ジーニー・チェンマイのインスタグラム(thejeanniemai) - 2月23日 11時56分

This Lunar New Year I'm supposed to celebrate life, community, and prosperity. Thing is, true prosperity is when ALL are seen and loved as equal.

Growing up ppl would ask me, "Where are you from?" When I told them I was US born they would ask "No where are you really from?" I remember kids guessing, "What kind of Asian are you?" "...oh she has a double eyelid so she's not a Jap." "Shes prolly a Flip (Filipino) cuz she's dark." One time my employer over a car trip asked at a stop light "So..I tend to get Orientals mixed up. You're Chinese, right?" Real talk? I never really got offended when I would correct these ppl because a) it was stupid common and b) how do you blame somebody if they haven't been confronted about cultural stereotypes? After all, I'm mad grateful myself to my multi cultural friends who taught me what's ok and what's not. But today I notice my reaction to these qs isn't as patient as before. Asian-Americans (ESPECIALLY women) have ALWAYS been ignored, judged, fetishized or expected to be a certain way. We're "sweet, docile, willing to comply without argument". Altho naive AF when I'm name-called "Mulan or Ling Ling"- do I really expect ppl to be creative when Asians and the media surrounding us are wildly, (or as @GeorgeTakai would say "almost laughably") underrepresented? If u've followed me, u know my narrative btwn Mama Mai and I is that being Asian-American and being Asian are NOT the same things. Nor is MY story the same as the 20 mill unique US Asians today.
Long ass post to say the next time you're asked "What kind of Asian are you?" Tell em it doesn't matter. Your blood may have come from overseas, but your heart beats as a valued American here. Plus we all take our shoes off the same way anyway ? #vietpride #asianpride #lunarnewyear #chinesenewyear #mamamaiandi

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• GeorgeTakai
• themamamai