Fandom has always been a haven for young people who are having trouble fitting in elsewhere. Extending this metaphor to those of other ethnic subcultures (as long as they have at least the potential to share fannish interests) is probably one of the best things we could do to promote diversity within our subculture.
Thing is, most Asian kids ALREADY fit somewhere else. Case in point: My partner is half-Filipino. He was raised by a Pinoy father and grandparents. The kid knows of every Filipino and Filipina in the city limits of Philadelphia, by virtue of his family. They connect. Within a week of someone getting off the boat, they have connections and outlets and are finding more of their own kind. And that is where they settle. Their own kind. That is his fit: the Pinoy community here in Philly. I'm having to learn how to integrate into that as a white girl, but it's easier for me than most because I'm not overly interested in stealing their culture and making it my own.
Very few, if any, Asian folk NEED fandom as an outlet. White folks seem to NEED fandom.
As another aside, as I meet more Asians and they learn I'm part of an Asian family (the boy's family), they open up and share that fandom annoys the bloody shit out of them because it sure does look like white people are taking Asian culture and assuming it. Yes, that's a really trite observation and rather closed minded; but it does seem to be true to an extent. Think about how fandom treats Asian culture in general, and about how they glorify Japanese culture above all. It doesn't really feel good for a Filipina or a kid from Vietnam to be either half-worshipped while they have culture stolen out from under them OR be discarded because the white kids are only interested in people from Japan.
Opening up fandom to more Asians is a hard experience, and you have to find people who are heavily Westernized to begin with anyway.
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Date: 2006-03-05 08:37 am (UTC)Thing is, most Asian kids ALREADY fit somewhere else. Case in point: My partner is half-Filipino. He was raised by a Pinoy father and grandparents. The kid knows of every Filipino and Filipina in the city limits of Philadelphia, by virtue of his family. They connect. Within a week of someone getting off the boat, they have connections and outlets and are finding more of their own kind. And that is where they settle. Their own kind. That is his fit: the Pinoy community here in Philly.
I'm having to learn how to integrate into that as a white girl, but it's easier for me than most because I'm not overly interested in stealing their culture and making it my own.
Very few, if any, Asian folk NEED fandom as an outlet. White folks seem to NEED fandom.
As another aside, as I meet more Asians and they learn I'm part of an Asian family (the boy's family), they open up and share that fandom annoys the bloody shit out of them because it sure does look like white people are taking Asian culture and assuming it. Yes, that's a really trite observation and rather closed minded; but it does seem to be true to an extent. Think about how fandom treats Asian culture in general, and about how they glorify Japanese culture above all. It doesn't really feel good for a Filipina or a kid from Vietnam to be either half-worshipped while they have culture stolen out from under them OR be discarded because the white kids are only interested in people from Japan.
Opening up fandom to more Asians is a hard experience, and you have to find people who are heavily Westernized to begin with anyway.