Entry tags:
asian culture & media
I posted this over on Tumblr, but I felt like I should post it here too. I dunno. There's some extra stuff at the end I didn't post on Tumblr.
Okay. So, there's a thing happening in Teen Wolf fandom right now that's making me feel like an awful person.
Just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I know everything about all the other Asian cultures, but there are points in common, especially with the importance of family names. So, they had a thing on the show about a husband taking the wife's name because her family lineage is important and if he didn't she'd have been the end of the family line.
And I'll be honest I was sort of excited because of my own personal experience with this. My mom's parents didn't have any sons and my grandfather didn't have any surviving brothers with sons, which means that my mom's family line was basically ending with her and her sister. My aunt was the oldest, but her husband was the only son in his family, so she was going to take his family name. My father is the eldest son, so there was no way he could be asked to marry into my mother's family - even though technically her family had more prestige and money than his. And then all through my childhood, my grandparents told me that my mom's family wasn't actually family because they didn't share the same family name - that they were only just guests. And there was also some stuff about the area of China my mom's parents were from... which made no sense because my dad's parents didn't exactly come from the greatest area and my mom's parents were well-educated and, though not rich, pretty well-off. (It should be noted that taking the wife's family name is not something done lightly and usually because you basically can't marry off your son or the wife's family is very prestigious & much better off than your own.)
And having my father's name isn't a big deal because most everyone has their father's last name, whatever. However growing up, all I heard was that my mom's family line was nothing and my dad's family line was best. That my cousins who had a different last name were not actually family. (It's possible I've built up a lot of resentment towards my father's family.) So when that scene came up in the show, it struck a TOTALLY different chord with me than people who grew up with a Korean background and whose families had been oppressed by the Japanese.
I'm sorry that I was happy about something that was offensive to a large group of people.
It's not like my family doesn't have a history of conflict with the Japanese & Communist China. Both sets of grandparents fled from China and my mom's father stole a plane with his friends to escape after her mother had left with her and her sister; they arrived in Taiwan during the tail-end of Japan's occupation of Taiwan. My mom's father later joined the Taiwan Air Force and fought in WWII. I understand, though, that it isn't as terrible as what happened to Koreans under Japanese rule, though I admit that I never knew all of the details of their occupation.
I get mad about things I see on TV about Asians and inaccurate portrayals, casting non-Asians to play Asians, casting Koreans to play Japanese or Japanese to play Chinese, etc. But obviously Asians in media are so poorly depicted that I get excited about stupid things like "hey they cast a Korean ot play a Korean" and "hey they mentioned the importance of family line and names."
Okay. So, there's a thing happening in Teen Wolf fandom right now that's making me feel like an awful person.
Just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I know everything about all the other Asian cultures, but there are points in common, especially with the importance of family names. So, they had a thing on the show about a husband taking the wife's name because her family lineage is important and if he didn't she'd have been the end of the family line.
And I'll be honest I was sort of excited because of my own personal experience with this. My mom's parents didn't have any sons and my grandfather didn't have any surviving brothers with sons, which means that my mom's family line was basically ending with her and her sister. My aunt was the oldest, but her husband was the only son in his family, so she was going to take his family name. My father is the eldest son, so there was no way he could be asked to marry into my mother's family - even though technically her family had more prestige and money than his. And then all through my childhood, my grandparents told me that my mom's family wasn't actually family because they didn't share the same family name - that they were only just guests. And there was also some stuff about the area of China my mom's parents were from... which made no sense because my dad's parents didn't exactly come from the greatest area and my mom's parents were well-educated and, though not rich, pretty well-off. (It should be noted that taking the wife's family name is not something done lightly and usually because you basically can't marry off your son or the wife's family is very prestigious & much better off than your own.)
And having my father's name isn't a big deal because most everyone has their father's last name, whatever. However growing up, all I heard was that my mom's family line was nothing and my dad's family line was best. That my cousins who had a different last name were not actually family. (It's possible I've built up a lot of resentment towards my father's family.) So when that scene came up in the show, it struck a TOTALLY different chord with me than people who grew up with a Korean background and whose families had been oppressed by the Japanese.
I'm sorry that I was happy about something that was offensive to a large group of people.
It's not like my family doesn't have a history of conflict with the Japanese & Communist China. Both sets of grandparents fled from China and my mom's father stole a plane with his friends to escape after her mother had left with her and her sister; they arrived in Taiwan during the tail-end of Japan's occupation of Taiwan. My mom's father later joined the Taiwan Air Force and fought in WWII. I understand, though, that it isn't as terrible as what happened to Koreans under Japanese rule, though I admit that I never knew all of the details of their occupation.
I get mad about things I see on TV about Asians and inaccurate portrayals, casting non-Asians to play Asians, casting Koreans to play Japanese or Japanese to play Chinese, etc. But obviously Asians in media are so poorly depicted that I get excited about stupid things like "hey they cast a Korean ot play a Korean" and "hey they mentioned the importance of family line and names."