Mini Project Exploring How Asian Culture Affects Gender Identity
Over the past few days, I’ve interviewed some friends on their take on how they perform gender and cultural identity when in different settings, and I’ve received several interesting responses. The responses are anonymous so I won’t be naming names.
First of all, I’ve found that all of them responded yes to the question “do you ever find yourself either consciously or unconsciously acting differently when in Asia vs. in Western settings,” regardless of their gender. When asked how so, 7 out of 10 respondents who identified as Asian females said something related to appearance, such as the way they dress, body figure and skin color etc. Many of them expressed unwillingness to wear tank tops, low cut shirts or shorts and tights when in Asia because they think it’s inappropriate, whereas in America they feel more comfortable showing skin. When asked why they think feel uncomfortable doing so when in Asia, they all replied something like “because people stare, people think you’re weird, they give you the side eye.” It’s interesting how for these women, the same action can be so normal in one setting but seem so inappropriate in the other. This is an example of how specific cultures pressure us into doing our genders in a specific way. We constantly create and recreate our gendered identities according to the culture we’re in. I asked them would they wear tanks in Asia if no one stared, or if more people did it, and some responded: “hell yea it’s so hot in the summers I can’t wear long sleeves all day you know.” So these responses are indications of 1) how doing gender is different in each culture, and 2) how social pressure affects one’s gender identity and forces them to conform. In Kimmel's words, “Our gendered identities are both voluntary -- we choose to become who we are -- and coerced -- we are pressured, forced, sanctioned, and often physically beaten into submission to some rules. We neither make up the rules as we go along, nor do we fit casually and without struggle into preassigned roles.”
As for the Asian males I’ve talked to, it’s interesting how their responses are much less relevant to appearance, and instead has a wider spectrum of topics, some of which include masculinity, partying habits, networking with people etc. I think this is partly due to Asia’s emphasis on males being capable/powerful and females looking nice. One guy said that he acts more confident and freely in when in Asia because he communicates in his own language and hence is able to express his ideas more coherently. Also, he feels more at ease when interacting with others because in Asia he is no longer “the minority race”, in fact, there’s not really even a concept of “race” anymore because he doesn’t look different from the people around him. Other respondents who mentioned masculinity expressed pressure to act more “like a man”. One said he feels more pressured to act more masculine in his Asian household because it’s less accepting to homosexuality. On the contrary, another respondent expressed he felt more comfortable acting whatever when in Asia, but feels more pressured to act manly in the states because as an Asian male he feels that only by being hyper-masculine can he disprove the stereotypes of Asian males being feminine and weak.