Okay so today I am going to talk about China! Just like my last couple posts, I would like to disprove some stereotypes that we Americans have of people who we just don't understand. I think that Americans pretty much think that the Chinese are just those squinty-eyed people who eat dogs, are bad drivers and make all of our products for us. While the product thing might be true, the other things are just ignorant and racist. I have a cousin who is adopted from China and she does not fit any of these stereotypes as far as I know (although she is too young to drive).
First off, disproving the squinty eyes. Yes, most Chinese people do tend to look like they have small eyes but that is just because of the way their eyelids are formed. The asian eye tends to have an epicanthic fold and lack an upper eyelid which causes them to appear narrower in comparison to the typical caucasian eyelid. Some asians go as far as to get surgery to create the second eyelid that most caucasians have (called a blepharoplasty). I think there is something wrong with our society if asians feel pressured to get this surgery to fit in better. They should be able to be themselves without incompetent Americans making fun of them. I also think that Americans think that this smaller-looking eye means that the Chinese people cannot see as well as other races but I assure you that their sight is just as good as any other race's. This goes for all asians not just the Chinese and I also think Americans need to become better at telling different asians apart but that is a discussion for a different time.
Here is picture of my cousin and her adorable asian eyes (not squinty at all):
(yes I know this sort of contradicts my eyesight rant but the only reason she wears glasses is because she didn't receive enough vitamins as an infant since she grew up in an orphanage)
Now, a discussion on the dog-eating. While there are some people in China who eat dogs, these people are mostly Cantonese and more recently, the Chinese government has been restricting the consumption of dogs and is looking to possibly prohibit it for good in the not so distant future. The majority of Chinese people view the consumption of dogs the same way that we do here the United States. Dogs are domesticated and they are supposed to be our pets, not our food. I would also like to point out that they eat dogs in places that we would never think of, such as Switzerland. If you want to educate yourself more on the history of dog-eating check out this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat
Ok so now for the driving bit. What I have found is that only Chinese people raised in China are bad drivers, not ones raised here. This is due to the huge population difference between China and the United States. People who learned to drive in China are used to crazy, packed streets where they have weave in and out of other cars, pedestrians, animals, etc. but when they come here, they are still trying to drive like they did in China but they do not need to since our roads are much emptier. While perusing the internet I found a band called Good Asian Drivers so I checked them out and here is one of their songs:
Okay, so they kind of suck but I thought their band name was cool so I thought I would get them a few more views. Anyway, I hope you learned something about China or its people on this rant. Here are a few pictures of some beautiful places in China that you may want to visit someday if you are not a racist incompetent like the Americans I was talking about:
Also here is the only song in Chinese that I know but I love it so you should check it out:
Your travel advisor,
Kinley
On the topic of dog consumption, I can assure you that, for much of China, dog meat can only be found in Korean restaurants. Oh but even so, what's wrong with eating a dog? Now, woman, I don't think that your cousin should even be assumed to share any of those stereotypes given that she is American, raised by a proud Alabaman family! (If your relatives are from that place like you and not from Long Island.) It all comes down to race--how do we define it? Is it correct to assume differently of someone of a different ethnicity even if they are full-on American? We see, once again, the folly of the ignorant incompetents who persecute, albeit introvertedly, those who aren't like them.
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I must say I enjoyed this, mostly because it was all about asians and asians are awesome. I agree with you that stereo types are bad and all but i have to say, i dont mind a lot of them, even if they aren't necessarily true. Like it's cool to be considered smart. And I know a few dumb people assume i know martial arts. Im just thinking that as stereotypes go, there could be worse ones than small eyes and strange diets.
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