Comments on: “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t Asian…”

By: angela

angela — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:31:57 +0000

well i hav to agree with her i ve gone through it too, i hated that i was asian because since i was a preschooler kids use to make fun of my language which really hurt me, people also use to go up to me and told me to teach them tae kwon do all the time just because of my race of being asian and they still do but we cant do anything about people being jerks so we should just accept it and move on.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:57:53 +0000

john, i think margaret cho relates that story when she talks about social discrimination, not in reference to her parents. I thought that this was in relation to the story she tells when she went to Florida to meet her future in-laws and she says that they treated her “too nicely”. (But don’t quote me on this).

Any other Margaret Cho fans out there?

By: john patrick

john patrick — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:41:05 +0000

Is the Margaret Cho bit you’re referring to the one where she needs glue for school, and the mom says, “just use rice.” and then she says “mom, why can’t we just have American glue!”

This is slightly different from the Yelp woman, who is annoyed at the way white people treat her. Margaret Cho’s situation is about her parents. I’m not sure if the distinction is important here, but I just thought I’d point it out.

Kids often say they wish they could swap out their parents, but I doubt Margaret Cho would want to. Too much material.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:24:19 +0000

Of course there are times when I wish I wasn’t Asian…this reminds me of a bit Margaret Cho does when she talks about the times she wishes she wasn’t Asian either! Although I think the Yelp thread was sarcastic, I think it’s “ok” to experience times of doubt.

By: Lily

Lily — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:50:03 +0000

I actually posted on her thread too. Funny it seems that there are a million threads on these topics that come up and then fade.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:01:41 +0000

lol @ Akrypti’s comment …
yeah … I remember wanting to rip out my uterus and throw it against the window … and then I think, I want babies.

Re: the actual post
Generally when I come across ignorance like that, depending on my mood – see above comment – I question them to no end – it’s fun seeing someone dig their own grave.

By: Akrypti

Akrypti — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:09:23 +0000

Once a month, for a string of several days, I wish to God I wasn’t a girl. It’s usually just a careless utterance in the heat of frustration, or…just in the heat… But this doesn’t mean I’m not a feminist.

By: jozjozjoz

jozjozjoz — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:10:09 +0000

Lil, No intent to talk behind her back.

Thanks for reminding me; I’m going to send her a private message letting her know about this thread (and the corresponding one on my personal blog) now.

I still think that I’d have been funnier if it was titled “Sometimes I wish people weren’t retarded…” but that would offend a whole different group of people!

By: john patrick

john patrick — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:06:58 +0000

anecdote alert: (relating to “my english is probably better than yours…)

my cousin was in an airport somewhere in the u.s., and someone asked her loudly if she spoke english. She said, “no,” and kept walking.

By: john patrick

john patrick — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:03:47 +0000

joz,

you and I would never wish something like “not being asian.” i wonder if “being asian” to her seems less of a given than “having to live in an ignorant context.”

i wonder if this is another east coast/west coast thing… that post on this blog a while ago by another author about west coast asians has been stuck in my sociopolitical consciousness for a while now…

as a thirty something in seattle, i just don’t experience that much ignorant stuff anymore. when i do see somebody’s cultural blindspot, i don’t wish i wasn’t asian, i wish that the people around me were filipino!