Asiandex: A guide to the different types of Asians
Disclaimer’s Note: This article is meant to be satire and the perspective is from an Asian living in Toronto, Canada. Please understand this before you read it. Also, a few changes were made to address some of the concerns of our readers. Comments are welcome.
The pokédex of Asians, this Asiandex is an online database designed to catalog and provide information regarding the various types of Asians in Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
This is to be read if
- you are unfamiliar with the different types of Asians in Toronto and perhaps plan to make a visit
- you want to befriend a Toronto-Asian but don’t know where to start
- you are a Toronto-Asian and you find it true and hilarious
- you are just Asian and you find true and hilarious
Caution: to ensure accuracy of this database, it is best used in Toronto, Canada and GTA. A “fob” in Asia.. kinda expected, no?
Fobs
Not to be confused with a key fob or Fall Out Boy, “fob” stands for Fresh Off the Boat. It refers to immigrants fresh off the boat yet to be assimilated into American culture. The stereotypical Asian. They are more often than not Chinese, Japanese or Korean, and almost always have an accent when speaking English.
HOW TO SPOT A FOB
Have you ever ventured into facebook groups or events titled “Ulzzang contest”? That’s what they look like. Generally fobs are described as “Asian”, feminine, cute or gay. Yes, gay.
They are the trendiest of the fob population, be careful not to mix them up with hipsters. Converse, “LV”, Comme des Garçons, Gucci and trucker hats are common choices of fashion. Fobs are known to do peace signs and other cute Asian poses. Hong Kong fobs wear their hats by letting it sit on their head instead of wearing it snugly.
Males: Sometimes you find yourself asking, is that a girl? Chances are, you’re referring to a fob. They have Asian hair (super saiyan hair), frizzy or curly perms, trendy glasses, dress sharp, and sometimes are prettier than girls. Their interests include GATSBY, murses, tight-fitting pants, souping up their car and getting the newest cell phones or watches. Often, the question comes up, “Is he gay?” The answer is usually, “That’s just the fob style”.
Females: They strive to look like dolls or anime characters. They often wear circle lens, 3-dimensional fake nails, frilled and laced skirts and tops, have coloured and or permed hair or sometimes wear a wig. Most own bedazzled cell phones, bows, ribbons, at least five items with Hello Kitty on it and a “LV” bag. Surgery to enlarge eyes or a nose job is considered normal to fobs. They’re often really pale by choice due to the cultural belief that the more “white” one is, the more attractive. The females often speak in a small cutesy voice.
Fobs are usually spotted with fellow fobs. If they’re not shopping at Holt Renfrew, Louis Vuitton, Gucci or other high-end boutiques, their usual hangout places include authentic Asian restaurants, karaoke lounges, bubble tea shops and Asian malls. Older fobs can be spotted at lounges or raves, but sometimes awkwardly at a night club.
“Fobby” Celebrities: Rainie Yang, Goo Hara, Hamasaki Ayumi, Edison Chan, Lee Minho, Nichkhun
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Most fobs don’t like to be bothered by non-fobs. Fobs enjoy taking selca photos (better known as “camwhoring”), going to karaoke, and reading opinions in online forums, often becoming a “netizen”. They enjoy various activities such as hot pot, dim sum, sushi, or staying up to either play “mah jong” or “Big 2” at a bubble tea shop. They prefer their homeland television dramas and music, they’re very proud of their culture and often express how much they miss their home country. Fobs are proud to be different, in other words, fobs are proud to be fobs.
“Real Fobs”
What’s the big deal?
The “fobs” mentioned above is not representative of all fobs. It was really talking about the attention-deprived fobs. Real fobs are less concerned with their appearance and more concerned with things that people should care more about these days.
Real fobs are conservative, come from a humble background and make friends with other real fobs. They’re focused on their school grades, their future, and most importantly, their family. Their minds are focused on things that most of us are forced to focus on in five-ten years. These are the ones that are actually really smart.
HOW TO SPOT A REAL FOB
It’s not easy as real fobs don’t attract much attention. They don’t really wear makeup, they don’t dress in any specific brands or sport a specific hair cut. They don’t want to stand out. Their interests usually include studying, working, tending to their family, paying the bills, and adjusting to Canadian/American life.
You probably won’t see them on facebook. Real fobs don’t update their facebook very often, or maybe they don’t even have a facebook.
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Real fobs want to learn English, unlike fobs. They’re more open to learning English and learning a skill or trade. But inside they wish they could be cool as the Canadian born Asians. There are no photos of real fobs included because they rarely take photos and no real fobs have really become famous!
Otakus/Cosplayers/Jrockers & Misfits
People refer to them as the weird ones. The misfits, or the famous term “otaku”. Although there are a wide variety of them, most are introverted and shy. They usually have few but very close friends and probably enjoy eating sushi together. They’re mostly Chinese. Almost all of these people are fans of Japanese culture. They speak English and a little Japanese.
HOW TO SPOT AN OTAKU/COSPLAYER/JROCKER/MISFIT
Otaku: sport typical nerdy glasses, are perhaps overweight or unfit and probably need a haircut. They enjoy video games and anime conventions. They know how to correctly pronounce “manga” and believe that subs are better than dubs. If you can’t find them at a convention, it’s because they’re at home watching anime, fapping to hentai, loling at pokemon memes or trolling in /b/.
Cosplayer: is a person who does “costume play”. Dressing up and pretending to be someone else from an anime, manga, game, movie, band, etc. It sounds creepy and weird if you’ve never heard of this, but to cosplayers, it is an art form, and requires many skills. Unless you’re at a convention, it’s difficult to spot a cosplayer. You would only know if one is a cosplayer by either seeing photos of their cosplay or if they tell you directly.
Jrocker: is a fan of Japanese rock music and enjoy dressing up like their jrock idols. Visual kei style can be cheaply described as “Asian goth” but it isn’t really goth, it is just considered a style. Often that includes “Asian hair” coloured or styled to stand out even more, maybe half blonde or red, half black, often spiked up. The style is considered to be a high school phase. They’re easy to spot if around, but very rare. Most jrockers dress up only for special occasions, or to take photos of themselves at home with their collection of jrock CDs and the latest issue of Arena 37C.
Misfit: other odd characters influenced from Japanese culture. Such as fruits decora style and lolita style. Colourful, dressy, and really odd. There is no chance of you not spotting them, they’re just very rare.
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
They’re different, but they’re harmless.
Hipsters
Hipsters have their own unique style, but in terms of Asian, it’s just another way of saying white-washed. They’re just hipsters, but Asian. These Asians are typically Filipino, followed by Chinese. Hipsters listen to pretentious music, watch indie films, wear personalized fitteds and take myspace photos of themselves. They love browsing through hypebeast, karmaloop and lookbook. Hipsters speak English and are not afraid to swear or curse someone out on their twitter.
HOW TO SPOT A HIPSTER
They can be spotted in crowded places, mostly downtown because they enjoy pretentious photoshoots of themselves and their fellow comrades with their 40D. They wear hipster glasses, and have short hair so they can wear their personalized fitteds, or have a trendy hairstyle with a bit of Asian flair.
You can find them on tumblr.
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Once upon a time they were scene kids or rockers in high school and now they’ve evolved. They probably still think they’re too cool for you. They probably dance, do photography, or they are huge fan of Apple products. Hipsters are very liberal and open-minded. In the past you may have developed a crush on a hipster Gaysian unknowingly. Oftentimes, hipster Asian females are proud fag hags.
Gangsters
The “Black” Asians. They speak English but with gangster slurs. They talk about basketball, drugs, aspirations of becoming a rapper and their bitches. They’re mostly Filipino, Chinese, and several Koreans. There aren’t too many of these anymore. Go back ten years and there were plenty of them thanks to Eminem and 50 Cent. Perhaps you were a former gangster?
HOW TO SPOT A GANGSTER
Males: long oversized shirts, gold or silver chain with cross pendant, baggy pants, jerseys, fitteds, facial hair and timbs. Brands worn include Akademics, Ecko, Enyce, FUBU, G-UNIT, Jordans, LRG, Rocawear, Sean John, and later BAPE. You can spot them surrounded by non-Asians or gangsters, loitering around entrances of schools and apartments or playing basketball.
Females: Babyphat, GUESS, gold loop earrings (thanks J.Lo!), timbs, string backpacks, adidas or nike shoes.
Gangster celebrities: Jin the rapper, J.Reyez maybe?
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
So why are they slowly going extinct? Because the definition of cool has been shifting from street cred to how many comments, hits and likes you get on facebook. Any Asian that still dresses like that past high school is probably an actual gangster.
Asian Gangsters
Very different from the “black” Asians, this is the Asian gangster! Mostly stereotyped as being Vietnamese, but very often they’re Chinese, or Chinese-Vietnamese. They’re often called “gangster fobs”, “triad-wannabes”, “yazuka-wannabes”, “riceboys”, or just “viet”. They speak English but throw in random Vietnamese or Chinese because they can. They’re not really ‘gangsters’, some of them are actual gangsters, but most of them just think they’re hardcore.
HOW TO SPOT THE ASIAN GANGSTER
There are two generations in the males.
Asian OGs: Remember the ridiculous blonde bangs? The OGs were the ones that emerged in packs, wearing black wife beaters, black pants, and carried machetes and knives just in case. Mostly due to the glamorization of Young & Dangerous series as well as the culture promoted on Asianavenue, those were the days when violence was actually an issue. When that website changed (thank heavens) this culture slowly disappeared and made way for the fobby ulzzang fad and current Asian gangster fad. Although disappearing, the OGs continue to dress in black, haven’t removed their fading dragon tattoos and still call each other ‘hing dais’.
Remember this?
Click for teh lulz
Current Asian Gangsters: aka the “GQ style”. These people don’t have any street cred, it’s more of the lifestyle of gambling, drinking, smoking, squatting outdoors and racing cars. They still call each other ‘hing dai’ and wear the more expensive gangster brands such as Affliction, Christian Audigier, Diesel, Dom Rebel, Ed Hardy, G-Star, J Lindeberg, Rock & Republic, Superdry, and True Religion. They smoke, wear all black, love to flash cash and accuse each other of being “arms“. For the winter they’re definitely wearing PJS, Canada Goose, Moncler or Moose Knuckles. The blonde bangs are gone, they now sport a faded hairstyle aka the viet cut aka the Taeyang. Where can you find these “Asian gangsters”? Probably loitering by parking lots at night, crowding pool halls, gambling in someone’s basement, having bubble tea with their “hoochie” girlfriend, or eating at a Pho restaurant.
Females: think Tila Tequila. Often referred to as “Asian hoochies”. They wear brands such as A/X, Aritzia, Bebe, GUESS, lululemon, and TNA. They love the colour black, wear high heels, show cleavage, have tattoos and try to look like import models. They have blonde streaks or highlights and think everyone wants them. Their specialty is a lot of eyeliner, thin arched brows and false lashes. They also like Canada Goose, PJS and Moose Knuckles. They can be found in the passenger seats of the riceboys, in clubs and wherever their Asian gangster boyfriend goes.
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Very few females are actually a ‘gangster’, they’re usually seen with the ‘Asian gangster’ males, and even they aren’t actually gangsters.
Really “white-washed” bananas/twinkies
They’re completely white-washed. They speak English and exist in all ethnicities. Bananas have few if any Asian friends and they’ve never dated anyone Asian. They probably don’t know what bubble tea is or never had it before and use : ) instead of ^_^. They often feel self-conscious at large family get-togethers because they can’t speak their Asian language and their grandparents have to speak broken English in order to have a chat.
HOW TO SPOT A WHITE-WASHED ASIAN
They dress American with no Asian flair. They don’t even know what Asian flair is. The guys pop their collars, wear coral necklaces and sandals in the summer. Compared to fobs, bananas find tanning to be enjoyable. They join mixed sororities or fraternities in university and love to go clubbing with their non-Asian friends. You can find them in Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, beaches, frat houses, bars and pubs.
“White-washed” celebrities include: Daniel Henney, John Cho, Maggie Q, Lucy Liu, Kristin Kreuk
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Why aren’t they more “Asian”? They might have had no exposure to “Asian” culture, perhaps been raised in the suburbs. Often they’re half Asian, or they’re adopted into a Caucasian family. If you’re interested in a really “white-washed” Asian and you happen to be a fob, it’s not going to end well. They’ll find you “too Asian”, too girly or strange.
Toronto-Asian
They are a combination of “white-washed”, hipster, gangster, asian gangster, and fob.
The fobs think they’re “too white-washed” but the non-Asians see them as a “too Asian”. They are stuck somewhere in the middle so they end up befriending each other. Nicknames include: twinkie, banana, white-washed, first-gen, fobulous, ABC, and CBC. Toronto Asians don’t really speak their Asian language fluently, or can’t read or write in their Asian language and prefer to speak in English. If you see a group of Asians that seem to be mixed ethnicities speaking English, chances are, they are Toronto-Asians.
HOW TO SPOT A TORONTO-ASIAN
Toronto-Asians dress like Canadians with an bit of Asian flair, usually the hair for males and accessories for females. They are basically English-speakers but have Asian interests.
Males: their interests range from playing dota, doing photography, watching anime, talking about cars, learning some Taeyang moves or gyming. Brands of interest may be American Eagle Outfitters, GATSBY, Hollister, kid robot, tokidoki. They know what these all mean: Black Ops, L4D, CoD:MW2, SSF4.
Females: their interests also range intensely. Some watch anime, some go clubbing, some like pretentious music, some like to learn how to use Photoshop & Illustrator, and some are obsessed with collecting makeup. The majority wear skinny jeans, flats, makeup, own a wristlet from Coach and have their eyebrows done. Their activities may include listening to Korean pop music and learning from Michelle Phan’s old videos.
OTHER RELEVANT INFO
The beauty of it is that they’ve founded their own culture and are very proud of it. Basically they combined all types of Asians and are often viewed as “cool” by others. They like everything from hip hop, Korean music, American brands, Asian hair, Korean BBQ, AYCE sushi, McDonalds, Asian dramas and movies, American TV shows, ABDC, Far East Movement, Asian plushies and teddy bears. They know bits of every style, can chat about different topics, are great company and are the easiest to approach.
43 comments
Carl Ewen-Lewis says:
Jan 5, 2011
LOLOLOLOL, very funny and informative. Annie keep doing what your doing, cause its really good.
joe says:
Jan 5, 2011
Bravo Annie…this article was written really well. Keep it up!
Choi J Kyu says:
Jan 5, 2011
Awesome! Might be a bit controversial for some readers but it really made it interesting to read.
I'd say you're doing a good job of attempting to "catch 'em all" so far but just like the pokédex, I suspect by next year you'll have a completely new list of Asians to compile. =P
Fai says:
Jan 6, 2011
LOVE this article
Jordan Ang says:
Jan 6, 2011
I love your articles Annie! Keep it up and hope to read more
joe says:
Jan 6, 2011
also, if anyone's interested in playing some CoD:MW2(DLC1/2) for pc, my steam id is [tae]backfire
Ella says:
Jan 6, 2011
lol I enjoyed the article Anie! I'm not sure a/b those titles for categorizations of the FOBs but your descriptions are fairly accurate of Asian Canadians, especially in TO from what I've seen! Not so sure about it being a pokedex of all North American Asians though, but fitting of Asian Canadians.
Chi-Ser says:
Jan 6, 2011
First off, I'd like to commend the Bananaloft team for making an EFFORT to create a "community in search of an Asian identity" and making it public. The "Asian North American" community is composed of so many different cultures, backgrounds, values, and experiences. That's why it's important to make that known to those who aren't familiar with us and to create a space for those like us to engage in dialog.
This article was obviously written from an Asian Canadian perspective – nothing wrong with that. Just pointing out that it's pretty much a given once you get to the very last section, so there was a hint of bias present (although "hint" is an understatement).
However, I'd like to say that I am very disappointed with the tasteless manner in which this article was written. What I had a problem with most was the very beginning (the "fobs"). It makes me think of the "Too Asian" Maclean article that so many of us found to be xenophobic and racist. The manner in which the author describes "fobs" pits Asians who come from overseas as an "Other," as people who shouldn't be here and don't belong. It alienates and segregates Asians from each other by making fun of them rather than highlighting the richness in their diverse experiences.
The preface of the article states that this article is to be read if:
"you are unfamiliar with the different Asians in North America" — I would NOT want to show this to anyone unfamiliar with "the different Asians in North America." It's not only inaccurate – it's also an embarrassment. As I mentioned earlier, the Asian American/Canadian/North American community is SO diverse. There is no way you can summarize an entire history of such a diverse race. FYI: the term "Asian American" or "Asian American" is an umbrella term for so many ethnic backgrounds: Chinese, Filipino, Laotian, Thai, Burmese, Indian, to name a few. So where do you even start in describing people of Asian descent whose families have been here for generations? The first group of Asians in the U.S. (Filipinos) can be traced back to the 1700s in Louisiana! Where do THOSE "Asians" fall under your categories? And what about someone who is ethnically Chinese, whose parents were refugees of the Cambodian Holocaust (aka Khmer Rouge) in the late 1980s and worked their way up to owning a small family business in, say, Los Angeles? Which one of these Asian stereotypes would they be? My point is, there is so much more and this article doesn't begin to do our community justice.
"you want to befriend an Asian but don’t know where to start" – how in the world does this help?
"you are Asian and you find it true and hilarious" – even if I did find any of this true, it is so tastelessly written that it completely offends me. I don't fit into any of those categories, and I don't know any *self-respecting* (that's the key word) Asian American who would not be at least a bit disgusted. I understand that the culture in Toronto is a lot different from most of the places in the U.S., but that still doesn't change the fact that it's wrong to group all these groups under one umbrella. I'm not saying that you guys are the only ones doing it because, trust me, we have plenty of our own in the U.S. doing it too.
This article accomplish no goal other than being a disgrace. No personal offense to the author (because I don't know anything about you). I think you guys could do better.
I think that a group like Bananaloft, which has so much potential to create a productive environment, should try to think critically about the things that it decides to publish. The Internet is a magnificent tool, and it reaches so many people. Use it effectively. I challenge you all to be better and think more carefully about what you decide to post. Thanks for reading all this.
Maria says:
Jan 6, 2011
"I think that a group like Bananaloft, which has so much potential to create a productive environment, should try to think critically about the things that it decides to publish. The Internet is a magnificent tool, and it reaches so many people. Use it effectively. I challenge you all to be better and think more carefully about what you decide to post. Thanks for reading all this." – CHI-SER
Thank you, I couldn't have said that better myself! And thank you for prefacing the "Too Asian" Maclean's article. I'm actually a little surprised that "Too Asian" wasn't noted in this BL article after the controversy it spurred and even after critical comments were made by BL's other contributers.
This was a very well-written comment and I'm happy to see such a message on BananaLoft.
Le'Kevin says:
Jan 6, 2011
That was pretty funny good job I enjoyed reading it =D
Ann Hoang says:
Jan 7, 2011
Excellent. Loved it.
Jeannie says:
Jan 7, 2011
offensive.
Jeannie says:
Jan 7, 2011
^ well, funny, but i think a tad offensive.
Max says:
Jan 7, 2011
I don't really understand what you guys find offensive. This entire article is written in satire and doesn't "alienate" anybody. Its like saying a brown man is "alienated" after people watch Russell Peters and his stand up comedy. Just because a person satire based on a culture, doesn't mean they are disrespecting it or being offensive.
It must be hard work to troll.
Anonymous says:
Jan 7, 2011
I'd just like to say that I completely agree with CHI-SER. Bananaloft has such massive potential to be a productive outlet for the Asian Community to express their thoughts to a broader audience. However, articles like this, despite the satirical effect that the author tried to achieve, completely erase the positive hard work that others have done to write articles that actually contribute to the Asian Community.
To Max and anyone who are talking about trolls, people who have opposing opinions on the internet do not automatically make them a troll. Also if you took into account of how the article was written, you can see that the author made no attempt to create a satirical tone in the article. I also read this article BEFORE the disclaimer by the author was put up. However even with the disclaimer, this article is completely tasteless.
Jackie says:
Jan 7, 2011
This is not the first time that this author has wrote something tasteless.
Bob says:
Jan 7, 2011
I'm not entertained. This is so long, boring and juvenile sounding. If you want to make a proper guide, throw in some fresh ideas and wit into the mix.
Mikey Hsu says:
Jan 7, 2011
You think you clever, huh? I agree with Bob and Anonymous. I srsly just scrolled down after reading half of the first point in the disclaimer. How can people read and FINISH this crap? Well, maybe they didn't.
JEANNIE says:
Jan 7, 2011
also i just want to add, if you guys know thatyouve offended some people w/ your quality control, shouldnt you apologize instead of adding an unnecessary edit ? Im sorry but im just actually really offended : i know it'spersonal but a lot of people get bullied for being fob
Andy says:
Jan 8, 2011
Come on people, bare in mind that this ins't the opinion of the collective. This is Miyumi's article, and Miyumi's opinions. If you don't like it, that's totally fine but again its just her opinions on a relatively touchy subject.
Remember, the reason we're able to bring so many amazing and sometimes controversial things to bananaloft is because we don't believe in censoring or screening our columnists. It gives us the freedom to really do whatever we want, and say what we want which ultimately allows us to both wow and shock you when it counts.
I liked her article… but again, that's my opinion.
Darren says:
Jan 8, 2011
I think I fit in the RealFob-Fob-Otaku-Jrocker-Cosplayer-Misfit-AsianGangster-Gangster-WhiteAsian category.
TC says:
Jan 8, 2011
Sorry but i'm frankly disappointed at this community rather than the article. CHI-SER said that Bananaloft should be a productive outlet for the Asian community yet here you are thrashing at her article. If you don't like the article then don't read it, don't patronize about creating a productive community if you're just going to criticize and get offended by an article that was meant to be a joke. Why bother criticize and make it known you don't like the article, you're not being constructive which is what this community is supposed to be about. Next time if you don't have something productive or supportive to say, don't say it at all.
Mr Chips says:
Jan 8, 2011
Some of the people reading this article clearly aren't familiar with the concept of satire or taking a joke. A sense of humour people: it's important to have one.
Oh says:
Jan 9, 2011
GoodJob!
. lol and I am fob/white washed lmao.
Matt says:
Jan 9, 2011
I think the point is that you're creating racism with this article. Satire is fine if done well. Otherwise it comes across as tasteless and offensive. However, I agree that if you don't like something, you can ignore it. Don't read and give attention to idiots that deserve none
Zach says:
Jan 10, 2011
How is this offensive? It is meant to be a satire and clearly pokes fun at itself. This in my opinion was a well written article and served the purpose it was created for which was again a satire of sorts of the Asian community of the GTA. This was not meant to be a critical article on what it means to be an Asian in Canada or what defines one but a light hearted way of looking at it.
Ps. Great job Annie please keep it up
very entertaining
Gail says:
Jan 11, 2011
"I think that a group like Bananaloft, which has so much potential to create a productive environment, should try to think critically about the things that it decides to publish. The Internet is a magnificent tool, and it reaches so many people. Use it effectively. I challenge you all to be better and think more carefully about what you decide to post. Thanks for reading all this."
YES, yes, yes, a million times over.
I'd also just like to point out the completely juvenile practice of calling someone a troll just because he/she has an opinion. And CHI-SER's opinion is valid at that — and extremely well written. I think BananaLoft has a bit of an identity crisis going: each time you are criticized for writing something "offensive", you pass it off as satire. The point of satire is not to offend or generalize. And an awful lot of generalizing happens on this website. I just think you could all do with better editing: don't publish something just because someone is eager to contribute. That would make this place no different than a public message board. And I'm sure you'd like to be taken seriously as writers and contributors….articles in this vein don't really help your cause.
It's a fine article to be passed around amongst friends. It's a bit amateurish to post as content on a website that wishes to grow and be taken seriously.
Oh says:
Jan 11, 2011
To the previous comment
, your only feeding off what Chi-ser and co. has already mentioned, you lack any back bone to actually "call out" this article to be childish or amateur.
"It’s a fine article to be passed around amongst friends. It’s a bit amateurish to post as content on a website that wishes to grow and be taken seriously."
- Fail
(oops its Gail)
In contrast to what you have mentioned, you might want to look beside the description above, beside the banana loft logo.
actually let me help you with that.
Bananaloft.com : in search of an Asian Identity
like, at first, Bananaloft tried to be a magazine. But we soon realized that "we're not journalists at all". We're really just a group of "friends" who like to "share" interesting things with people So that's what this site is!
I wonder? who is the amateur now ^^ please before you do any criticizing make sure you know what your talking about.
emphasis on "Were not journalists", "Friends", and "Share".
I believe that would be sufficient enough, ya?
^^ now don't call me a troll ok? cause wouldn't that be juvenile
Gail says:
Jan 14, 2011
I never called anyone on this site a "journalist", so I'm not sure what you copy and pasting that description accomplishes. But they ARE all contributors, and by virtue of publishing WRITTEN PIECES in PUBLIC, they are, in a sense, writers. And with a manifesto like "in search of Asian identity", what contributor wouldn't want to be appreciated and taken seriously by a wider audience? I'm sorry you've got low standards.
I also believe the top of this page says "Comments welcome," so, as you say, "let me help you out with that": Yes, I am agreeing with some of the sentiments already mentioned above. I didn't know the internet had a "first come first say" policy. You sure run a tight ship.
Funnily enough, the "Fail/Oops, Gail" comment is exactly what trolling would fall under: making an inflammatory comment to provoke some sort of response. Hilarious!
I am not calling you a troll, but kudos on that high-level wordplay you've got going on.
Anyway, I see that unfavourable comments on this site only serve people to get overly defensive and make senseless rebuttals. Good day to you, OH… keep on truckin' as bananaloft's #1 fan.
Follower says:
Jan 15, 2011
I'll be honest.. I skipped to the comments section after going through the "fob" section. I couldn't quite enjoy this one.
It appears as though there is a tremendous amount of support for one another on BananaLoft because you're all friends. I feel as though there isn't enough critiquing going on. Pleasing everyone is an impossible task but it is my belief that some sort of editing or revision process be in place. It would be unfortunate to lose followers this early in the game.
However I do look forward to future pieces here on BL. My hope is that this site continues to grow. Good luck to you all.
Anon says:
Jan 17, 2011
@CHI-SER – The goal of this article is to just poke fun at the each other and our stereotypes of one another. In no way was it suppose to be offensive to anyone.
“It alienates and segregates Asians from each other by making fun of them rather than highlighting the richness in their diverse experiences” – CHI-SER
It doesn’t alienate and segregate anyone; this was written as a form of entertainment. Not a definitive guide to the, ever so wide and fast, Asian culture.
“ think that a group like Bananaloft, which has so much potential to create a productive environment, should try to think critically about the things that it decides to publish. ”
It’s already been said, but the site is just a bunch of friends who want to share interesting perspectives of various things from their own lives. This site is for people to relax and exchange opinions about the culture that we’re all apart of and mainly to entertain.
Personally, it sounds like the article touched a nerve and your, unnecessarily long, comment attests to how butthurt you are about it. Relax.
Anyways, kudos to BL for your various posts/articles, they really made me laugh and relax. Especially on one of my more stressful days.
petey says:
Jan 25, 2011
You really mixed hypebeast and hipster together. Of course, everything is a bit of an over generalization, but yeah. Hypebeasts and hipsters are not the same lol.
STAN says:
Jan 26, 2011
1 "It’s already been said, but the site is just a bunch of friends who want to share interesting perspectives of various things from their own lives."
This is a public domain. That's like me going on TV and saying "I hate *insert controversial comment here*, you hear that guys?" and say I was just talking to my friends… on TV. Doesn't work like that. If you're going to post something on a public domain in the format of an article, you need to be responsible. Don't say something and then say "it wasn't for you to read".
2 "It doesn’t alienate and segregate anyone; this was written as a form of entertainment. Not a definitive guide to the, ever so wide and fast, Asian culture."
Form of entertainment? First of all, the title of this article is "A guide to Asians". I am POSITIVE many people find this article to be entirely true because, hey, what better source to find out about Asians than an Asian person writing the article? Furthermore, the tone of the post wasn't that of a "joke" at all.
3 "The goal of this article is to just poke fun at the each other and our stereotypes of one another. In no way was it suppose to be offensive to anyone."
The goal wasn't to offend, but guess what? It did. And it also put out a lot of criticisms about the Asian American actors mentioned in the post that are entirely untrue.
Jia says:
Feb 1, 2011
Wow, this article is totally original, I mean, it hasn't already been done to death.
You forgot one category of Asians though, the ones that CAN speak their language while (I know this may be hard to believe) but simultaneously embracing their own heritage as well as a degree of westernization (omg! shocking!). These Asians don't see the point of being a self loathing pieces of shit sellouts who find the need to lump other Asians into stereotypical and cliched groups that only serve to degrade them while only promoting their own group, in this case "Toronto Asians".
Do you even know or understand the implications of what being "white washed" means? It's not an embrace of "white culture", it's an absence of any cultural heritage. White people can be "white-washed" too, how many white people out there do you know who just refer to themselves as "white" instead of "Italian" or "British"? There's a difference between being "white-washed" and "westernized" and I can't stress it more. Know the difference, stop being naive, and for God's sake, stop treating your heritage as a novelty.
J says:
Feb 13, 2011
My comment comes in the late end of the game. But, I stumbled upon this article and I was shocked at how offensive and poorly written it is. It may be "funny" or "entertaining" to some people, but the way it was written does not even make it so.
There are so many Asian stereotypes articles out there on the Internet. So, this isn't anything new. But, it was executed poorly, just like the Maclean's article, which was also "not supposed to offend". I agree this isn't a journalistic site, but you published your words and it's out for the public to view.
You can follow this advice or not, Miyumi. But, be very mindful of your words then next time you write an article. You have good ideas, but you write them like the audience is dumb and they need everything oversimplified.
As for the people who have attacked critics, there's a reason that a comments section was posted. People are entitled to their own opinions so long as their words aren't blatant, unfounded attacks. They're not trolls, they're people who choose not to accept all of the information (sometimes crap) that they read.
ANON says:
Feb 13, 2011
Hard to believe this debate is still going on, but let's clear up one thing first and that is segregating Asians from one another. I have to say some of you need to grasp what segregation means before you use it. It refers to separation of humans to a racial group, in our case Asians. Now how can we segregate our Asian community when we have already been designated into a racial group? People are flaunting this word around without even knowing what it really means. What we need here is constructive criticism instead of paragraph after paragraph of nonsense. In addition, Jia, most people who fully understand their heritage would know that Asian is not a heritage, nor are there any categories of Asians rather cliques and stereotypes. No one is the same, please remember that for the future and cut down on the profanity, it is childish especially in a criticism.
Joyce says:
Jun 24, 2011
I literally LOLed here. I loved this!!
C says:
Jul 28, 2011
Love how you can clearly tell which group the author considers herself to be in by the tone of the passage. Also, why are most of the outright positive comments from other staff members? Self-promote much?
A says:
Aug 2, 2011
I agree with most people in this comment section. This article is tasteless and offensive. It would be different if it were satire, but it clearly isn’t because of the tone of writing. The author obviously considers herself/himself as a “Toronto Asian” since it is the only one with a positive connotation.
Every person (not just Asian) embraces their culture of origin, or western culture, or 99999 times out of 100000, a mixture of both. Not these arbitrary categories.
This may be a fun thing to spread among friends, but if I were “unfamiliar with Asian types”, this article would just help me stereotype people and cause further divisions within race and culture. Thanks for taking a step back in progress.
JFK says:
Sep 28, 2011
Even if I managed to overlook how offensive this piece is, I still wouldn’t be able to ignore the fact that it is just SO poorly written. I’m actually feeling a bit embarrassed for the author and the editors (which I HOPE the site uses,) for actually letting this see the light of day.
Maybe I’m expecting too much from the site – is this a highschool project?
The Good Comrade says:
Nov 30, 2011
It is a offensive. It is a ignorant. But I read it because there was some funny parts and there are some interesting stuff. Honestly though, feels a bit highschool.
This article does have some direct observations though, like how asians who have settled down (ie white washed) seem to look down upon FOBs. I am a white washed asian (according to this article), I admit sometimes I look upon FOBs with dislike. Then I realize, these are people who know more about their culture than I do. They are proud, they maybe gangsta or whatever, but they are just trying to display a culture in a way that doesn’t make them look “weak” or “second class”. I realize how little I know about my culture, and at the end of the day, I’m not a white man. I suck being a fake white man, so I don’t even try. I’m not a asian either, even though my apperance is definitely an asian. I’m in nowhere and I belong nowhere.
To the soulless asians trying to be white, don’t. Just let things be, and it will work out. You just live and adapt. In the north american society, in the end, people will only look at what you accomplished, how much money you made, etc , etc. Race is arbitrary, it doesn’t matter.
Let me tell you a story. I once saw some kids playing at a playground. One of the kid was black and the rest was white. They get along mighty fine. They are having fun. And they started to talk about somethings, like kids do, they don’t mean no harm, They just made some comments about skin color, I don’t remember what it was exactly, but the black kid just said, “no, I’m not black, I’m totally white. No I’m white I swear”. And so they played on, the conversation they had seemed forgotten. the black kid playing and marching like he knew where he was going, but he was lost, trying to run away from his own shadow.
To the asians who refuse to urr… shall we say, to be assimilated to a certain degree, you have walked in the welcoming arm of new countries which grants you the right to work, the right to pursue your happiness, and the right to prove yourself. But you are in a country that is willing to share that all with you, you need to give something back. I frown upon dual citizenship holders who only hold canadian passports to gain benefits from it while never really contribute to Canada.
Having a cultural identity is fine, but don’t wall yourself in. It creates misconception. What ya gotta know, you are in North America. Don’t walk on the magical land with fright and mistrust, embrace it.
Minh Le says:
Dec 28, 2011
lol…nice…i’m the last one….lol
Calvin L says:
Jan 27, 2012
WHOEVER WROTE THIS IS A GENIUS IN OBSERVING THE HUMAN CONDITION IN ASIANS.
But seriously, I usually rant on about the types of Asians that exist in Toronto, because I see tons of them everyday on campus. This article basically sums up every single Asian male/female prototype that I have seen thus far. A very fun read. Thank you.