#psutina

TINA COHEN-CHANG

☆ FULL NAME: Tina Ari Cohen-Chang ☆ GENDER: Ciswoman ☆ PRONOUNS: She/Her ☆ AGE: 30 (April 16th, 1994) ☆ TYPE: Adopted sibling; solo ☆ HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, California ☆ JOB: Makeup Artist on teen drama Rhapsody  ☆ SCHOOL: PSU Alumni ☆ SEXUALITY: Pansexual ☆ FACECLAIM: Ashley Park

ABOUT TINA

Tw: racism, adoption, cults, abandonment, theft

Tina was born in Seoul, South Korea to a poor unwed mother, other the that, that’s all she knows. When she was adopted, her parents were featured in People magazine so everyone knew before her parents explained to her. It was in the 1st grade when she finally learned when a boy came up to her saying, “My mom told me that your mom bought you for the fame.” She came home very upset, but her parents explained that her birth mother gave her up to have a better life. Then they bought her a new barbie dream house, and never really talked about it again. Tina would smile for the pictures every time a new sibling was adopted or her parents showed off the family in their annual holiday card, and it reminded Tina every time that she was adopted, and that she didn’t look like her family. Her own birth mother left her to a family who left her to be raised by nannies. It hurt a lot, espically when kids would hurl racist comments at her, calling her names and pulling their eyes back. Shortly after Tina’s youngest sibling was adopted, Tina’s dad joined a cult. She’s not even really sure what the cult is about, as her father was secretive about it. Before she could really even understand it, her dad was off to Oregon to live on the compound, leaving Tina, her mom, and siblings behind. It wasn’t a total loss to her per se, as her dad wasn’t around that much, but it left her feeling abandoned, once again.  

She couldn’t exactly pin point what made her start to shoplift, but her shrink she says it had to do with her dad leaving and joining a cult. She was 13 when she first stole a lipstick while out at Sephora with her friends. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the money, but she found herself picking it up and slipping it into her pocket. She was never punished since, well everyone knew who her parents were. She eventually started to shoplift more, the act giving her a rush of emotions she couldn’t even explain. It wasn’t until she stole a $400 pair of sunglasses, where the store owns brought charges to her. She got away with community service and was sent to therapy. It helped, talking about her feelings but Tina would never admit it to anyone. In therapy, she was encouraged to start dressing how she wanted, not what her mother chose for her or what her friends liked. Tina started dressing gothic, after discovering Twilight. She devoted book after book, movie after movie. Her mom was slightly horrified, but also too busy to care.

Her mom pushed her (more like demanded) to go to PSU. She didn’t want to go at first, rather spending her days listening to emo music, doing her makeup, and reading. She was also not sure what she wanted to do in life. After all, she saw her mother act in films, but Tina was not confident like that. After a talk with a college counselor, Tina chose cosmetology. She always liked watching beauty bloggers (her mom never let her have a YouTube since she didn’t want Tina exposing all the family lore) and trying out daring looks on her. While at PSU, she took a class called Introduction to Feminism. It was mostly because the TA was a guy Tina had a crush on that lived in her dorm. He was tragically gay, but she found herself enjoying the class as it went on. She added Gender Studies as a minor. This lead her to become more confident in herself, as she learned that she had a purpose in life other than just being a rich women. She didn’t need a man to make her happy. She had a purpose in life and she was a powerful woman. Tina also discovered that she didn’t just like guys and girls, but rather people. She fell in love with a person, not a gender. 

Once she graduated, it left her not knowing what to do with her life. For a while, she lived at home. Her mother pushed her to get a job, and she worked on the sets of her mother’s films as a makeup artist, mostly being in the shadows. No one really wanted to mess with the nepo baby, so she was given tasks, but not major. Tina didn’t mind too much, she liked having the free time to do makeup on the side as a freelancer. While on set of one of her mother’s films, she got discovered by a producer who saw her sketchbook. He was creating a show about teenage partiers and thought Tina’s work fit his characters. He recruited her, loving her fancy looks she made, feeling as though. It took awhile for the show to happen, but eventually Tina landed the position of lead makeup artist on the hit teen show, Rhapsody. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND