The article, “The End of Spam Shame: On Class, Colonialism, and Canned Meat” by Sylvie Kim originally appeared in Hyphen Magazine in 2011. In the article, the author discusses how consuming Spam has influenced her life, and in light of her experience she claims that people should not be ashamed of their culture. To her audience, who face the same cultural dilemma as herself, she urges them to take a firm stance on their culture, and they should not to be bullied by cultural critics. In addition, the article suggests that suspending ethnocentrism is key to understanding the cultures that flourish beyond the boundaries of one’s nation. Moreover, the author’s personal experience of the subject matter, and the way she presents her argument with
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She also mentions that she “had to eat Spam in private” because of “class-based Spam shame.” While growing up in the Midwest, where people look down on her culture as “weirdo Oriental way,” she hides her cultural heritage to protect herself from being judged. Her heart touching stories form the article enable readers to relate to her life in a personal and emotional level, and captivate readers' attentions. Especially, the following sentence "My childhood was chock-full of nitrates, sodium, and an amalgam of four-legged animals chopped and cured into uniform cuts of salty goodness that was inexpensive, easy to heat, and lasted for damn near forever..." leads readers to be sympathetic. Even though she uses strong words such as "chock full of nitrates as sodiums", "amalgam of four legged animal", her favor towards Spam is easily seen when she says "inexpensive" , "easy to cook" and " lasted for ever". In a slick way , she is trying to prompt readers have compassion for her with an elegant use of …show more content…
She points out that the Americans produces the Spam, which represents “poverty or ‘trashiness’ in American pop culture.” Hence, she is trying to persuade her readers that this is not right that Americans judge her culture by explaining that Spam originally came from America, where people think the product is vulgar. Additionally, from the sentences “I grew to love a food that was championed as a symbol of American ingenuity despite being denigrated by American themselves. I eat Spam and am judged for eating Spam because of America,” Kim displays a feeling of resentment, and makes an appeal to the readers’ hearts. From this, Kim implies that people should neither judge another culture, nor should be ashamed of their own culture. Moreover, she supports her argument by introducing opinions from other people who know the subject well, such as Robert Ji-song ku, visiting professor at SUNY who states that US military history is entangled with the Spam consumption. Further, she introduces the history of Hormel Foods, the company produces Spam, and clarifies why and how Spam was widespread across Asia and the Pacific. To be specific, she expresses that during World War II, Hormel Foods feed the US military, and “more than 100 million pounds of SPAM luncheon meat were shipped abroad to feed Allied
She also mentions that she “had to eat Spam in private” because of “class-based Spam shame.” While growing up in the Midwest, where people look down on her culture as “weirdo Oriental way,” she hides her cultural heritage to protect herself from being judged. Her heart touching stories form the article enable readers to relate to her life in a personal and emotional level, and captivate readers' attentions. Especially, the following sentence "My childhood was chock-full of nitrates, sodium, and an amalgam of four-legged animals chopped and cured into uniform cuts of salty goodness that was inexpensive, easy to heat, and lasted for damn near forever..." leads readers to be sympathetic. Even though she uses strong words such as "chock full of nitrates as sodiums", "amalgam of four legged animal", her favor towards Spam is easily seen when she says "inexpensive" , "easy to cook" and " lasted for ever". In a slick way , she is trying to prompt readers have compassion for her with an elegant use of …show more content…
She points out that the Americans produces the Spam, which represents “poverty or ‘trashiness’ in American pop culture.” Hence, she is trying to persuade her readers that this is not right that Americans judge her culture by explaining that Spam originally came from America, where people think the product is vulgar. Additionally, from the sentences “I grew to love a food that was championed as a symbol of American ingenuity despite being denigrated by American themselves. I eat Spam and am judged for eating Spam because of America,” Kim displays a feeling of resentment, and makes an appeal to the readers’ hearts. From this, Kim implies that people should neither judge another culture, nor should be ashamed of their own culture. Moreover, she supports her argument by introducing opinions from other people who know the subject well, such as Robert Ji-song ku, visiting professor at SUNY who states that US military history is entangled with the Spam consumption. Further, she introduces the history of Hormel Foods, the company produces Spam, and clarifies why and how Spam was widespread across Asia and the Pacific. To be specific, she expresses that during World War II, Hormel Foods feed the US military, and “more than 100 million pounds of SPAM luncheon meat were shipped abroad to feed Allied