Skinny Eyes and Stereotypes

       Nerdy. Anti-social. Small eyes. Over achiever. Straight A's. Don't lie to yourself, you just thought of an asian didn't you? Whether we admit it or not, these stereotypes have been implanted into us by society. We all want to say that we've grown past the racism in the past, but that isn't true at all. In Sherman Alexie's novel, he explains how all Native Americans are stereotyped as being drunks, criminals, and uneducated. They're forever bounded from accomplishing much just because they think that they can only live within their stereotypes, but they just need to escape them and be proud of their ethnicity. This is true for asians as well. Yes, we do study for the vast majority of the time. Well, yeah we have small eyes, you don't have to point that out(if it wasn't obvious enough). Do you think we can change any of that though? Do you think we LOVE studying 24/7? I think that many people don't realize the pressure that we're under from our parents, or just expectations. We're expected to get straight A's. We're expected to go to Harvard. We're expected to be a genius and get perfect scores. Well, sorry to break it to you, but 99.9% of the time none of that happens!

       I'm not going to lie, sometimes when asians live up to the stereotypes it bothers me a lot. For example-I cannot stand when I see asians pull out the peace sign in a picture. I don't know why, it just seems like they're just craving for that stereotype to be a spotlight on them. At the same time, I just wonder why white people aren't judged for those actions, and I realize that I'm just being hypocritical. If even someone who is of the asian race is judgmental of their own race, how are other people supposed to get over the stereotypes?! This brings me to this one occurrence I had recently at Troy Daze. A girl that I had just met told me a story of when she was out west this summer. She explained that while in the Grand Canyon, many asians were there and they would pose(and pull out the peace sign) with random, insignificant statues. She said that to mock them, she copied their "ridiculous" poses right in front of them. On the outside, I just smiled and laughed along with her, but on the inside I was just thinking, "DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO AN ASIAN YOU IDIOT!? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I SAID THAT ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE?!" I went home with all hope lost in the world. But then again, I realized that she probably didn't realize the situation and didn't mean any harm.

       Personally, I'm a pretty white washed asian-I'm a golden oreo ;). I've noticed that the majority of my friends aren't asian. I don't play the violin, piano, etc. I don't spend all my time studying. I'd like to think that I have a social life. Yes, I have constant pressure from my parents to get straight A's, and high scores on standardized tests. No, I don't have straight A's, but my grades are pretty decent. In the past, I got made fun of a lot by my friends about how I'm crazy for taking so many rigorous classes, or that all I ever do is study.  I've also had times where I'm so ashamed of my ethnicity because of the stereotypes it brings along. I've even hated it. Especially for colleges, asians are compared to each other, so if you're not some Einstein then you're basically screwed-I'm sorry that I have a life outside of studying? I only have one life so I actually want to do something with it? Although there are many downsides, I've recently learned to embrace the culture, heritage, and values that come along with it. Recently I came to realize that I'm thankful that my parents push me. I'd rather have parents who care too much than not at all. I'm thankful that they're there to remind me that I can reach my full potential if I work hard enough. Whenever I notice that someone is stereotyping me, I just think, well, at least I'm going to make something out of myself in the future. 

       I now understand that stereotypes will always exist and there's nothing that can be done about it, but you have to see past the downs and embrace your heritage and the morals that each ethnicity has. You need to exceed the expectations and stereotypes. 

A video that never fails to make me laugh: