#thedp

Watchman.

Twinning at Penn.

Skeletal.

Sophomore: Did you see that post about Wharton and issues and stuff on the front page of the DP?

Me: No

Sophomore: Gosh, you don't read the DP! It was a huge story on Wharton and the branding problem

Me: Hm wow sounds interesting [in a flat voice]

Sophomore: Yea

Before you guys try to rip me a new asshole for being racist, let me clarify that I am Asian.

Today I stumbled upon this eyewear company called TC Charton http://www.tc-charton.com/  which is the "first and only Northern American company that focuses on designing and producing beautiful frames and sunglasses for Asians." My immediate reaction was why the fuck is there an eyeglass company just for Asians. It makes absolutely no fucking sense. Yes, I understand that we Asians are flat faced and many glasses fall off because we have no nose bridge. But why can't you describe the company as one that makes "better fit" glasses, or "custom fit" glasses. Why do you have to label it as "for Asians"? You don't see companies like RayBan or Warby Parker, where the majority of the customers are white, making their description "glasses for white people". Or what if Taco Bell or Chipotle came out with a slogan like "food for Mexicans"? Can you imagine the kind of outrage that would break out in the community?

But what happens when you label a company as "glasses for Asians"?

You don't see Asians being outraged. In fact, you see them take extreme pride in the fact that there is something that's offered just for them. It's like how when Gangnam Style became extremely popular, you see all the Koreans and other Asians celebrating and being like "YEAHHH ASIANS" but what if for every Chris Brown hit or every Tiesto hit, black people went "YEAHH BLACK PEOPLE!" and white people went "YEAHH WHITE PEOPLE!"

Yes, I understand that one of the biggest roots of this pride is that there has always been a bamboo ceiling for Asians in America and now that there has been a few people to break out of that ceiling (think PSY or Jeremy Lin), people want to celebrate it. But this doesn't have to mean you have to be so obnoxious or so exclusive about it. By doing so, you're only secluding yourself even more from society.

A couple weeks ago an article was published in the Daily Pennsylvanian called "Hunting For Asians". Article here. I actually didn't know there was such a strong response by the Asian community until a couple friends brought it to my attention. Again, why?? I know my response is going to anger a lot of people but I think there was a general overreaction to the whole thing. It was just a fucking prank. There, I said it. Maybe it's the whole collective nature of the Asian culture, where the needs and goals of the general community are emphasized over any individual ambitions, but why is it that when one person succeeds, every Asian feels the need to celebrate and similarly when one person runs into trouble, the whole community feels like everyone's out to get them all? It doesn't make sense.