At my previous employer, Etsy, HR introduced the concept of ERG's (employee resource groups). I believe the first two that were started were for black employees and female employees. Someone proposed starting one for Asian employees. I personally didn't feel I needed a special place (ERG's got their own group chat channel) to be myself.
However, it turned out to be an amazing way to feel at home. People talked about favorite places to get dumplings, take their parents around the city when they visited, and all-too-real challenges that are familiar to Asian people. Since leaving Etsy I have missed that kinship.
I was added to Subtle Asian Traits by my younger sister Amy it immediately felt like global ERG for the descendants of the Asian diaspora. People whose parents were steeped in one culture, while they are a product of two worlds. I agree that the memes cater more to East Asian culture than others and I hope that improves going forward. Overall I'm so impressed with the positive, global community these young founders have created and hopeful for the future of Asians everywhere.
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In our opinion we think that it has had this repercussion because nowadays the teenagers or specifically the students, we all feel the same way and we understand this kind of jokes. We also need a distraction in our life just to go away of our problems and laugh with some funny things that we found on internet.
The memes that they created were memes related to the school times so all students over the world, normally understand and feel the same. They also talked about the current young society, they’ve said that they didn’t even now that it was about to grow that big.
From our point of view, that it is something good and interesting, because they try to help some other young people that are through the same difficult situations like school, personal problems, friends, family…
In conclusion, we really believe that some little actions of young but also powerful people, can change positively other teenage life. We all need to have a break because we are living in a stress and difficult society.
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I've noticed that Asian men in western media are virtually always depicted as either asexual or homosexual, and Asian women in western media are virtually always depicted as sexual playthings for white men. This inevitably causes great psychological damage in developing young people. It is refreshing to see that there is a space for Asian men and women to vent and talk things out instead of keeping their oppression bottled up.
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It's not possible for people of color to be racist against white people, only prejudiced. White people have all of the power and privilege in systems that they’ve set up over centuries to benefit them. Access to jobs, education, healthcare, and even beauty standards all privilege the white experience, so there’s no real way for white people to face oppression for their race from people of color. Just an FYI.
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@Eagle I disagree. Im white and Ive had racist comments aimed at my wife and I when I have been in China. My wife is chinese. She has never had any racists comments made against her in Australia.
Im certain its possible to denigrate someone on a racial basis no matter what race they are and what country they happen to be in.
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@Eagle: Hold on, depends where you live. I'm white (though the Aryan Brotherhood might disagree), and I live in Japan. Haven't had too bad a time of it myself, but not all foreigners here would agree with your assessment. Don't be so glib with the possible/impossible: context matters.
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@Eagle That's a very frequently used argument but it is very poor. There is logic behind it but I unfortunately it is often disingenuously misused.
Your comment is very strongly prejudiced. You make the exact same mistake as many racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic people do: you place all people who share one trait into the same bag and state unsubtle, sweeping and negative generalisations about them.
Yes, historically many western nations have enjoyed a lot more power at the expense of others and still benefit from that on average. There is still a strong imbalance on average in terms of privileges, chances, wealth, etc. But extending your comment to all 'white' people without any distinction is ignorant and dangerous (like it is for any 'race' or social group). Many 'white' people also suffer from discrimination, are exploited, suffer injustice, start their life with nothing, no access to healthcare, etc.
Power is very relative. It depends on the situation, the country you live in, who you are surrounded with, etc. I'm just explaining the obvious here because I'm surprised this type of comment received so many recommendations.
Judging someone based on the color of their skin, their gender, physical or mental abilities, beliefs or sexual preferences is just plain wrong and backward.
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I’m sorry, hot memes from a Facebook page? Don’t think so, Tim.
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No one in this group wants to address how exclusionary of South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Pacific Islanders this group tends to be. Subtle Curry Traits was created as a reaction against this, and even then someone had made a tongue-in-cheek post about how they were "copying" Subtle Asian Traits. As much as I appreciate Subtle Asian Traits for being a place where I can recognize and have a good laugh at the things I grew up with, I do find that the group reinforces some of the negative things that more progressive members of the AAPI community are looking to move past, such as colorism and homophobia (which are especially rampant--if quietly so--in the Subtle Asian Dating group).
The offshoot group not mentioned in this article is Subtle Queer Asian Traits, which is far more inclusive in every sense of this word. It forces its members to confront and learn about identities that they might not have personally encountered. It's what Subtle Asian Traits should have been: a novel use of a platform as ubiquitous as social media to finally bridge these distinctions across the "Asian" identity. Instead, it simply reinforces them and pats themselves on the back for being a cultural tour-de-force.
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@Huang Hua
Bitter melon will be part of their adult diet, probably daily. So why begrudge young people their own space, designed initially for themselves to cope with a hostile and humorless world and evolve an authentic identity that illuminates the uncertain journey ahead?
A friend who survived the Cultural Revolution says his generation ate dirt (literally) so his children and grandchildren wouldn't have to.
This group of Chinese-Aussie kids have started their own creative and positive conversation, which others have joined because they feel some resonance or connection to it.
You need to ease up on the bitter melon if you sense hostility where it doesn't exist. You don't want yellow flowers to become yellow bitter weeds.
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@Huang Hua
Oh please as an Indian, I do not consider myself 'asian' apart from the fact that our country is in Asia similar to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Asian more or less refers to an ethnicity which indians are not and we can create our own cultural products without encroaching on the space of Asians who are distinct from us both culturally and visually
Furthermore, the issues are completely different. Indians are a largely endogamous group(one of the most insular groups out there) compared to Asians where a particular gender seems to be very eager to blend into white culture which has led to issues I am sure you are aware of and which people are trying to sweep under the rug but the truth always comes out..
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Just joined this group recently. Love it. I hope that one day our community can be a force for good in the realm of discussing mental health issues and destroying negative social stigmas as well.
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Asia is a pretty huge continent. Where are the brown faces that look like my Asian face? Or shall we just retire the racist term "Asian" entirely?
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The group was founded by individuals of East Asian descent, so it makes sense that they're the only ones represented in the photo. Further down in the article an administrator does admit that the posts cater more to a certain type of demographic (from what I notice, definitely Chinese and possibly Korean), though SAT was intended to include all Asian ethnicities and there has been the occasional meme geared toward a Southeast Asian ethnicity. I think the disparity, though, occurs because a good portion of the memes require knowledge of a specific language and more people in the group understand Chinese and Korean than any other Asian tongue. Of course, that's in turn probably because people of those cultures are also the ones most commonly added.
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@Yellow Bird
I don't hold it against my Caucasian friends when they can't see the physical or behavioral differences that seem obvious to me among Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, ethnic Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Mongols, or Pilipinos with mixed Chinese heritage. Unfamiliarity isn't racist.
Likewise, I'd be hard put to tell Indians from Pakistanis or Bengalis, or Sri Lankans or Afghanis, Nepalis, and dozens of other ethnicities I'm forgetting.
Most people when they see me guess I'm Mexican or Native American and once in Alaska as Eskimo. In Hawaii I'm either a Pacific Islander, a native Hawaiian or Pilipino.
Growing up I had a hard time visualizing myself because most people saw me differently than I thought I looked.
Ultimately adversity told me who I was and I regret that. It made the world a smaller place and unfriendly when I wasn't who I looked like to others.
I admire the spirit these Sino-Aussies exhibit exploring who they are to each other, their dominant culture peers, and others like themselves who float on an ocean of confusion and self-consciousness while tethered to a dominant culture they have yet to make their own.
The term "Asian" isn't any more racist than "human" is.
And color is a wavelength on the visible light spectrum determined by speed, energy and frequency. Color doesn't define anyone. Ignorance and fear do.
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As a person of Asian and European descent this is awesome!
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