Humanity 101: Girls Just Want to Have Pfandamental Rights
A few days ago I encountered, for the very first time in this setting, an assumption coming from a so-called psychologist and professor during one of our classes. She said, “…, for Chinese people here, maybe you know …” and then she looked in my direction and another East Asian-looking student with a hand gesture towards us, waiting for an answer to her question. There was no question asked regarding nationality. Simply an aggressive assumption coming out from her mouth. There was a brief awkward silence. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to say anything. I wanted to see what would happen. Then the East Asian-looking student said, “There’s no Chinese here.” I was too busy raising my eyebrows to think of anything to say to that assumption. But I still replied to her, I don’t know why, as she was asking questions about the Chinese language and I understand the language. Perhaps I was trying to rescue her. Perhaps I was trying to rescue myself as I didn’t want to show my annoyance in front of another 12 people. Perhaps I thought if I responded to her, I would be able to be present in the class. Perhaps I didn’t want to deal with this on a sunny morning. The truth is I couldn’t listen to her for the rest of the class simply because of that assumption. I was annoyed. I opted out of the conversation. With the current political situation, simply assuming anyone who has an East Asian appearance is Chinese is an ignorant act; to a Taiwanese, especially me, it feels sour. Let alone coming from an educator who holds the position of power in this setting.
Afterwards, I thought long and hard about how I felt about this. I thought long and hard about what was a better response to a situation like this. Should I say anything at all? This is not the first time, nor the last time, people assume I’m Chinese. But this is the first time in a higher education setting in Germany. I don’t have the answer yet. I would rather be naive and only think about pink flowers and frolicking in a field than think about all the assumptions people have put on me as an East Asian woman in her 20s who is, well what was that word again? Ah yes, “wild.” I’ve had people assume I love to “have fun” in a sexually active way. I’ve had people assume me to be of any random Asian nationality. I’ve had people assume they could pay me for a blow job. I’ve had people assume they can grab me because I dress and dance in a certain way. I’ve had people assume I speak a certain language. I’ve had people assume I can therapize them for free. I’ve had people assume my vision is smaller because of the shape of my “Asian eyes.” (True story. Very crazy but not so crazy when you think about it.) Should I name more or is this enough? Yes, I do see differently. I see how ignorant and courageous you are when you utter those assumptions to me, my dear. Educating ignorant people is not my responsibility. This girl is tired.
This is not the first time I’ve written about how “flat” I feel like I’ve become after becoming a foreigner where my culture is simplified into a few artifacts, such as chopsticks and soy sauce (all food-related?), or where people see my race before me. Somehow the complexities of this Self disappear in front of the intersection of being an East Asian woman. (I won’t get into how Orientalism sexualizes “the Orient” here because I have a thesis to write regarding identity-related topics. I also won’t get into how one way to dismantle patriarchy is to recognize how white supremacy and patriarchy work together to police women into being “too slutty” or “such a prude.” No matter what you do, you’ll get criticism anyway, so try to live your life as you want to.)
The truth is girls just want to have fun but society is forcing me to ask for fundamental rights in 2024. The fundamental right of being me. Being seen as me. No other labels or identity before ME as a person. Being seen as a complex landscape where my identities are important but are only part of me instead of the sum of me. Where no assumptions should be made and no expectations telling me how to behave.
The fundamental right of standing, speaking, living, and fucking equally with full autonomy.
So I have no response to this person and I’m tired. Tired of ignorant people showing up without an invitation. I’m gonna go frolicking.
