT have an allowance?
score: __

Now add up your scores and multiply by 2.
That's how Asian you are in %.

By the way, I found this on some guy's Myspace.

If you're pissed off at it's idiocy, go annoy him and not me.

[光Tetra]

It is rather unnecessary because there is no need to prove who you are, as long as you know who you are. If others cannot accept it, then it is their problem.

How can you "act" asian? Is the question.

[BeTheReds]

It is rather unnecessary because there is no need to prove who you are, as long as you know who you are. If others cannot accept it, then it is their problem.


No, I disagree. While it is their problem, yes, it's also your problem as well as the way you will be treated by that person is going to be different than how you identify yourself. You can't say "that's their problem" when dealing with racial issues. If we apply this logic to other racial problems, you can see what I mean.

Bar doesn't serve Blacks? That's their problem.

Company doesn't want to hire Asians? That's their problem.

Since it is obviously your problem too in both situations, you need to do something about it. Sometimes hapas will try to prove their asian-ness as a result of the way they have been treated by other people. While I think this is the wrong approach, it's certainly understandable.

[sweetmilk]

No, I disagree. While it is their problem, yes, it's also your problem as well as the way you will be treated by that person is going to be different than how you identify yourself. You can't say "that's their problem" when dealing with racial issues. If we apply this logic to other racial problems, you can see what I mean.

Bar doesn't serve Blacks? That's their problem.

Company doesn't want to hire Asians? That's their problem.

Since it is obviously your problem too in both situations, you need to do something about it. Sometimes hapas will try to prove their asian-ness as a result of the way they have been treated by other people. While I think this is the wrong approach, it's certainly understandable.

I disagree, because to me, while obvious corporate racism is something we can fight, acting more stereotypically Asian, or trying to prove how Asian you are won't necessarily make anyone realize that you still count as an Asian-American, and won't necessarily change people's perceptions. I think the two are completely separate issues.