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Post by Ganbare! on Nov 27, 2009 22:33:39 GMT -5
I dedicate this topic to all the unlucky EAs that have been, are or will be white-washed in the near future. Do you think it's that bad? How washed are you really? Outside of learning an Asian language what do/did you do to be/act more Asian ? Sometimes I feel like I have missed out way too much culturally but at the same time avoided a lot of protocolar crap as well.
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Post by moralhazard on Nov 28, 2009 1:02:28 GMT -5
Hmm, spose that I am quite 'white-washed'. Never even learnt Mandarin. Just eat/cook Asian food often.
Oh, hang on. I remember doing kung fu classes back when I was 5 yrs old. So apart from that, there's not much else.
To be honest, never really thought about this before either. I don't consider myself being 'white-washed' a bad thing. I'm just pleased that I have relatively decent morals and respect other people and their opinions. Which 7 years ago may or may not have happened.
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Post by paul101 on Nov 29, 2009 17:37:26 GMT -5
I don't see acting white to be a bad thing myself. :/ The only Asian things I do are eat Asian food sometimes and listen to some Japanese and Chinese music.
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Kush
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Post by Kush on Nov 30, 2009 18:12:00 GMT -5
Eh, as far as I'm concerned I'm not "white-washed" in the slightest. I don't like these people who claim doing this-and-that is acting "white". No buddy, I'm just living my life. Or that being "Asian" means you've got to speak fluent A, B or C, only eat rice and listen to C-pop. I'd be "white-washed" if I played up being white English and ignored/played down being Chinese, when in fact the opposite is more true.
That's just what I think anyway.
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conorsoccr23
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Post by conorsoccr23 on May 13, 2010 17:33:57 GMT -5
i think its annoying how other asians/eurasians get mad at you for acting "too white" what do they expect to b a math geek or sompin cuz thn ud b livin a steriotype, its just lik how black pple get mad at other blacks for bein "to white"
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Post by admin on May 13, 2010 18:39:12 GMT -5
i think its annoying how other asians/eurasians get mad at you for acting "too white" what do they expect to b a math geek or sompin cuz thn ud b livin a steriotype, its just lik how black pple get mad at other blacks for bein "to white" welcome. can you translate that please, for the old people? thanks!
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conorsoccr23
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Post by conorsoccr23 on May 13, 2010 18:45:38 GMT -5
lol sure i mean i think its annoying when they say you dont act your own race, because tht is striotyping against your own race in a way
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Post by Ganbare! on May 13, 2010 19:14:11 GMT -5
i think its annoying how other asians/eurasians get mad at you for acting "too white" what do they expect to b a math geek or sompin cuz thn ud b livin a steriotype, its just lik how black pple get mad at other blacks for bein "to white" welcome. can you translate that please, for the old people? thanks! God, that made my day, youngsters and spelling these days. HAHAHA...
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Post by jefe on May 13, 2010 22:51:55 GMT -5
^ LOL It is amazing how spelling has changed in a single generation. Anyhow, I might get crucified for saying this, but the majority of *full* Asian descent people (not to mention EAs) who were born and raised in Western countries seem quite white-washed to me already. I had a few Azyan Pride Asian-Americans become all huffy when i suggest that they actually seem more like white people to me. Only a sparse few seem partially Asian to me (having nothing to do with their actually % of Asian blood). Actually, I think much of Asia is already semi-westernized in many aspects. When I go to Singapore or Philippines, I feel that I am already in a semi-western country already. HK has several hundred thousand returnees from overseas, not to mention expats and other overseas born people -- I feel that there is a large semi-western subculture here. But, when I meet Western born Asians who come to HK for the first time (or for the first time in a very long time), they seem to feel that it is very *Chinese*. I guess 2 people can see the same phenomenon very differently. I have very little regular contact with white people (only about 1-2%) -- I wonder how people will label me then. Am I still white-washed?
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Post by Ganbare! on May 14, 2010 9:48:24 GMT -5
^I have met some second-third generation Asians that were very White-washed while others were not, it's all a matter of choice. After putting some thought into it I've ruled out SG and HK because as you pointed it out the two are too Western, I'd rather not be part of expatriate circles or live like I'm still in the West. I'm already far too white-washed and although there's nothing wrong with it I'm trying to dissociate myself from that at least in the short term.
I'm not sure interacting or not with Caucasians define if you are white-washed or not, consuming Western culture, living a Western lifestyle etc are more relevant.
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Post by jefe on May 14, 2010 11:47:26 GMT -5
^ I suspect my definition of White-washed might be different from yours. Maybe we need to contrast White-washed vs. westernized. Many Asians in the West (and also in Asia) might be westernized, but not exactly white-washed.
ANYHOW, . . .
Most people I have met who are NOT from the Greater China area (including overseas Chinese from both the West and SE Asia) actually find HK to be a lot more Chinese than they expected. But for me, when I compare to Mainland China, Taiwan, and traditional Chinese culture, some things are actually retained the more removed from Mainland China (which has radically changed the traditional culture in some aspects). HK has also absorbed a lot of western influence also, so it seems *mixed* to me, which is very possibly one of the reasons I was attracted to it.
Due to this mixture, I don't feel a need to integrate into expatriate circles - In fact, well over half the people I know are overseas returnees - born in HK, but educated in the west - they enjoy both Chinese stuff, other Asian stuff (esp. Korean, Japanese, Thai, but others also) as well as western stuff and speak Cantonese, Mandarin AND English daily. They interact with both the ones who are much more Chinese oriented, but also with westernized and expatriate circles, but are not 100% part of either -- maybe more like what the Eurasian community did 100 years ago. This is not white-washed per se, but a Western / Asian combination with a slight leaning towards Chinese (or in some cases, more western).
Singaporeans seem slightly more westernized to me -- in fact, to me, they seem to share some things more with Asians in North America and Australia than with Asian Asians. They are a mix too, but when there is a western / Chinese (or other Asia) cultural conflict, it seems that a compromise situation is reached (rather than, say, a solution more compatible with Chinese, but absorbing a few western elements).
I think Taiwan has just enough overseas returnees so that I might be able to recreate some idea of this, but retains a lot of traditional Chinese stuff too. It also has some very noticeable Japanese influence. This, together with Taiwanese hospitality, I think Taiwan is an interesting place to be also - I don't feel stressed out there and find Taiwan people nice and friendly.
HOWEVER, if your goal is to avoid expat circles, then HK might be better in some respects than Taiwan and esp. Mainland China. Whereas I can interact 95% with local HK people and still feel OK, I might feel stressed in Mainland China. I might gravitate to ethnic Chinese who are NOT local, eg, from HK, Taiwan, SE Asia, also from the West, as well as to non-Chinese who have absorbed some Chinese culture and language, in other words, people who are more *mixed* culturally. Chinese who have NEVER been out of China might have some interesting features and ideas, but I am sure I would feel that *get me outta here* feeling after a while.
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Post by jefe on May 14, 2010 11:55:52 GMT -5
I'm not sure interacting or not with Caucasians define if you are white-washed or not, consuming Western culture, living a Western lifestyle etc are more relevant. If that is your definition, then I think that MANY Asian-born Asians living in Asia are a bit white-washed then -- Asia has been far more affected by Western culture than the West has been affected by Asian culture.
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conorsoccr23
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Post by conorsoccr23 on May 14, 2010 12:35:07 GMT -5
its only cuz in most asian medias they protray beauty as caucasians or eurasians and thts what they think they need to look lik tht to be hot
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Post by jefe on May 14, 2010 12:52:52 GMT -5
^ Sorry, but I don't think that is the reason.
It is because - Western countries colonized Asia - set up western institutions and imposed their ideas of law and government and finance - brought their religion and converted people - marketed their culture and lifestyle - music, cinema, theatre, and consumer brands (McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, iPhone, Lady Gaga, facebook, etc. -- who in Asia does not know these things (Except maybe NorthKorea?) - created a situation where Asians speaking different langauges use ENGLISH as their lingua franca -- in fact, this helps diffuse ethnic tensions as English is not associated with any particular ethnic group. Could you imagine Europeans using Korean or Thai to communicate with each other across ethnic and regional boundaries?
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Post by Ganbare! on May 14, 2010 13:40:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure interacting or not with Caucasians define if you are white-washed or not, consuming Western culture, living a Western lifestyle etc are more relevant. If that is your definition, then I think that MANY Asian-born Asians living in Asia are a bit white-washed then -- Asia has been far more affected by Western culture than the West has been affected by Asian culture. I was solely referring to you considering you are Eurasian and have lived a significant part of your life in the West. Westernized Asians are a different story even if they consume US pop culture/lifestyle, I don't think they are as deeply influenced by Western thought, education, values as Western EAs are whether we are aware of it or not.
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