Thirteen years ago, a picture of Miley Cyrus racistly emulating Asian traits by slanting her eyes and making buck teeth was released to the public, joining her long list of scandals. Unfortunately, this racist mocking of typical Asian traits is no new experience to the APIDA community. “Yellowface” refers to wearing clothes or makeup to…
Eurocentrism is a worldview that favors European and Western values over all other beliefs and traditions. This perspective first became normalized in the Age of Discovery in the 15th century when European countries began venturing into the Americas. During this time, countries such as Britain, France, and Spain wielded their wealth and prosperity not as…
TW: body image, weight You are afraid of numbers. Specific numbers—numbers in context, numbers with meaning. A strange fear, one endowed with a weight given by labels and measurements, given teeth by what they represent. Made larger, more threatening, by what they mean. You are scared of size. It is curious the way clothing morphes…
Every time I go to visit my hometown, I have to hear, “You have gotten darker.” When I laugh and ask, “Why does the fairness of my skin matter?” I am being “rude” by not agreeing with the elders. Every time I go to visit my relatives, I am asked, “What is your height?” When…
