I'm a Japanese American. 4th Generation, my mom is a full blooded 3rd Generation from Hawaii, my dad is a white guy. I have all the religious views of a rock and vote for Democratic candidates (but hate hippies and other far left types, while being a horrible materialistic capitalist myself). My friends are almost all white or 3rd and 4th generation Japanese and Chinese Americans. I'm about as far from the Asian stereotype as possible, though I'm pretty arrogant about racial matters and have plenty of money. And honestly, I'm kind of lame and have never done anything non-platonic with a girl. That part's kinda stereotypical. I'm a terrible student, not musical at all, and still live at home in my early 20s. Not that I'm unhappy or depressed, though I do encourage myself to be a better person and live up to my potential, instead of just kicking back and enjoying life.
When I look at the profiles of other Asians on social networking/dating sites, mostly Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, I notice that a lot of them are 1st or 2nd generation. They're more stereotypical. The guys are either "gangsta" or wimps. The girls often appear oversexual. And both sexes mostly split two other- the studious ultra serious business types or the loserly types who try to be as American as possible, turning their back on everything (including studying) from their culture. And a growing number of them are extremely religious, mostly Christian. And a little to the right of Ghengis Khan. You hear about their parents cracking the educational whip, making them go to piano lessons, and white families moving away from Asian dominated high schools because they're taking school TOO seriously (a twisted and almost amusing version of white flight). They're either taking life way too seriously or not taking it seriously enough.
Other Japanese Americans are so rare, I can't reach any conclusions on them, but the few I know (outside of family) tend to be upper middle to upper class, 4th or 5th generation, and generally more well-rounded and less "extreme". And rarely religious, or if they are, not fanatical. But they don't seem to be "typical" Asian anymore (school performance aside), and most of them aren't interested in their roots or (romantic) relationships with other Asians. Or anyone not white.
So what IS an Asian in the US these days? Is an Asian the stereotypical Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese from California, who's either stiff and conservative or loserly and "gangsta"? Are Japanese-Americans, who aren't all that common anymore, still Asian, or will their children even be, with marriages to whites the norm these days? Is there a difference? Or are we all still Asian, and just need to relax and not worry about superficial things? I don't know anymore. I just want some opinions.
Asian blood.
No, it's just like how some Americans (weeaboos) want to become Japanese. In fact, everything you said could be applied to Americans if you just change a few words.
The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan was actually very liberal for it's day.
>>3
Fair enough. I just like saying that.
Smoke is in asians.
They don't have blood in their veins, just smoke.
Aren't these 4th-5th generations American?
You seem obsessed with your concept of race.
Maybe you should be asking "What's in an American?"
>What's in an Asian
85% water, for sure. The bulk of the rest is poly-carbon chains, some trace elements and stuff.
An Asian is a subhuman.
Why don't you chop one open and find out? Post a report on the internet so we'll all know; that way, we don't need to repeat the experiment too many times.
Asian born in Australia.
Perhaps it's the laid-back lifestyle over here, but I find that Asian youths nowadays are blending in pretty well with "Western society" whilst maintaining ties with their own culture. I think most of us have found a nice balance of our identity.
There's not as much of that "Asian Pride" stuff. It's pretty much become a phase that some people go through when they're 13-14.
tofu
Anime
>blending in pretty well with "Western society"
what's so hard about that????
What's in an Asian?
Garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. ^_^;
im suprised no one said rice
Oh wow, now I'm offended. laughs "Asian" isn't a state of being like "gangsters" and whatnot. I find this to be a really pathetic thread. Asian is catagorizing people who live in the Asiatic area. And if you want to know what's in asians, well, go dissect one.
>>20
I did.
Turns out, they're actually filled with candy.
Nyoro~n.... All sorts?
By the way, look in a Hmong Person. The only things I see is a bunch of damn rice noodles, Fried Chicken and all sorts of American Propaganda shit.
An Asian cup (soccer) was finished about one week ago.
last 4 team is iraq,saud arabia,south korea,and Japan. (orde in result)
heeeey! "ASIA" include iraq to japan!?
So ASIAN is only region name. never mind.
I think Asia is excluded from Western together with Africa.
If it wasn't for the water we'd all be living on one happy continent.
The water is tearing us apart...
Well, that and continental plates, and mountain formations, deserts, and distances, and languages/religion.
Used to be that North Africa was the heart of the Roman Empire, very much part of the Christian West. When Islam prevailed there, all of a sudden it became part of the middle east!
> What's in an Asian?
generally meat and bones and muscle
Asians in your country are just yellow skinned people, or people of asian ancestry. African Americans in US have the same skin as those living in africa, but they are definitely different from those african negroes. Likewise you are definitely not the same as those japaneses who live japan.
Check me out! First time at the casting!
Listen to >>30
I'm from Denmark. Danish friends I've known who moved out later to the US were the same..they returned maybe even as short as half a decade later and it felt like some sort of barrier existed that hadn't previously. We still had tons of fun though and once you know how to break down cultural barriers at pedestrian level it's no problem.
>>30
I beg to differ. African Americans have been born and bred in America for ages. However, a lot of Asians in Western countries are still second or third generation migrants. There is still that strong cultural connection with their motherland. They're not fully assimilated into Western society (take China Town for example). The fact that many Asians can still speak "their" language is also proof of that. African Americans on the other hand can't speak African.
I am a pure Japanese. Do you have any question? I would like to know more about Westeners opinions about Asians (especially Japanese).
Historicaly, we, Japanese, have had an inferiority complex about our appearance, intelligence, and so on.
Inferiority complex? I've heard that one a lot, but never really believed it. I always thought of Japanese as rather proud and ethnocentric.
If "having an inferiority complex" means finding ways to adapt one's culture to be able to compete with western powers, then Japan has nothing to feel inferior about, since if you discount the Ottoman Empire, Japan is the only non-western nation to be a serious competitor to Western ones in the modern era.
I wonder who first wrote about this "inferiority complex" and whether he/she was a Japanese or a westerner.
>>33
I think you've made some valid points there, but I am not sure which statement of mine are you disagree with.
What I want to say is that OP is an Asian American, whether if he behaves stereotypically or not. And the reason for him being identified as Asian is mainly because of his ancestry or his skin color. However, he is not to be confused with Japaneses who live in Japan. He is an "Asian"(or 1/2 asian), but definitely not the same Asians who are living in Asia.
I'm a Chinese Singaporean, 3rd generation. I can speak standard mandarin and my native dialect, and do practice certain chinese customs. Even so, I still encounter huge cultural barriers with Chinese from other countries(especially native Chinese from China). Mainland Chinese are ... ermm ... just so different. I'm a Chinese, but I know I'm definitely not the same Chinese as those who are living in China.
>Historicaly, we, Japanese, have had an inferiority complex about .....
hmmmm...but many Japanese do see themselves above those asians who are living in Asia-Pacific. And historically, your ancestors conquered most of Asia-Pacific. I am not trying to incite any anti-Japanese sentiments here. Just that I feel that you are being too humble to the point of self-demeaning.
Black people speak their own language too. Whatever the hell they're speaking isn't English.
Wait, you're Japanese and you have Chinese friends? How did that happen?