OMG, Stereotypes!

This is really bad.  I was on the subway the other day and sat next to a girl who had not one, but TWO designer bags (she was *THIS CLOSE* to being a label whore).  I didn’t get a look at her face at first, so I assumed she was one of those Asian girls who highlight their hair and shop at high end stores.  Turned out she was white.  In Toronto and Vancouver, one can find some Asian women (or more specifically, Hong Kong women) who shop at these stores, and sometimes, they’re head-to-toe label.  And these brands have to be big names to them.  For many, Tory Burch isn’t a big enough name.  It has to be Prada, Gucci, LV, Hermes, etc…

Readers, have you mistaken someone for another race/culture/ethnicity based on what he/she was wearing, or what accessories he/she had?

I look mixed? WTF?

I had my nails done at a salon I don’t normally go to this past weekend.  Practically all of the employees at this nail salon were Vietnamese, with one lady who was Vietnamese of Chinese descent.  Like me, this woman spoke fluent Cantonese, sans regional accent.  However, I knew that she wasn’t Hong Konger based on the WAY she spoke it.  It wasn’t an accent, but the way her voice sounded.  In any case, she later commented on how I looked “half Chinese, half ‘Canadian.’”  In immigrant Asian lingo, “Canadian” means white (in any case, “Canadian” could mean any ethnicity at all, she would have just said that I “looked” Canadian).  I do not look mixed.  I kind of figured that the only reason why she may have thought that is because I’m like a head taller than her (which means that this woman is super-petite, as I’m only 5′2″…probably slightly below average for Hong Kong Chinese women in my age group).

Why would someone say that another person looks “mixed” when the person clearly isn’t?

Gentrification - why does it always have to be about race?

Lots of “ethnic” neighbourhoods are now being gentrified, and many blogs, including a post on Racialicious today, seem to argue that it’s driving the old residents, mostly non-whites, out.  But is it always white people who are moving in?  Or is it a class issue?  Say they gentrify Toronto’s “old” (i.e. not Scarborough or Markham) Chinatowns by opening a T&T Supermarket.  This drives out the smaller grocery stores (who IMHO, are often on the brink of breaking health codes, if they haven’t already.  I won’t buy meat there.)  While T&T does have non-Asian (or rather, non-Chinese) clientele, the majority of those who shop there are of Chinese descent (or married to someone who is of Chinese descent).  It’s unlikely that Chinatown will be completely “white-washed.”  It’ll just be yuppified.  And one doesn’t need to be white to be a yuppie.

No European Colonialism = No issues in former colonies?

From Racialicious, posted by Eujunco:

Now Thats some sad stuff, if the Europeans just left everyone alone we probably won’t have as much problems as we do today, all we can do now is try to work things out with each other with violence being the last option, or not even an option.

I think it will depend on the country and the issues we’re talking about. Japan wasn’t a European colony, but it is certainly influenced by the west, especially after it opened to the “outside world” in the nineteenth century (there were westerners in Japan prior to 1854, but to my understanding, they were mostly missionaries). I mean, would we as a society, be playing Grand Theft Auto (I’m not playing this, but the boyfriend is) on our PS3s? Will we be driving Toyotas? Buying Toshiba laptops? Eating sushi? I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t own at least one Japanese brand. Even my grandparents, who grew up in China during WWII own a Japanese rice cooker, watches Chinese soaps on a Sony television and drives a Toyota!

In some cases, yes, there might be issues, especially in terms of ethnicity, but we might not be enjoying products we love without western influence!

New York Times article: Korean Kids Going to School Abroad with Mom, but not Dad

In the Education section of the New York Times today.

This isn’t anything new, IMHO.  Tons of Hong Kongers did this some fifteen to twenty years ago.  And the moms and kids who did this were not necessarily very, very wealthy families who sent their kids to private school.  Many were public school students.  There’s a Cantonese term for these people:  tai-hong yan (”astronauts”).  I don’t recall exactly WHY the term was coined or the meaning behind it, but perhaps it’s because the family’s separated and that Canada/or other English speaking country is “outer space” for them?  Perhaps because they’re so far away?  Like this case, it’s generally the mothers (especially stay-at-home moms) who come with the kids, rather than the fathers.  However, I didn’t see anything about passports/immigration in the South Korean story, which may very well be the ONLY DIFFERENCE.

Chinese Adoptees Celebrate Bat Mitzvah

This article was in the New York Times a little over a year ago.  I find it very interesting how the North American public views religion.  No one bats an eye at Chinese Catholics (adopted or biological) - there’ll never be a lifestyle story about a Chinese adoptee in an Italian or Irish American family celebrating her First Communion or Confirmation - but being Jewish is another story.  To many people, it’s still unusual.  This article mentions it as well:  Often, an Asian (or non-white) Jew may walk into Hillel with a white person who is, say, Episcopalian, the white Episcopalian is thought of as the Jew.  Why is this?  The lack of missionaries?

Designer Manbag carrying Metros

I’ve see a few Asian guys (mostly foreign) with designer bags. These bugs aren’t their girlfriends’ or wives’ purses, but men’s styles, and usually Gucci or LV (often LOGOED to death). These guys are usually between 16 and 35 and fairly good looking…but they also look like they spend more time in front of the mirror than their female SOs.  What’s the deal? I never really noticed guys with bags like that when I was over in Hong Kong a few years ago. Is it a recent thing? Perhaps from Japan or Europe? Are they trying to be more metro than metro (I’ve found that in Toronto, anyway, there are more Hong Kong Canadian metro guys per capita than white or CBC metros)?

Geez, people….do you have to throw race into EVERYTHING?

Racialicious has a post today about a recent Quiznos commercial where an elderly laundry manager eats a $5 bill. The elderly laundry manager is of Asian descent. Now, I have seen this commercial, and I just thought the entire thing was stupid (just like many food-related commercials today), but I would never think of it as racist. Perhaps it’s because some people in our society are just a little too race-sensitive. I mean, I could totally hear people going bananas over a commercial, movie or television show where an Asian woman is portrayed as very society matron-like. After all, she’s obviously TRYING TO BE WHITE, right (by the way, no pun intended on this one)? And an Asian person, especially a woman trying to be white is A STEREOTYPE we want to get rid of. People will say that, despite there being dozens of “old money-esque” society matrons in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Now, I *DO* think this commercial is a little demeaning to people of a certain age.

Another thing I want to add:  Who’s to say that they intended to cast an Asian actress for this?  The audition notice could very well have only asked for someone who can play a woman of a certain age.  Not all notices specify race.  While white is the default for “race neutral” casting (for the most part, anyway), people need to remember that colour-blind casting IS done, though it seems to be more common in live theatre (as I’ve said before, the television/movie crowd is probably a tad bit too sensitive to go for something like this)

Note from ChineseCanuck:  Hello?  Just because I’m of Chinese descent (Chinese Canadians share a similar history to Chinese Americans, btw), doesn’t mean that I have to be offended by the commercial.  In fact, I think most people take the race thing too seriously, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand why as you can see from my posts. 

Race and Music - Is it “normal” for an Asian girl to like Sarah McLachlan?

Racialicious has an interesting post about ethnicity/race and music today.  Kelvin, a guest contributor, spent his childhood years in Nigeria listening to a diverse group of artists, including Phil Collins, Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson.  He is now in his 20s and living in the US.  His tastes are apparently being challenged.  Kelvin likes rock.  His undergrad was at a historically black school according to his post, a fellow student asked him not to play his favourite tunes while on campus.  A totally WTF situation, IMHO, but not unusual.  I have had similar experiences.  Apparently, Asians aren’t supposed to like country (which I did for a couple of years in high school).  Asians aren’t supposed to like Sarah McLachlan or Jewel (I stopped listening to Jewel after 1998.  Her Spirit album was the last good one) either.  Instead, we’re supposed to listen to pop music from our ancestral homeland or hip hop, especially if you are under 35.  Apparently if you were a teen before major-major immigration from Hong Kong (mid 80s or later), you can listen to “white” music without much criticism.  I have a friend in her mid 30s who grew up listening to George Michael, early Madonna and Culture Club.  It was normal for a Chinese kid to listen to “white” music back then.  Not really the case for Cuspers (people born between 1977 and 1981 - we’re the ones who aren’t sure if we’re Gen X or not) or Millennials (1982 or later).  Cuspers and Millennials, at least those who grew up in certain parts of Canada grew up smack in the middle of mass immigration from Hong Kong.  It’s now all about Cantopop, “English” pop, hip hop, Emo, etc…Cantopop is just like American/British pop (but in Cantonese…you know….the music basically all sound the same) and the others?  Not really my thing.  Seriously.  A few years ago, my parents’ friends were in Vegas and were really disappointed to find out that Celine was taking a break.  Geez.

I recently bought the new Sarah McLachlan compilation album, Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff II (mostly songs from soundtracks, “special” releases or concerts - you guys should check out the first Rarities album…it has an extended version of “I Will Remember You”) and some people looked at me as if I had purple and green skin.  “You like Sarah McLachlan?” a girl ( who was around my age…late 20s) asked.  “Yeah, I do.  In fact, I have all her CDs, including her bad ones.  You know, the stuff she recorded after becoming more mainstream.”  The other woman had an “oh” look, as if I had done something really wrong.  I knew immediately what that meant.  It meant “why are you listening to that stuff?”  I always thought that music transcended race, that it didn’t really matter what you listened to.  I guess I’m just wrong.

What I really want to know is why.  Why can’t I enjoy Sarah McLachlan’s music?  Is there something about her that turns Asians (or rather, Hong Kong Chinese) off, especially Cuspers and Millennials?  I don’t know if it makes any sense to me.  Does it to you?

Hong Kong Mallrat voice vs. “White” Valley Girl/Uptalk

The HK Mallrat voice is that “young” or “baby” voice that many Chinese (or perhaps more accurately, Cantonese) girls/women speak with. I don’t really know the origins of HK Mallrat, but I think it came around the same time as the Valley Girl…some time in the 1980s. I’ve seen old HK movies (pre mid-1980s) and none of the women spoke that way, not even teens, so you can’t say that Cantonese speaking women “naturally” have younger-sounding voices. This is usually paired with what some people I know call “puppy dog eyes.” Usually, these women are middle class or wealthy.

Most of us know what White Valley Girl/Uptalk is. For those of you who don’t, it’s when, like, a girl, talks kinda like this?? And she’s, like, not exactly too confident in herself?? Total exaggeration, but whatevs. The pattern/dialect/whatever you want to call it has been made fun of in movies like Clueless and the TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Hilary is totallllly an Uptalker!). So yes, demographically (from a socio-economic POV), the Uptalker and HK Mallrat are the same.

The sad part is that both styles are common in women over university age. And some girls just don’t know how or when to turn it off. I think it’s kind of okay if you talk like that with friends, but at work? I don’t think so. Sure, most Uptalkers turn off their “likes” but the Uptalk continues. Don’t these women worry that they sound like they’re in their early 20s or even younger? Especially if they look young? How on earth can they be taken seriously? Many people already assume that a young looking person is the intern, not the full time, fully paid employee. I thought most young looking people in their twenties and thirties didn’t want to be treated like a kid?

I honestly don’t know which one is more annoying. A 30 year old (or older) talking like she’s a child is just as dumb as a 30 year old saying “like” and “whatever.” In both cases, she can attract the wrong type of partner.  In both cases, it’s difficult for her to move up, career-wise.