//I’M HAVING SO MANY YUKIMURA FAMILY FEELS RN H E L P
for all of Teen Wolf’s faults, they’ve actually done a good job overall of depicting a non-stereotypical Asian family. I mean, the idea of a Japanese woman and a Korean man marrying alone is kinda amazing (I mean I know it happens, but from what I’ve seen in my experience with Japanese and Korean people, there’s sometimes still animosity between them).
And the fact that Ken is FUNNY just- it makes me so happy. He’s bright, cheerful, likes to poke fun at his daughter but also is intelligent, loyal, and brave.
And Noshiko is strong, fierce, and proud, but she also likes games, and she’s mischievous, and I’m sure there’s more to her than what we see.
They’re a gem of a family and I really love them.
(Also the fact they’re letting their daughter date a biracial Mexican/Caucasian boy is amazing- I’ve heard COUNTLESS stories from my Filipino/Japanese/Korean friends who have talked about hiding relationships from their family bc they’re dating someone Mexican or vice versa- seeing more biracial couples on tv who have overall healthy relationships but also have their arguments and yet get through them makes my heart sing).
This post is so important and I really need to comment on that last point because honestly it is so true. I’m Filipino, which makes us inherently darker-skinned compared to a lot of Asians. And in my entire extended family - no one says it outright, there are no written rules, but it goes without saying…there are only a few races you can date. Of all of my in-laws, many of whom met and married in the US, the vast majority are Filipino, and the rest are white - ancestry-from-northwestern-Europe, immediately-burns-in-the-sunlight white. It goes without saying that dating other races will not be accepted by the family (marriage is out of the question). Dating someone who’s biracial? Maybe if they’re half-Filipino/Asian and half-white. But anything else? Don’t even think of bringing them to family reunions. It goes without saying.
So it is a huge deal for me, as an Asian, to see an Asian family so willingly accept their daughter dating a half-Mexican boy - not just willingly, in Ken’s case he’s downright eager to see his daughter date this boy! That’s a big deal! I really can’t express how amazing it is to see an Asian father so excited to see his daughter date, and also to see his daughter date outside her race, and also to see his daughter date someone who is half-Latino. That just blows my mind on so many levels and really says a lot about the kind of person that Ken is. He’s so accepting and so open-minded - no wonder Noshiko, who’s seen over 800 years’ worth of people and time, fell in love with him.
The Yukimura family is really important to me on so many levels - on a general, seeing a kind/supportive/loving family on TV level, on seeing an Asian-American family on TV level, on seeing a non-stereotypical Asian-American family on TV level, and then on just so many personal levels that mean so much to me as an Asian-American. They’re so important to me and I’m really grateful to see them on Teen Wolf.
//YES thank you for backing up my story.
In Ken’s case he’s downright eager to see his daughter date this boy! …That just blows my mind on so many levels and really says a lot about the kind of person that Ken is. He’s so accepting and so open-minded - no wonder Noshiko, who’s seen over 800 years’ worth of people and time, fell in love with him.
This is a good example of showing, not telling, for Ken’s character. It could have been that he was the ruler-wielding, impossibly-early curfew-enforcing, spelling bee champ father who is the unquestioned, iron-fisted patriarch of the family. But no, he’s funny, he’s bright and happy, and he’s giving his daughter a gentle, albeit very overt nudge to go after the guy she likes, no matter his race, no matter his grades, no matter his alpha werewolf nature- they make each other happy, and that’s what important to him. Screw the rules of nature.
And Noshiko’s history, from what little we’ve seen, has made it clear she has no problem dating across the color line even when Whites were oppressive and racist and cruel to her and the people she loved. And because of that oppression she’s faced, Noshiko understands the power and freedom open-minded people have.
I’m sure Ken knew far before marriage about Noshiko’s nature, and he probably was a little fearful, most likely surprised, probably fanboyed a little (bc honestly, he strikes me as a lover of Japanese culture- I mean, I don’t think Noshiko would have been the one to choose that American knock off of a Japanese home, but that’s for another post)- but in the end, he accepted her as she is, tails and all. And Ken’s parents were likely old enough to remember what the Japanese soldiers did had they lived in Korea during WWII. If they lived in America, there’s definitely a chance they still felt animosity towards Japanese people. But Ken not only falls in love with a Japanese woman, but he TAKES ON HER LAST NAME. Screw the rules about honoring his own family and carrying on their legacy- Noshiko is his family, and carrying on her legacy is most important to him.
You’re awesome, and I feel for you on the family reunion thing. Seriously, out of all of my Okinawan relatives, the only ones who DIDN’T marry Okinawans married white guys- even the women in my family who are biracial have married/dated white (or white-looking, as my uncle is a quarter Mexican but doesn’t look it at all) guys or gals. And I worry what my family will think I bring someone who’s Mexican home (but really, I live near the Mexican border, like half the guys I meet have Mexican and/or indigenous ancestry), and HEAVEN FORBID I bring home someone who has Middle Eastern or Samoan heritage, or is black. I know America is all about individualism and stuff, and yeah, of course I’m gonna do things that make me happy, but I also really have to keep in mind how it’s going to reflect on the rest of the family. While my immediate family wants me to be happy, the opinions of extended family really are important.
I have met all of ONE Okinawan to marry a black man, and only one other black-Asian couple. I’ve never met an Asian/Mexican-indigenous couple. Never. Never met a Middle Eastern/Asian couple either. I’m sure they exist, but you never see it in the media, that’s for sure.
Really, the biracial couples you see most in the media are black/white. Which there is NOTHING wrong with that at all, but it’s inaccurate to think that’s the extent to which biracial couples exist.
Some of us are always going to conform to what our families approve of, and that’s not always a bad thing. But it’d mean so much for us who want to cross the color line to see more representation of biracial couples and biracial/multi-racial people in the media. We’re out there and we’re beautiful.
areudirty
origamiaround
theartofmadeline
dededos
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk
blakekathryn
