I hate this...

[Loopy]

Don't know if anyone else has this...Have you ever struggled to pick an online name for yourself? Could be to post something on a forum, or your nickname on an online chat or an online game. I always seem to.

On the one hand - something within wants to make it clear from the start I am Asian (Hong Kong born, to be precise). Especially with all the identity issues for Asians raised in the West, theres a streak inside me that rebels against the possibility of anyone mistaking me for a white person, or even worse, think I was trying to hide or be someone I am not.

On the other hand - I was born in Hong Kong, I was raised in the Australia. I barely speak Cantonese. It'd be fair to say I might as well be an ABC (Australian-born Chinese in this case). Besides a dislike for the celebration of binge drinking and footy (if you've never heard of it, trust me, it's not football), I'm more Australian than Hong Kong-ese. If it wasn't for the media here, seemingly stuck in the mindset that hammering Asians (and all the other non-white races for that matter) who aren't really Australians is good for ratings, I probably would have been quite comfortable calling myself an Australian even despite a few run-ins with ignorant idiots. I like my free speech and sausages sizzled.

I wouldn't count myself as part of the AZN group, which seems to have taken on an almost ghetto-militant bent. I don't particularly want to proclaim defensively my "asian pride" to every man and his dog, it's just that it's sometimes nice to be in contact with people where I'm not an outsider and where there isn't the accepted creeping subtext that somehow, somewhere, this shade of man is the right shade of man. I've seen what happens when people stay immersed in those sort of ideas for too long - it ain't a pretty picture.

Even on the Net, the race issue trails around like a tin can tied to a dog's tail.

I hate this...

[monkeygone2]

What's "footy"?

[Paradox]

I heard Australia actually sucks pretty bad for asians.

[Loopy]

Footy...

Also known as Australian Rules Football-we could talk about the mechanics of it: two teams of 18 competing to score points by (mostly) kicking a oval-shaped ball (similar to the rugby union/rugby league ball) between vertical goal posts -here's a visual: ww.youtube.com/watch?v=HNrv2epkY_g .
But to understand why I dislike footy, perhaps videos would be worth more than words:

Footy advertisement explaining why it's tougher than other sports:
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=kqVk9qvyeoM&feature=related

Footy incidents
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=5lVkWVzGgbg&feature=related

Footy fans:
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=qeJNFKdQUe8
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=CIOCxzkeOc0&feature=related
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=gCdiTNbO6G4

Footy show clips:
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=a3VowDysO1w&feature=related

Famous Footy commentator promoting lamb as "Australian" food (and ethnic food as un-Australian)
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtWVJikNnx4

It's not the game that I don't like, it's the try-hard clannish mentality that's been built up around it.

(PS. Wasn't able to post URL's before make 15 posts. Toyed with the idea of making up the quota with inane replies but instead opted to knockoff the first letter of each of the URL's, just add the "h" if you want to see a bit of footy)

[monkeygone2]

Hi, thanks for explaining.

Aussies should give that sport a tougher-sounding name than "footy".
I can't imagine Hank Williams Jr. singing 'Are you ready for some footy' before broadcasting a game.

[Broomer]

Used to bug me, not any more though. After all, what's in a name?
A rose smells as sweet were it called by another name.
The sun as warm.

BTW, Footy is really just aerial ping pong. You want sport, watch Rugby.

K

[monkeygone2]

Used to bug me, not any more though. After all, what's in a name?
A rose smells as sweet were it called by another name.
The sun as warm.


Do Aussies usually have these types of conversations at sports events? :)

BTW, Footy is really just aerial ping pong.
I think I understand, now. In the US, it's called Hacky Sack. One usually plays this game stoned, while in the company of neo-hippies and lesbos wearing Birkenstocks.

[sandra]

what exactly is it that you hate again?

[Loopy]

that this race bs is still an issue even with the distanced interaction of the Net.

I found that if I pick a name with no hint of race, people would just assume I'm white, especially since online profiles usually show I'm from Australia. That may not bother other people, but it bothers me.
I think there's a vid by Yul Kwon explaining why he went on Survivor, he said people mostly get their perceptions of other people from two places, by contact and through the media. So there's this drive to represent myself as an Asian person, and if I do or say something noteworthy anywhere online, I want people to know...this contribution came from an Asian person. (I flatter myself to think, in some small way, it's a step against a media that routinely portrays asians negatively, even casts white people in positive roles that obviously were meant to be asian)

From my viewpoint, this society draws a clear line between those who are white and those who are non-white and treats them differently. That's alright, we can work on that, but I'll be damned if I let it get confused which side of the line I'm on if I can help it, and I'll be doubly damned if theres a whiff that I'm trying to get by as something I'm not. This may just be my personal quirk.

The issue for me comes when trying to pick a name that is asian without screaming AZNs-FOREVER88. I find it hard to pick a name with a racial element but not one that shouts "I'm a racist, my race is who I am, all other races stay the hell away" (this happens especially if the site/chat/game has nothing to do with race at all, eg going onto a site about...say bowling... with the name AsianKingPin just seems to set up an wall). That's not what I want to portray and not what I think will help Asian people in a healthy way in the long run.

On top of this, my family immigrated to Australia before I started preschool, I have about three memories of Hong Kong. All the stuff I find kickass and might have used as the spark for a screenname are firmly rooted where I was raised - in a modern Western (read Americanized) society - movies like Braveheart, 300, books by Terry Pratchet, TV series like Futurama, Simpsons. But the main characters in these are white. Does it make sense for me to pick an more Asian inspiration (say Kato or Yao Ming or Ong Bak or worse one of the movie industry reverse-slap asian heroes: The Last Samurai, Takezo Kensei or Kid Omega/Quill) just because I am Asian?

Try to show what race I am, without my race becoming all I am- is a bs balancing act, this is exactly what I hate...but I feel the representation, the contact, has value in fighting the stereotypes.

[cloudzero]

so you hate how you are in a position which you can't come up with a good online name?

[sandra]

so you hate how you are in a position which you can't come up with a good online name?

yeah, that's kinda what i'm hearing, and that's a little thing to hate so much.

[MarshalStealth]

"I am so confused. ... "

[monkeygone2]

(1) So there's this drive to represent myself as an Asian person, and if I do or say something noteworthy anywhere online, I want people to know...this contribution came from an Asian person.

(2) The issue for me comes when trying to pick a name that is asian without screaming AZNs-FOREVER88.

(3) All the stuff I find kickass and might have used as the spark for a screenname are firmly rooted where I was raised - in a modern Western (read Americanized) society - movies like Braveheart

Snap a photo of your Asian mug wearing blue war-paint, use it as your avatar, and take the screenname "Freedom".
You're welcome.

[tapestrybabe]

This may just be my personal quirk.

i think i understand what you maybe saying tho...
i think i feel the same way.
maybe not to the same extent...
but i feel it tho when it comes to
my screen name effecting my
online presence sometimes...
and how i feel ppl may view me...

like for instance on facebook...
i have an english first name...
AND LAst name...
so when i participate on such group topics...
there will be a whole string of
ppl with korean/asian last names
that have commented...
and than i end up making a comment
and my name just looks out of place compared to others...
and i think a lot of times ppl
may not perceive me as asian/korean first
until i end up eventually explaining myself sometimes...

also, i had started participating on this
particular current events blog.
it wasnt centered on being focused on just
asians just participating but just a general
current event forum blog.
since my screen name
had no hint of depicting my race...
i often felt a lot of times
ppl perceived me as white when i participated
or at least...
i felt they didnt perceive/know that i was asian.
which maybe sorta bothered me...
cuz i wanted them to know that my contribution
was coming from an asian person...
but i felt it was mostly white ppl
posting on there anyways...
i never really ended up enjoying myself
there to begin with...

anyways, when it comes to forum message boards...
i've discovered i tend to like to participate where the
majority have asians participating in the first place...

[Broomer]

Do Aussies usually have these types of conversations at sports events? :)

I think I understand, now. In the US, it's called Hacky Sack. One usually plays this game stoned, while in the company of neo-hippies and lesbos wearing Birkenstocks.

Answer to one, nope. Considering the volume of alocohol consumed, the line of conversation contains the following:

Some sort of abuse at the player
Some derogatory statement about someone's breasts
A lot of incoherent screaming


All up, the same thing you get at any sports gathering.

BTW, you've got the second point right on the money, except for the hippies and lesbos.

K

[Loopy]

Answer to one, nope. Considering the volume of alocohol consumed, the line of conversation contains the following:

Some sort of abuse at the player
Some derogatory statement about someone's breasts
A lot of incoherent screaming


K

'YOU'RE USELESS WILSONNNNNN!!'

10 gold stars if a non-Aust person knows where that comes from (extra shooting stars for specifics- otherwise google will make it too easy)

[SecretAsianMan]

So I go by the name SecretAsianMan because I can just call myself SAM and it reflects the fact that by being hapa I can "spy" on the other side.

I use several names. SAM works great here. And my regular name works good elsewhere. If I were 100% asian and wanted something more subtle then I would try for something like DWMF for "DieWhiteMuthaFuka",..LOL.

No really, if trying " to show what race [you are], without [your] race becoming all [you are]- is a bs balancing act" unless perhaps your name is asian itself. If I were "Joe Yakamoto" I would just use joeyakamoto@aa.com and be done with it. Perfectly acceptable anywhere, and there's no doubt you're asian. If you have a non-asian name, then yeah, then I think it's hopeless. Better to use two different names,..one for forums like this and the other for the more bland, oatmeal, and Wonder Bread forums you might have to use.

Ugh,..too bad about the attitudes in Australia.