Born Into Big Shoes
Before I begin writing, I must preface this by defining a few terms in the manner that I use them. Throughout this article, I will be using the word “stereotype” very loosely to describe the generalized form of how [my] culture is defined; it’d be far too lengthy and complicated to talk about how others see Asians without using a generalization or two (or three).
Towards the end of 7th grade, I was tired of having piss poor vision, and my mom got me my first pair of prescription glasses. From the moment I put them on, I felt very uncomfortable and insecure wearing them, not because they looked bad on me, but because I hated how people reacted when I wore them. The glasses seemed to magnify not only vision but also the expectations …show more content…
For example, African-Americans are generally expected to be athletic, and thus their masculinity and value are often wrongfully judged based on their ability to make a basket or sprint 100 meters. Of course, from the outside, we can easily identify this as blatantly racist, but most of the time, it’s so subtle that it’s become accepted. Even within our own race, we see the stereotypes not as unfair generalizations, but rather standards that we should meet. As a result, many Asian-Americans like myself feel like they have to measure up, or risk feeling like an underachiever. My mom, for example, often compares me and my little brother to her friend’s kids, and continuously aims to use that as a measuring tool for our …show more content…
Those within the Asian-American culture don’t see the unrealistically high expectations as a problem, but rather evidence of the love they have for the younger generation. Many of the older Asians cite the lack of accessible education in countries like Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea during their youth as a reason for them to take advantage (dare I say exploit?) of the free education in Western countries like the United States. This mindset has, for the academic elite, succeeded; but for the common Asian-American, the average SAT score needs to be 140 points higher than that of a white
Before I begin writing, I must preface this by defining a few terms in the manner that I use them. Throughout this article, I will be using the word “stereotype” very loosely to describe the generalized form of how [my] culture is defined; it’d be far too lengthy and complicated to talk about how others see Asians without using a generalization or two (or three).
Towards the end of 7th grade, I was tired of having piss poor vision, and my mom got me my first pair of prescription glasses. From the moment I put them on, I felt very uncomfortable and insecure wearing them, not because they looked bad on me, but because I hated how people reacted when I wore them. The glasses seemed to magnify not only vision but also the expectations …show more content…
For example, African-Americans are generally expected to be athletic, and thus their masculinity and value are often wrongfully judged based on their ability to make a basket or sprint 100 meters. Of course, from the outside, we can easily identify this as blatantly racist, but most of the time, it’s so subtle that it’s become accepted. Even within our own race, we see the stereotypes not as unfair generalizations, but rather standards that we should meet. As a result, many Asian-Americans like myself feel like they have to measure up, or risk feeling like an underachiever. My mom, for example, often compares me and my little brother to her friend’s kids, and continuously aims to use that as a measuring tool for our …show more content…
Those within the Asian-American culture don’t see the unrealistically high expectations as a problem, but rather evidence of the love they have for the younger generation. Many of the older Asians cite the lack of accessible education in countries like Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea during their youth as a reason for them to take advantage (dare I say exploit?) of the free education in Western countries like the United States. This mindset has, for the academic elite, succeeded; but for the common Asian-American, the average SAT score needs to be 140 points higher than that of a white