#identityarticles

[gisellematuran-blog]

How Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” relates to my identity as a Filipina American

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” shares the insights of the “broken English,” her mother speaks and how it carries a negative stigma that causes others to look at the speaker differently. The short story is an anecdote about Tan’s experiences aiding her mother deal with accent discrimination and how she came to admire the natural way her mother speaks. She presents her concern towards discrimination of accents and follows with her anecdotal reasons creating a relatable connection towards readers. Her old mindset emphasized the idea wrapped around “broken English,” that the person speaking is seen as a child and should “know better.” As a child, she was exposed to the hostility her mother confronted which influenced her to have the same distasteful attitude towards her mother.

Amy Tan’s point of her narrative speaks out against prejudice among those who mistreat accented people. She mentions the intimacy her mother’s tongue brings, implying that there her mother’s accent is nothing but an accent. Her experience relates to my identity as a Filipino-American. I saw the negative stigma around accents as my dad was heavily affected by discrimination. I hated being Filipino that I started to say I was partly Hispanic, considering the Spanish-Filipino war that took place in the late 1800’s. I was not proud of my ethnicity because I grew up in a dominantly Hispanic neighborhood and middle school. It was not until I visited the Philippines that I started to take pride in who I am. I saw how my family cared for each other, and how the neighbors actually formed a community. I saw how the environment shaped my parents’ values and how they lived their daily lives eating rice in the morning, eat bananas out of leaves and their style of clothing. After the trip on the airplane, I decided to seriously learn Tagalog and watch the television shows my cousins watched across the ocean. I took their values with me and inflated it with pride for who I am. I took pride in the dialects my parents spoke, and that my native home was on an island. I took pride in my dad’s side of the family and how they grew up near the ocean, adapting to swimming and holding their breaths longer than 20 seconds. I took pride in my Pinoy identity, and wished I had this realization earlier in life.

[gisellematuran-blog]

My Identity to “Crazy Rich Asians.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/26/an-all-asian-cast-and-no-martial-arts-why-the-crazy-rich-asians-movie-matters/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e04353b1ef33

       This article is a review about the “Crazy Rich Asians” movie and how it is a big step for Hollywood, praising it for portraying Asian Americans in a non-stereotypical way. This relates to my identity because growing up my dreams typically aimed towards the entertainment, such as becoming a singer, writer or artist. As I grew older, my parents implied that I would not be successful in this industry because of its instability and because of my race. I grew up in a predominately white, performing arts high school and seeing a small amount of those similar to my race in students shows and performances only reinforced my parents’ stigma around achieving my goals. I accepted their opinion and strayed away from my musical and artistic hobbies. I started to view a future in the entertainment industry realistic towards those who are white or those who are in the higher middle class. I explored other subjects such as Environmental Science and Engineering but it always felt like it was not enough.  It wasn’t until the beginning of college where I saw how their opinion shaped my decision making. I was confused and I felt lost. I was undecided because the goals I had in mind were buried in my parents’ conditioning.

        When I first saw the movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” I left in tears. I was overwhelmed by the representation of Asian Americans in the media. I was in shock as I discovered the director was Asian as well. The actors and actresses went to law school and medical school before their debut on television, which was understandable because of the heavy emphasis on “practical,” and “stable,” jobs in the medical field in Asian culture. The article related to my identity because as an Asian American who is pursuing a Multimedia degree, I felt a new found hope for my future. The article talked about how excited the Asian American community felt as their representation was peaking at volumes. The movie’s popularity was proof that “success,” in the entertainment industry as an Asian American was possible. I can not imagine how proud the cast made their parents and I can not wait to do the same to mine.