Michaela | 19 | she/her | nationality: Swedish | ethnicity:Chinese
“Yellow”.
My first thought when hearing the world “yellow” isCarl von linné. I
remember in school when we were reading about himand his thought
on different ethnicities and how he categorised peopleinto 4 different
categories: white, black, yellow and red. It wasmy first time hearing
that Asians are associated with the colour yellow.
“Asian”.
Being born in or having parents or grandparents bornin an Asian
country. Being raised with the culture ie food, traditionand customs.
I guess technically anyone could call themselves Asian,but it’s a
question whether or not you should be calling yourselfAsian. If you
have no ties to any Asian country except that youlike the culture, then
you probably shouldn’t call yourself Asian.
Ethnicity|part1.
Swedish with roots in China.
I’ve been asked “where are you from” so many times,and people are
never satisfied with “Sweden” as an answer since myfeatures say
otherwise. When I think about my ethnicity I get conflicted.Because
according to society I’m not Swedish enough to callmyself Swedish
because of my Asian features; but I’m not Chineseenough to call
myself Chinese because I don’t know the culture orlanguage. Society is
telling me one thing while I think another. Thereforewhen asked
“where are you from” I’ve learned that people don’twant the “I’m
Swedish” answer, the want to know that I’m from China.I’d say that I’m
Swedish in all except looks.
Ethnicity|part2.
I think that ethnicity is something that is rootedinside you. However
me personally have been influenced by society If someoneasks about
my ethnicity I’d tell them the answer that I thinkthey want to hear.
Therefore my ethnicity changes depending on the personasking. I’m in
no way denying my Chinese heritage when I say thatI’m Swedish. I
don’t say that I’m Swedish instead of Chinese becauseI want to avoid
racial discrimination, I say I’m Swedish because myknowledge about
Chinese customs, traditions and culture is limited.
Differ from Asian stereotype(s).
I’d say that my intelligence pretty average and notthe stereotypical “all
Asians are smart” I am in no way over avarage whenit comes to math
and science, probably a bit below. I don’t eat catsand dogs and rarely
eat rice. However there’s stereotypes that Chinesepeople know martial
arts, I took one year of teakwondo, I wouldn’t sayI excelled in it or that
I would be able to defend myself but I know the basicsstill. I’m also
studying medicine, which lives up to a stereotype.When it comes to
the more recent stereotype “Asian baby girl ” I’dsay that I sometimes
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mchaos
(mchaos)
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