Ethnocentrism In Chinese Culture

Another stereotype Waverly is confronting is society’s beliefs that being Chinese made someone less of a person. Struggling with the internal conflict of not being good enough or being thought of as Un-American. Waverly’s mother also struggled with the external conflict of the Chinese always having to prove themselves in an American world.

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that ones own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others. Americans in particular tend to be very ethnocentric in part because the United States has been perceived as a superpower for most of its existence, and in part because of the global influence of American media. Patriotism and love for ones country is also instilled in Americans from an early age to a greater extent then in other countries. For example, American children recite to the pledge of allegiance to begin each new school day and the national anthem is played at most sporting events.

In his essay “Paper Tigers,” Wesley Yang discusses his own experiences as an Asian American, tying them into the larger picture of Asians functioning in American society today. Yang’s argument is that even though Asian Americans are one of the most successful ethnicities in the country, stereotypes that Asian Americans are exposed to affect the way other Americans view them. Because of personal bias and racism, human society fails to see other people for who they are and put too much emphasis on what they are supposed to or not supposed to be in America today. Stereotypes cloud people’s vision and judgment and keep some from achieving their goals because others have a pre-created

Every time I come home from college, my family and I would go out to yumcha or, as directly translated from Cantonese, to “drink tea. However, drinking tea is only one component of yumcha. To yumcha is to converse with company over a meal of many small dishes and hot tea. Going yumcha is social activity brought to the United States by the people from the Guangdong region of China, also known as Cantonese people. When they immigrated to the United States, yumcha became an important tradition because it also enabled Cantonese parents to socialize their children into the Chinese culture through the language and social practices involved in the meal and the ritual and meaning surrounding the tea. However, to Chinese-Americans such as myself, going yumcha with native Chinese people also emphasized my American identity due to my food choices. Yet when I go yumcha with non-Chinese people, I become distinctly aware of my Chinese identity when they fail the language or rituals of this tradition. The only time when I do not feel alienated during yumcha is when I go with my other

“China has become the U.S.' most important trading partner (Ito, 2009). Additionally, China has surpassed India to become the top country sending students to study in the U.S.” (A Comparative Look at Chinese and American Stereotypes). Now in our modern day world, there have been many stereotypes built up around Chinese people or immigrants. Pre-existing views or perceptions about a certain ethnic group, culture or race will certainly affect and drive interactions with people of that certain culture. Since stereotypes are usually very broad and are long-lasting, many of these” expectations” are outdated/antiquated. My research proposal mainly focuses on the danger of seeing all Chinese immigrants in one way, mainly the idea that all Chinese are smart, nerdy and unathletic. This specific topic interested me as growing up as a Chinese person in Canada, I have seen and experienced the extent that preexisting perceptions can influence people's views and actions. I suspected that through my research I would find that not all Chinese people fit the stereotype and can “break the mould” given to them. For research and information, I went onto many articles and news sites. My research confirmed that the classic, traditional stereotypes for Chinese people definitely do not represent the entire population.

Individuals in this world tend to be judgmental, and judge people in groups instead of the personality. Yet, in the article, “Asian American and Stereotypes”, Denise Wong Peck claims, “As Asian American, we are too often judged not by our individual characters, but by stereotypes” (Peck). Peck explains that as Asian Americans; people do not see Asians as individuals but rather as copies; since Americans assume Asians are all good at the same thing. For example, some people assume that all African Americans are good athletes. This is a common stereotype to explain the reason

Stereotypes can be defined as sweeping generalizations about members of a certain race, religion, gender, nationality, or other group. They are made everyday in almost every society. We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. By stereotyping, we assume that a person or group has certain characteristics. Quite often, we develop these ideas about people who are members of groups with which we have not had firsthand contact. Stereotyping usually leads to unfair results, such as discrimination, racial profiling, and unnecessary violence, all behaviors which need to be stopped.

To some people this is not be viewed as a stereotype due to the fact it is not instantly perceived as “negative”; for those readers who delve in deeper, this stereotype outlines the educational daily hidden pressure of people from Chinese descent whom do not fit this “positive” stereotype. Every day, especially in American society, classmates look to their Asian counterparts to provide the answers to questions they do not know in every subject they take. Nonetheless, this ridiculous assumption hurts the Asian students that do not feel comfortable with their intellectual abilities. Placing Asian students as the “model student” excludes the students who actually have problems and need help that other classmates are reluctant to give the students simply because their classmates do not view helping their struggling Asian classmates as an actual necessity. By “poking” fun and bringing into light both Asian stereotypes, Yang enforces view that stereotypes are in use today.

Cultural imperialism can be an issue and worsen people’s perception on how they view other cultures they aren’t familiar with. Internet and the entertainment industry are big contributes for serving

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

Individuals are bound by the community and culture that they are involved in, and many cases people tries to define them as a group, and idea of stereotypes, defined as “… fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing” (Stereotype [Def. 1], n.d.) begins to form. However when these stereotypes are held among the larger population,

The graphic novel American Born Chinese written by Gene Luen Yang gives a clear message about people not being treated the same because of their differences. The two main characters Jin Wan and the Monkey King struggled with negative stereotypes that affected how they felt about themselves and the people around them. No matter what negative stereotypes people say about you don't let them affect who you are. Do not allow it to make you feel bad soul who you are or where you come from.

America consists of a melting pot when it comes to races and cultures. However, society tends to fall back onto stereotypes to distinguish each racial community. In the case of the Asian community, there are a vast number of common stereotypes that are used to label Asians. For example, one common stereotype is Asians who are foreigners. There are countless Asian people who have resided in the United States for all of their lives, yet Asian Americans are often seen as perpetual foreigners. This kind of representation disregards the fact that America is home to generations of Asian Americans who have also been a part of building America from the ground up. This stereotype is frequently mirrored in film and television with Asian characters who

Chinese people face a negative stereotype of being FOB (fresh off the boat), loud, cheap, and many other qualities. With both of my parents being immigrants, those labels could easily be used to describe my family. I never wanted to wear my jade jewelry because it made me look too Chinese. I did not learn the language because I thought it was "ugly". I never embraced my Chinese background growing up.

In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into