On January 18 2012 12:04 89andy wrote:
Chicks in the east DO want to look like american/white girls. Coming from a chinese background, I'm not really biased at all, in fact I hear it all the time. Getting eyelid surgery is to look like the models, who in turn, are all chosen as "attractive" based on how "white" they look like. Also, getting a higher nose bridge, which is essential facial feature for white people, is also considered highly attractive. Most asians have a flatter nose bridge which is considered unattractive. The big eyes part I am not really sure, because in many parts of asia the size of a person's eye is not small at all, so I can't say for sure that wanting big eyes is a part of wanting to look white/american or whether its just a desired feature that some asians already have.
Also, most dudes in asia dig that "mixed" asian/white look. Heck, I consider it hot as fuck whenever a girl is mix or at least LOOKS like it.
Just a minute... I agree that asian people generally want big eyes and a higher nose bridge, but there are many asians who have a high bridge nose and big eyes. most people want to look like those asians, not just any white people. Besides, arabs and indians have high nose bridges too, one can't really associate high nose bridges as "white" characteristics.
and most dudes in asia dig "pretty" mixed asian/white look. Being exotic is a plus but not all the time,
|
Decided to update this thread because I had a few more thoughts on the issue of "distinguishing features" but didn't think it was worth a new thread. Perhaps if it's too hard to get discussion focused I'll try that instead.
I'm currently in the process of applying for Taiwanese citizenship. Because my parents are Taiwanese, I am also technically considered Taiwanese by the R.O.C. government, as they go by "blood" and not "birthplace". Taiwanese born abroad can apply for and receive guaranteed citizenship, and are allowed dual citizenship, while in other cases the person applying for Taiwanese citizenship must first renounce their old citizenship.
This is somewhat of interest to me because it's essentially the result of some unique historical circumstances. After the KMT got its ass kicked by the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek brought his merry band of defeated soldiers and refugees and retreated to Taiwan, taking it over following the Japanese surrender of the colony following WWII. The KMT believed it was still the true government of China, and had merely suffered a military setback. Thus, it still referred to itself as "China", but something interesting coming out of this was that it was compelled to define "Chinese" as something that wasn't tied to soil and territory. Essentially, the KMT claimed it was China, but it didn't actually control Chinese territory anymore, the PRC did. Thus, the definition of Chinese became officially one by "blood" and not "birthplace", allowing more people to be "Chinese" (and thus spoken for by the KMT - it considered the PRC illegitimate) than were born and raised on the small island of Taiwan.
As such, while ABCs like myself and Jeremy Lin are officially American citizens and grew up with shit Chinese skills, we were also considered Taiwanese by the Taiwanese government - we merely had to apply for citizenship and we would get it. (if you don't get it before 20 years old it's a pain in the ass afterwards, but it's still pretty much guaranteed, unless you have a criminal record) That said, this was a route taken for many ABC girls, but very few ABC guys, because once you claimed your Taiwanese citizenship, you also had to fulfill your military conscription obligation.
As a kid, I think very few people here regarded me as "American". Maybe I would have been more convincing if I couldn't speak any Chinese, but then they might simply regard me as one of those "confused Taiwanese who forgot their heritage". But the common understanding was that though I was born and raised in the States, that was merely because my parents wanted and were able to provide a better (at least material) life for me, that's all. Technically American yes, but at heart Taiwanese even though I'd never even been here before. It didn't make me "American" in the same way as the people they saw on TV, or read about in history books. This was rather frustrating at the time, because I didn't acknowledge my Taiwanese part at all.
When people greeted my brother and I with, "welcome back!" I always responded with "you mean welcome to Taiwan", because this wasn't my original home. Because I didn't have "blond hair and blue eyes", I wasn't a true American. I didn't think each nationality had to have a specific look. Growing up in the States, I was taught to believe that it wasn't about external appearances, that anyone could be American, and that you shouldn't assume things about ethnicity, nationality, and physical appearance. But most Asians don't think this way. They regard ethnic Koreans growing up in other countries as Korean, even if the kid has no connection to Korean society and life. The person is regarded as "Korean", not "Korean-American". The term "ABC" is common here, because "you're a Chinese that happened to grow up in the States". "Taiwanese-American", with a hyphen, is not as commonly understand. It's harder for people here to grasp the, "I'm a mix of something, a third option."
Living in a largely homogeneous society though, is quite interesting in one regard - you can notice differences more easily. I distinctly recall watching an Asian drama on TV one day at my grandpa's house, and as it was dubbed in Chinese, I wondered out loud to myself if it was a J-Drama or a K-drama. My cousin matter-of-factly said, "Korean, of course". That really surprised me, because I hadn't noticed anything obvious about it. No Korean flags in the background, no flat metal chopsticks... (it was a short scene) Yet somehow she could tell the difference and I couldn't. She couldn't really explain what it was, but there was just something about the facial structure, hairstyles, clothing that indicated that these were Korean actors, and not Chinese, Japanese, or Taiwanese. I guess there's some truth to the "y'all look alike" thing. To me, as an outsider (kind of), I couldn't tell the difference. But to her, it was really obvious. Now, if rates of intermarriage were higher among these four ethnicities/countries, perhaps it wouldn't be as easy.
I suppose this is just an observation, that the fact that I thought East Asians mostly looked alike said something about *my* biases or lack of understanding, not their actual appearance. Likewise, as I noted in the OP, assuming something about characters in a fictional anime series based upon your own biases tends to fail, and that anime, being a primarily Japanese creation, works by Japanese rules, and not your own.
|
EPT
