Trendy Asian Traits

The United States of America is a melting pot of all kinds of diverse cultures. Majority of the people living in America have different backgrounds, coming from all over the world. However, white culture is, and always has been, dominant in America; but, as generations pass, people are calling for a change. Minorities are demanding their voices to be heard. Today, we see more diversity in society: We see them in restaurants, music, festivals, and fashion. People of color are stepping up to showcase to the world what their culture has to offer, and the rest of the world wants to see it. The popularization of Asian culture in the mainstream media has also impacted Asian Americans to go back and learn more of their roots.

Embracing our own culture has always been perceived as a good thing. Tracing back our own roots and learning more about where we came from is heartwarming. We can find a sense of belonging by seeing where our family lineage all began. In a time where technology and social media are prominent, learning about one’s culture is like taking a walk in a park. People who are mixed or people who just want to find out where they came from can discover more about one side of themselves by simply scrolling through their phone. However, there are always two sides of a coin.

Ever since Asian culture gained popularity from the whole world, people have started seeing a whole race of people as an aesthetic. From photoshoots to posts on Instagram, there is always someone jumping on the “Asian trend.” The “Asian trend” is the act of popularizing Asian culture and hopping on the bandwagon without looking at it from a subjective point of view. This is mostly seen with the spike of Korean drama viewers or Asian food in pop culture. People are quick to jump on “all things Asian,” even going as far as aestheticizing it. This trend is a small part of a larger “POC trend,” or people of color trend, in which it's trendy to be a person of color in regard to food, fashion and aesthetics due to it being "exotic." The nature of this trend, of course, ignores the systemic issues that marginalize people of color, and Asians, in America.

“It’s not bad per se, it's not bad to recognize your own culture,” said Alfredo Balbas, a third-year student at the University of Central Florida, who was born in the Philippines. “There are full-blooded Filipinos who are born and raised in America, so it's good to embrace cultural identities even if you’re biracial, but there’s also people who are trying to understand the culture. On the other side, there’s a trend where it's just about showing off.”

The Asian trend can be seen everywhere, such as in Instagram bios where there are always flags indicating their ethnicity or where they’re “from.” There’s also trends on YouTube where people would show off the “experience” of having Asian parents. Most of these people are Asians born in the West and have no first-hand experience of what it’s really like being from Asia and living in their motherland. They “educate” their white peers about their background that they’ve only known from the other side of the world. People who have some type of mixed race in their blood would flex on social media and call themselves diverse.

“People who hop on this ‘trend’ without knowing what really comes with being an Asian, all the positives and negatives, just shows their privilege.”

“It’s sad knowing that people are using [their] culture for fame without wanting to actually learn about it,” said Christianne Joy Balaquiao, a second-year UCF student. “People who hop on this ‘trend’ without knowing what really comes with being an Asian, all the positives and negatives, just shows their privilege.”

In the United States, there are cultural student organizations in universities that promote Asian culture. They set up events that relate to their racial and ethnic dynamics; however, most of these events are surface level. These clubs take the most basic aspects of being Asian and extrapolate in the small details into their identities. Most of the people that do this are most likely born in the U.S. and have only visited their home country a handful of times. They have Asian genes, have the Asian features, but have a limited understanding of their own cultures and traditions. While most of these students are ethnically Asian, they are Asian American whose experiences are completely different from that of Asians born and raised in Asia. They grew up in the West and only know what it's like being Asian from what their parents and relatives tell them. More often than not, they're also the same people that claim to be “so Asian” and “proud” whenever they take a bite of rice.

“From an Asian being born in Asia, I do think that this is a problem,” said Balbas. “People only go up to the surface level of being Filipino. People use Jollibee as an entrance to be validated as Filipino.”

“From an Asian being born in Asia, I do think that this is a problem,” said Balbas. “People only go up to the surface level of being Filipino. People use Jollibee as an entrance to be validated as Filipino.”

Students in Asian organizations tend to use their background in order to fit in, to the extent where they tend to use it as a personality trait. They claim to drink so much boba or cannot live without rice because they are Asian. Though these actions might seem performative, Asians born in America have a different perspective on the issue.

“A lot of us haven't been exposed to the culture,” said second year Justin Quinain. “It’s actually a good thing that we're learning more about it in Asian organizations, even if it's shallow. As long as they are willing to learn, I don’t think it’s bad at all.”

Surface level learning can be a good start. People can grow a more meaningful appreciation of what it means to be Asian. It gives an epiphany that there's definitely more to being Asian than what is popularized.

The problem with surface level exposure, however, is that it generalizes the experiences of being Asian in Asia. Asian trend followers don’t ever talk about the feeling of getting a cone of ice cream from a middle-aged man named Tito (Uncle) Boy, wearing a wife-beater while ringing a bell in the Philippines. They don’t talk about the euphoric feeling of eating lugaw in a karinderya (eatery) in the scorching hot weather. All of that is just everyday life for them. On the other hand, Asians born in America don’t know how else to express the culture because the understanding of their culture is different, because being an Asian American is an entirely different experience with one's culture. An Asian being raised in America, their life will have more western influence. Their way of life is westernized and it’s not their fault for not being able to experience growing up in their motherland. The most important thing about expressing being an Asian American is education-- to understand what it really means to be Asian outside of East Asian entertainment, like Korean dramas and anime.

On the flip side, being Asian in Asia, is another issue. Whitewashing in the Asian community is old news. It has been present in many Asian cultures, especially in the Philippines. Rapper Ez Mil became viral in the Philippines for rapping about being Filipino and his Ilocano heritage. This was well-received by Filipinos in the Philippines. As someone who has a white background is appreciating being Filipino, he expresses his being Pinoy by denying his white background in his lyrics and calls the Philippines his home country.

“Lahat kayo (all of you), all of you ever since bata ako I've been kinda discriminated in my own home country,” Ez Mil raps in his song “Panalo.” “Sure, some would be like: "Luh ang puti puti mo, tisoy” (“Huh, you’re so white, foreigner”) I ain't tisoy, I'm Pinoy.”

Being Filipino in the Philippines’, the greatest achievement one could accomplish is to leave the country.

Filipino culture in the Philippines is leaning towards being more Westernized. Being Filipino in the Philippines’, the greatest achievement one could accomplish is to leave the country. Children are taught to speak English and not Tagalog. Most Filipinos speak in Taglish (Tagalog mixed with English). They tend to pretend that they don’t know Tagalog in order to appear more foreign. In the Philippines, knowing and speaking English and English only is the preferred social norm. So, when someone like Ez Mil, a mixed foreigner, shows appreciation of being Filipino, it’s not a surprise that everyone loses their minds and he goes viral.

The Asian trend has become more prominent as Asians are starting to be noticed in the West. With “Mulan” released in early 2020 and the arrival of Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” this past March, Asians are getting more representation. More and more Asian Americans are also embracing their Asian side. Korean pop music is setting a prime example of just how much Asian culture is getting recognized today. K-pop groups, like BTS and BlackPink, are gaining more attention as the interest for Asian pop-culture continues to rise. The main question stands if it’s performative or pure interest.

“There’s pieces of you that make up a whole. Carrying your country’s bloodline is one thing but that’s not who you are as a whole. Being Filipino, being Japanese, being Vietnamese is not you as a whole. You're more than just a flag. There’s so much more to who you are than representing a flag.”

“When there’s some type of Japanese or Korean in their blood, even if it's 2%, they would show it off,” said Balbas. “There’s pieces of you that make up a whole. Carrying your country’s bloodline is one thing but that’s not who you are as a whole. Being Filipino, being Japanese, being Vietnamese is not you as a whole. You're more than just a flag. There’s so much more to who you are than representing a flag.”

Partaking in a culture and claiming it as an identity without knowing the deep significance it has can be disrespectful. Being educated and learning all about the deep rooted-history it comes with is important. Surface level learning can be a start that can lead to something more. At the very least, drink matcha knowing that it came from Japan. Cultural exchange happens all the time and it is enjoyable until a more dominant culture takes certain aspects of the minority culture and aestheticizes them; especially for profit. The beauty of real Asian customs is being pushed to the side by mindless bandwagoners and that is not okay.

We are in an era where there's numerous social reformations. There’s more ethnic diversity in the world than ever before. It’s a remarkable thing that people are learning more about ethnic backgrounds, whether it’s based on a trend or an actual desire to learn about it. Nevertheless, being Vietnamese is more than eating pho. Being Filipino is more than eating lumpia. Being Japanese is more than eating ramen. There is so much more to being a person of color, to being Asian, than the shallow, popularized exotic image they show in the media. There are deep layers in each of these cultures, and their beauty is being overshadowed by the trending media. All cultures are beautiful and they should be appreciated with respect. Yes, it is acceptable to say one is proud to be Pinoy, or proud to be Asian, but there is so much more to a person than their ethnicity; it’s not what makes a person a whole. Being a person of color is not a personality trait.