Help me, Asians!

Young_Love · February 2009

Okay, so I REALLY want the main character in my book to be Asian. However, I don't want her to be stereotypical Asian...I just want her to be normal teenage book character who happens to be Asian.

So, in the name of research, please help me by answering these questions if you don't mind.

(Asians only, please...this is a segregated post.)

Were you born in the US?

Were your parents born in the US?

When you were in high school, were you allowed to date?

If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians?

Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents?

Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag?

Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses?

Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what?

Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share?

Thanks!!!

Wan-naBe · February 2009

i the title of this post.

Young_Love:
Were you born in the US? - yes
Were your parents born in the US? - no
When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? - yes
If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? - yes
Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? - sort of, but not as much as "typical" asian parents
Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? - mixed bag here
Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? - no
Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? - i was in cheer
Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? - i'm still bitter over having to move halfway through junior year. i had to leave all my friends, my boyfriend, and go to a new school where all the cliques were set in stone. i ended up taking the CHSPE and didn't have a senior year. i kind of regret not going to a prom or graduation.

10YearsTogether · February 2009

Fun!

Young_Love:
Were you born in the US? Yes
Were your parents born in the US? No
When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? I don't think so, but I did anyway (protective parents)
If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? They preferred "white boys"
Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? Super huge. It wasn't an option.
Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? Mixed bag, but they really liked my "white" friends
Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? NO. So sad. My mom would pick me up in the middle of the night.
Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? Cheerleading!!
Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? My parents were clueless about a lot of my extracurriculars. They had no clue that I partied and drank during high school.
Thanks!!!

WeeMo · February 2009

Were you born in the US?
Yes.

Were your parents born in the US?
No.

When you were in high school, were you allowed to date?
Yes.

If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians?
Yes.

Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents?
Yes.

Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag?
Mixed bag. Our school was only 4% Asian.

Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses?
Yes.

Did you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what?
Varsity badminton (i.e., nerds not good enough for tennis)
Candystriper
Piano

I like how you specified "non-academic." Ha!

Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share?
I think you know my experience...very stereotypical. Tongue Tied

Just call me the Asian Tracy Flick.

WeeMo · February 2009

Somewhat related:

Have you watched Better Luck Tomorrow?

If you haven't, you should.

Young_Love · February 2009

WeeMo:
Somewhat related:
Have you watched Better Luck Tomorrow?
If you haven't, you should.

Yes. I love that movie.

winniew0917 · February 2009

Were you born in the US? No

Were your parents born in the US? NoWhen you were in high school, were you allowed to date? Hell noIf so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? YesWere your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? YesWere your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? Mixed bagWere you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? No wayDis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? Piano . . . I'm too uncoordinated for sportsAnything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? My parents gave me a cell phone in my senior year so they could call me continuously during prom. No joke :X

WeeMo · February 2009

Is your main character going to be second generation (i.e., child of immigrants)? I think a lot of the stereotypes ring true because experiences are so similar.

The life of a third-generation Asian-American would likely be less "stereotypical." For example, if Mr. Monkey and I had a child, it would look just like us, but it (1) would likely speak only English, (2) be far lazier, and (3) have far fewer or no ties to another country.

I think if your goal is to get away from The Joy Luck Club syndrome, you may consider making your main character third-generation or greater.

Young_Love · February 2009

WeeMo:
Is your main character going to be second generation (i.e., child of immigrants)? I think a lot of the stereotypes ring true because experiences are so similar.
The life of a third-generation Asian-American would likely be less "stereotypical." For example, if Mr. Monkey and I had a child, it would look just like us, but it (1) would likely speak only English, (2) be far lazier, and (3) have far fewer or no ties to another country.
I think if your goal is to get away from The Joy Luck Club syndrome, you may consider making your main character third-generation or greater.

That's what I'm trying to figure out.

I just want to avoid the Asian-ness taking over. I'm not Asian, I'm not trying to write an Asian story. I don't want it to be a story about an Asian girl. I want it to be the story of a girl who just happens to be Asian, KWIM?

WeeMo · February 2009

Yeah, I'm thinking the offspring of a couple like me and Mr. Monkey would fit the bill.

And I hate The Joy Luck Club and all things Amy Tan.

Just had to get that out.

AsianPrncssKim · February 2009

FUN! ?I surveys, just for me. ?:-)?

Young_Love:
Were you born in the US? nope
Were your parents born in the US? nope
When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? yes
If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? yes
Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? yes, totally. ?But for some reason, I'm still the only one among my siblings that graduated college.?
Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? mostly white (but I also grew up in a very white suburb of MI). ?my bff/moh is Filipino
Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? only if my parents knew the friend's parents personally. ?So basically, I only spent the night at 2 different friends' houses. ?I do remember one sleep over, and my mom had to meet the other parent and almost grill her before hand. ?I was so embarrassed.
Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? piano (I sucked), track, homecoming committee
Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? growing up I had an 11:00 curfew on weekends, and sometimes wasnt even allowed to go out at all during the week. ?My brothers never had a curfew, ever. ?My mom would flat out tell me it was because I was a girl.
Thanks!!!
?

starlily313 · February 2009

Young_Love:

(Asians only, please...this is a segregated post.) Does the subcontinent count? If so, here you go:

Were you born in the US? Yes

Were your parents born in the US? No

When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? Yes, but it was discouraged.

If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? Yes.

Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? Yes.

Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? Mostly Indian, Chinese, Hispanic and Filipino.

Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? Only if my parents knew the friend in question very well.

Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? German club, Recycling club and the Spring dance concert. I also went to the Math club, but as someone who needed a tutor

Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? I went to a ridiculously competitive high school that was nearly 70% Asian. I think that a lot of the stereotypes regarding grades rang true; a lot people looked down on others if they weren't an A student. It was kind of stressful.

Thanks!!!

beachbrideinCal · February 2009

I'm a halfie, so not sure if I count, but I thought I'd do it just for the heck of it:)

Young_Love:
Were you born in the US? yes
Were your parents born in the US? Not my mom (the Asian one)
When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? yes
If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? yes
Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? no
Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? most non-Asian (grew up in very white midwest, rural area)
Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? yes
Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? If so, what? yes - track, cheerleading, dance team
Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? I used to get made fun of by others sometimes (non-Asians -- again, grew up in a very small-minded, prejudiced area of the country)

ihearttim · February 2009

A quarter of me will answer this...

Were you born in the US? yes
Were your parents born in the US? yes, but my grandmother was born in China.

When you were in high school, were you allowed to date? yes

If so, were you allowed to date non-Asians? yes (from my mom's perspective when she was dating, though, whites were the only acceptable non-Asians. Marrying a Mexican-American did not go over well w/her parents.)

Were your grades/college plans a huge deal to your parents? Yes. Getting an advanced degree was much pretty mandatory. Oops.

Were your friends mostly Asian, mostly non-Asian, or a mixed bag? About half and half. Growing up one BF was Korean and the other Japanese. Now my BFs are mostly either Asian or married to Asians.

Were you allowed to spend the night at friends' houses? yes

Dis you play sports or participate in non-academic extra-curricular activities? Yes, softball, youth group, newspaper... My mom did newspaper and theater (backstage stuff like lighting and costuming).

Anything else you want to share about your high school experience you want to share? There was a clear line between kids born in Asia (we had a lot of boarding students at my high school from Japan and Korea) and those born in the U.S. Most of the Asian girls dressed really well, from Benetton... My parents were less concerned about my friends' races/ethnicities than that they were also really high achievers (birds of a feather...)

I'll add that my friend Jane (Korean) started SAT Prep tutoring when we were in fifth grade, and studied for the test four days a week until she took the test (and got a perfect score). Her parents were not happy she dated non-Koreans, but they were even more upset when she dated non-Christians.

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