Week 10

Mary Qin
ASA 141
Week 10

Thuy Linh Nguyen's "Asia On My Mind" article talks about how Asian designers do not always directly design in an Asian style or fashion. Many of them do not want to be limited, but understand that their ethnicity can play to an advantage as well. Many of them see the advantages of claiming a transnational identity, yet find that using a ethnic identity can also benefit them in certain instances. I do not find this to be surprising at all. I feel like this is very common as a minority in any industry. You do not want to be held back by your ethnicity, so you try your best to fit in and detach yourself from it. Yet, your ethnicity can also make you stand out and make you valuable as well. For me personally, I feel this weird mix a lot. I do not like it when people ask me about my ethnicity at the beginning of conversations or mention my ethnicity a lot. Yet, I also feel like it is disrespectful for them to not appreciate my ethnicity as it is a part of me. I think that this just shows the complication of identity and how it is not black and white. One does not fully reject or accept it one way or the other. How one treats their ethnicity can vary from situation to situation. Is a person who does not always strongly represent their ethnicity not doing their ethnicity justice?