hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 15, 2009 16:33:11 GMT -5
Hi Jefe, even though i grew up in America, i'm really not as westernized as a lot of chinese americans that i know here in the State. My family especially my dad who is 1/4 dutch values his Chinese culture very very deeply, even more deeply than the usual. He's the type that would stay at home and watch Chinese news 24/7 and won't ever flip the TV to the english channels. And also i'm quite proud of the fact that even though i grew up in America, i could speak, read, or write mandarin very well to the point even my cousins who is also Chinese American asks me how i do so. I always felt very attached to my distant Taiwanese relative living in TW, since i normally visit TW for about a month a year thru High School, and when i was younger, if its that time to go back to the State, i would shed a few tears; i guess i was kinda different from most ABC here in that i'm still fairly close to my culture even though i grew up in America. i read your earlier post, and you were talking about how being EA could lead to being persecuted in many places and societies; but i don't really think its that way in TW, HK, or Singapore; maybe in the past. i believe that the younger generations view EA as being "cooler" thats why people with even less European ancestry than me would want people to know that they are EA. it might be the fact that my mannerism is different or my look is different or even a combination of both that led to the question of my ethnicity; but the fact that Eurasian people looks vary in so many ways some to be white, some in the middle, and some to be asian, its very hard for me to judge what the Eurasian look is and whether the fact i look Eurasian or not since in the end i still do have slight trace of European ancestry. Growing up as a child all my cousins with the same percentage of dutch ancestry as me always called me the mixed one even though i don't really see any difference between me and them. The fact that makes it interesting is that Taipei like HK have a lot of ABC during the Summer, so the locals should have their fair share of the ABCs, so i shouldn't be the only one that stands out, and the fact that i speak very fluent mandarin should make me stand out even less. There are the occasional Asian American that would ask me of my back group; but in regarding to white people, i almost never get asked except only once. so really i think its just that every society or group of people have different perception. Personally in my personal opinion is that i really don't look EA maybe with only a very slight look of the European side... i did post my pictures in the introduction thread under the members forum. White people tend to think I'm either some kind of SE Asian or Latino. Asians think I am well..not Asian. Occasionally there is someone who can tell the "mix". You get the drill. =) But I looked at your picture and I do think you do have slight European features. I forgot if that was your dad in that pic, but he also does look a little Euro. There is really no "Eurasian look", but most Eurasians do look it in at least some way or another. Like even if they don't have the bigger, rounder "Caucasian eyes" or the nose, they usually have a chiseled, angular face that is less round than that of most full Asians. There is just something that makes it so..skin tone, hair, etc. When you take a certain Eurasian's features apart...sometimes those features are even totally "Asian", but when they go together...it somehow makes them look Eurasian. Sometimes you cannot even figure out exactly what, but who cares. xD
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hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 15, 2009 23:10:01 GMT -5
well hypeforlife91, i do think that Asians seems to be better at picking out the mix group from the non-mix group; and i think the Asians are really the only race that seems to do that compared to Blacks, Hispanics, etc; but thats just my personal opinion. alot of what you said about how white, asian american, or asian in hk classify you is mostly the same as how i felt. But from your avatar, you look way way more caucasian than i do, judging from that picture i would think that you are a beautiful latina or maybe middle eastern rather than asian or eurasian. i think when you are in HK, people would probably just assume that you are white maybe not even eurasian; whereas, when i'm in Asia, people could see me as either eurasian or asian but a few instances people see me as white, since i been called "wai guo" before in TW. Thanks for calling me beautiful lol even thought I'm not a Latina. But still now I'm blushing. =) Anyways, I tend to look more white in that angle. But in frontal view you can definitely tell that I have a certain Asian-ness. This usually happens a lot when I meet people..they see me from the side and they think I'm white..then I turn around and they know I have some Asian in me..well for the people that "know" that mixed races exist anyways. For the others it causes confusion. The other day I said I was half-chinese to someone who asked and they said I don't look chinese. If they had to guess they'd say I look more japanese or filipino. Hmmm...I can maybe see a difference between chinese and filipinos..but not so much japanese and chinese (well only a tiny bit that is barely noticeable). If they had to guess an asian race people seem to never say chinese even though I am part hong kong chinese. I get Thai and Filipino a lot. But on this forum, I've noticed that most of us are part Chinese. xD
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Post by jefe on Sept 15, 2009 23:26:08 GMT -5
@ay1128 Truly SORRY to say anything that might cause you to be defensive. I was just proposing that their *MAY* be a partial explanation for the phenomenon. If you think that does not apply to you, then you may be right. I agree that many, if not most Chinese-Americans are ultra-westernized, leaving one no choice but to treat them as any other full westerner despite their appearance.
And although my situation is certainly different (my mother is Caucasian), I do know Chinese better than all of my *full* Chinese cousins and even my father's younger sisters. This of course confuses people why *I* must explain things said in Chinese to them in Engish.
The first time I went to Taiwan in my late teens, I went on the Taiwan "Love Boat" trip designed for overseas Chinese who grew up in Western countries. Out of about 330 participants, there were about 12-14 Eurasians, and many of the Taiwanese found it interesting.
However, they also tended to ask about 10-15 of the supposed *full* Chinese if they were *hun xue r" or not. Some of them were not ecstatic about getting asked that question all the time. I think there is something among the Chinese cultural psyche which tells them that they are racially pure (the concept of which is completely crap) and they can *tell* who belongs and who doesn't. Obviously, they are often wrong.
And finally, while *hun xue er* are perhaps not as persecuted as in previous times (but actually, I doubt this), they are certainly not treated the same, which can still lead to other forms of discrimination. I do think what does help is to have a few Eurasians attain some notoriety in the local community, which helps to ease them to help people understand them better. For example, the local pop rock duo SOLER is now the Eurasian flavor of the moment and many people come up and call me SOLER now, or come up to ask me if I am *mixed* and they really like the group SOLER. On second thought, this might not help people understand one better at all, but it does help break the ice.
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 16, 2009 3:34:27 GMT -5
jefe, its alright, i didn't think you said anything that was offensive of any sorts; i wasn't really trying to be defensive, but its just kinda surprising to me that the asian in asia will view the westernized asian as mixed; i always felt that maybe when you go to the country side of taiwan people may have that view point of westernized asians; but not so much in Taipei which is the capital which has a large amount of ABCs, but that may be the fact that i never met a Asian that told me before that they were referred to as mixed or white, but people could tell they are ABCs. But since you been living in HK probably longer than i have in TW, so you probably have a better understanding of it than me.
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 16, 2009 3:56:33 GMT -5
well hypeforlife91, i do think that Asians seems to be better at picking out the mix group from the non-mix group; and i think the Asians are really the only race that seems to do that compared to Blacks, Hispanics, etc; but thats just my personal opinion. alot of what you said about how white, asian american, or asian in hk classify you is mostly the same as how i felt. But from your avatar, you look way way more caucasian than i do, judging from that picture i would think that you are a beautiful latina or maybe middle eastern rather than asian or eurasian. i think when you are in HK, people would probably just assume that you are white maybe not even eurasian; whereas, when i'm in Asia, people could see me as either eurasian or asian but a few instances people see me as white, since i been called "wai guo" before in TW. Thanks for calling me beautiful lol even thought I'm not a Latina. But still now I'm blushing. =) Anyways, I tend to look more white in that angle. But in frontal view you can definitely tell that I have a certain Asian-ness. This usually happens a lot when I meet people..they see me from the side and they think I'm white..then I turn around and they know I have some Asian in me..well for the people that "know" that mixed races exist anyways. For the others it causes confusion. The other day I said I was half-chinese to someone who asked and they said I don't look chinese. If they had to guess they'd say I look more japanese or filipino. Hmmm...I can maybe see a difference between chinese and filipinos..but not so much japanese and chinese (well only a tiny bit that is barely noticeable). If they had to guess an asian race people seem to never say chinese even though I am part hong kong chinese. I get Thai and Filipino a lot. But on this forum, I've noticed that most of us are part Chinese. xD oh really, cause i don't really see that much asian in you, but there was this one girl who i believed was also mixed in my accounting course, from the side she looks like a caucasian but from straight up you could tell she's got some asian in her. But i don't know, it looks like you even have blue eyes on the avatar pic; but i may be wrong since that pic is truly kinda tiny.
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Post by toyomansi on Sept 16, 2009 18:59:58 GMT -5
ay1128, from your pics I think I can only see a hint of mixedness, but that's only when I already know that you have some european ancestry. If I didn't know about it already, I would think you were "full" asian :) I also think it's true that asians more quickly notice all the things that are "different" in mixed people, but I think it's strange that someone would think you were white...
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 16, 2009 19:32:06 GMT -5
personally i agreed with everything you just said; but i do think eurasian look are pretty vague, there are eurasian like one of my cousin who look completely white, and there are also eurasian who i have met that many people including asians will think they are asians and can easily be passed off as full asian... i do think that the asians in asia do view people in a different perspective compared to the asians in US or other Western Countries; maybe they look at everyone in extreme details but thats just a wild guess by me. there were only a few instance in asia that i was asked if i was white, maybe in tw, people view people who they feel are mix differently, maybe they view them to be white, i don't know? Btw toyomansi, are u also Eurasian, or like me with partial western ancestry, or asian?
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hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 17, 2009 1:19:26 GMT -5
personally i agreed with everything you just said; but i do think eurasian look are pretty vague, there are eurasian like one of my cousin who look completely white, and there are also eurasian who i have met that many people including asians will think they are asians and can easily be passed off as full asian... i do think that the asians in asia do view people in a different perspective compared to the asians in US or other Western Countries; maybe they look at everyone in extreme details but thats just a wild guess by me. there were only a few instance in asia that i was asked if i was white, maybe in tw, people view people who they feel are mix differently, maybe they view them to be white, i don't know? Btw toyomansi, are u also Eurasian, or like me with partial western ancestry, or asian? I believe that Toyomansi is Eurasian as in the half and half kind. I looked at her pics before and she does look Eurasian. I believe she is from Norway. xD And plus, her location is said to be "Scandinasia"! Correct me if I'm wrong though! =) *Edit* And also, the Eurasian look has really been "inflated" by the media. If you look at all those Japanese fashion magazines and the like...many people think that is what an Eurasian looks like. You know..big, round eyes, sharp nose, and a small face. Most of the Eurasian models do have those features but there are also exceptions. It's just because the ones that do have those traits are shown more in the media, hence people think ALL Eurasians are *supposed* to look like that.
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 17, 2009 1:52:25 GMT -5
^ yeah, i seen a few of those japanese fashion magazine before, and i noticed the majority of the models are all eurasians; and a lot of the model i felt are all some of the most exotic people that i seen, and all very tall and slim (requirement for any models) but all pretty good looking people; and are really though perfect mold for the avant garde clothes that they r pictured in. Even though she may not be in so many Japanese fashion magazines, Devon Aoki is really one of the most exotic people that i seen, but nevertheless still a beauty (though i know some people to find her a bit wierd looking.) btw here's another pic that i found i'm the guy on the right in the blue shirt, the other guy also has some partial western ancestry forgot if it was british or dutch.
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hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 17, 2009 2:22:22 GMT -5
^ I know who Devon Aoki is. =) She is indeed very exotic. I don't think she's weird looking..I think she's pretty unique in her looks. She looks like a part-caucasian Geisha in my opinion! xD
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hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 17, 2009 2:25:23 GMT -5
Oh, one thing I wanted to mention is that I think you have a bit of a "caucasian" physique? Your shoulders are pretty broad in my opinion.
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 17, 2009 3:08:25 GMT -5
well thx, i haven't really paid attention to it. my physique, i guess i'm average ht, about 5-11, i think i have pretty long arms and legs; i mean my body proportion in terms of ht, is that my lower body is way longer than my upper body. part of it may be genes, part of it may be that i used to play basketball a lot, and i heard somewhere that playing basketball will makes your legs longer but i highly doubt it to be true.
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Post by toyomansi on Sept 17, 2009 10:10:52 GMT -5
personally i agreed with everything you just said; but i do think eurasian look are pretty vague, there are eurasian like one of my cousin who look completely white, and there are also eurasian who i have met that many people including asians will think they are asians and can easily be passed off as full asian... i do think that the asians in asia do view people in a different perspective compared to the asians in US or other Western Countries; maybe they look at everyone in extreme details but thats just a wild guess by me. there were only a few instance in asia that i was asked if i was white, maybe in tw, people view people who they feel are mix differently, maybe they view them to be white, i don't know? Btw toyomansi, are u also Eurasian, or like me with partial western ancestry, or asian? I'm EA, half norwegian/half filipino :) but identify mostly as asian... I also think it's hard to define the eurasian look, it's true that eurasian looks can vary so much from looking white to looking asian, and everything in between. And also many eurasians also look neither white or asian, but latino, middle eastern etc. hmm, I wonder if people could see that bruce lee was 1/4 european? with mixes of 1/4 or less, I guess some have noticeable euro features while others don't. ay1128, does asians see your dad as mixed?
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Post by ay1128 on Sept 17, 2009 13:55:15 GMT -5
^ u know, my dad looked quite different from when he was younger than currently; because there is a huge age gap between me and my dad, i never remembered how he looked when he was younger. the only thing i heard was from my mom, and she did say that a lot of people thought my dad was mix in TW (and he was also raised in TW too); but another thing i noticed is that most people who asked whether i'm mixed are Chinese, Japanese, Korean; never Fillipino, Malays, etc "i find that kinda interesting"
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hypeforlife91
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Post by hypeforlife91 on Sept 17, 2009 21:43:03 GMT -5
^ u know, my dad looked quite different from when he was younger than currently; because there is a huge age gap between me and my dad, i never remembered how he looked when he was younger. the only thing i heard was from my mom, and she did say that a lot of people thought my dad was mix in TW (and he was also raised in TW too); but another thing i noticed is that most people who asked whether i'm mixed are Chinese, Japanese, Korean; never Fillipino, Malays, etc "i find that kinda interesting" I guess maybe the Chinese/Japanese/Korean mixes are more commonly shown in the media? Or maybe Filipinos and Malays have more variety in their looks? Like you know how some filipinos look mestizo and some look more "oriental"? The SE Asians have a more obvious range in looks than the Oriental countries. This goes for Malaysia as well. They have lots of Indian mixes there and different groups of people, some don't look very oriental at all. So they are "used to" that look. For example, I think monolids are more rare in Filipino people than in Korea...etc. I've seen more Filipinos with big, round eyes than Koreans.
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