#how to not be an asiaboo

[beastwars-transformers]

I’ll never shut up about it my insane literature teacher was like. An Asiaboo. Would never stop talking about how much better Asians (specifically the Chinese but not the modern Chinese bc communists are evil) are at everything and how inherently smarter they are and how they’ll save the world (she was like a 70yo white woman). When we briefly looked over Mishima’s writing all she would talk about is how gay he was. And absolutely nothing else.

[insects4girls]

How to not be an Asiaboo

{By Emma - @asian-asf}

Hey kids, so previously, we covered ‘what is an Asiaboo?’, and some people probably got unintentionally butthurt, but today we’re covering ‘How to not be an Asiaboo, so take this as your chill pill.

After all, there are (fortunately) ways to be respectful and still enjoy whichever culture you admire.

[DISCLAIMER- I admit most of this is aimed at people who like East Asian culture, but I still tried to make it as inclusive as possible.]

First off, don’t just watch anime or K-dramas. if you’re genuinely interested in an Asian country’s culture and heritage, observe the culture (respectfully of course). The same way not all Brits live lives like in EastEnders, and not all Americans live lives like in Nashville, anime and K-dramas are over exaggerated and fictional. If you want to speak a language, learn the grammar, the structure and the alphabet. Don’t start off with slang. Most people should know that trying to be black and inserting AAVE into our everyday language is not appropriate for us to do, so the same way, don't insert ‘kawaii’ ‘-chan’ ‘-kun’ or ‘gwiyomi’ ‘-chingu’ ‘-oppa/unnie’ into your sentences when you’re first learning a language. Protip- don’t swear in the language either, and I say this because even though it may seem like just a funny word to you, and it makes you look fluent, it is still offensive within the country. And it is not your country, so it is better to refrain from things like swearing.

Second of all, realise that no culture or country is supreme to another, and no country is completely angelic, and bad stuff happened there, and continue to happen. 

Every country has its own history of bad and good, and make sure you read up on it. Inform yourself on the history and politics. You don’t have to be a PhD level expert in say, Chinese politics, but make sure you have enough general knowledge of your chosen country. Of course, as a foreigner you'll be an outsider to all the various political drama, and as a foreigner I couldn’t possibly begin to understand and feel about the India/Palestine conflict the same way natives do.

Remember that as a foreigner, there are things you cannot do. This means local customs and societal things. Just because you are a foreigner, it does not mean you get to do offensive things in Asian culture. You do not get to dismiss customs just because you're a foreigner and think that you’ll get away with it. For example, within Japanese culture, is it commonplace to take off your shoes at the entrance of someone's house and say a polite greeting beforehand. If you, a foreigner were to go in and stomp all over the place in your shoes and not be polite enough to say a greeting, they’ll regard you as rude and they’ll think that you haven't assimilated enough. They probably will tell you that you’re being rude and a complete plank, especially if it’s your first time in Japan in general, but c’mon, after a couple of times going round to other Japanese peoples’ houses, you should be getting the hang of it, and it’s not even difficult. And surprise surprise, but as a foreigner, you’re not gonna be worshipped by Japanese people. Sure, welcomed, but if you’re rude, you’re rude, end of.

Finally, even if you are top level fluent in the language, cultural appropriation is still cultural appropriation. You still don’t get to wear those pastel pink shirts with ‘milk’ written in katakana. You don’t get to do yellowface, you also can’t represent Asian people on their behalf.

!!Don’t speak over actual Asian people. Ever!! 

I got asked a question the other day: ‘How long do I have to live in Japan for until I can consider myself Japanese?’

The answer is, no mater how long you live in Japan for, you just can’t can't can’t consider your ethnicity to be Japanese. My mum has lived in England for over 20 years now, and she’s still regarded as the foreigner she was 20+ years ago. Basic reasons being, you won’t understand the roots of basic festivals, how important they are, (you’ll probably have a very pro-western mentality so you won’t be able to fully understand the relationship between the west and Asia from an Asians perspective), (if you’re an outsider learning Japanese, not growing up there as a foreigner) you won’t have gone to school there, you won’t know the kids games, rhymes, jokes, all things that make up Japanese (and generally Asian) society. Not meaning to discourage you, and if you end up living in Japan at some point in your life, sure you’ll assimilate and become part of society, but you wont have ’experienced’ Japanese life from day 1 of your birth. There will be things you won’t understand like school systems, political stances and parties, you won’t understand the significance of Asian historical events.

Okay now, this post is drawing to a close, BUT before we finish, lets take a moment for two things:

1. Let us hold hands to form a circle and pray for those who think being ‘transracial’ is a thing.

Actually, who am I kidding?! ‘Transracial’ people suck, they don’t exist and those people who think they are ‘transracial’ have a serious case of yellow fever and Asiaboo-itus, and should go cleanse themselves ASAP.

BUT, on a nicer and totally preppy note-

2. To all western Asians who themselves don’t understand festivals, school systems, and your countries politics, it’s ok. You are valid. You are still Asian. As an actual Asian, you are still ‘counted’. You will be Asian no matter what, and even if it comes with its struggles, you’ll always be apart of a community and society others can only observe. (coming from and Asian who previously HATED herself (seriously hated herself) even if being made fun of sucks most of the time, you have a rich history and heritage that people can never take away from you. Even though Asiaboos suck, some people out there want to be you. And at the end of the day, you’ll always have a whole other part of the world have your back.)

[diaryofanangryasianguy]

Are Georgian people ( from caucasia) asian or white?

Well my interpretation is that anyone from Asia whether it be through roots, culture, tradition, or any other way or form can identify as Asian. But at the same time, identifying as Asian depends on the person and how they truly feel inside in relation to the current time and place they live in.

That’s why some Filipino folks might not identify as Asian but instead, identify as Pacific Islander even though the Philippines is in Southeast Asia or why some people from the Middle East might identify as Asian even though we tend to view the Middle East as separate from Asia when a large portion of it actually consists of West Asia.

So it’s not up to me or anyone else to decide who is or who isn’t Asian but it’s up to the person and how they truly feel inside. Though it’s important to note that a non-Asian person can’t just superficially identify as Asian. Our identity is only for those of us whose families, roots, origins, cultures, traditions, histories, and/or whatever else comes from Asia. Expats, Asiaboos, or any other people not from Asia cannot genuinely identify as Asian in any way or form.

Angry Asian Guy

[b0ba-chan]

y do u support misa when she’s an asiaboo pretending to have a japanese name ?

,,,, do you know you’re talking to a vietnamese girl with a “japanese” name and how is she an asiaboo when shes thai and indian??? its just an alias??? suck someonese else’s dick whore 

[monaut]

omg I’m sorry but I keep freaking out bc I seriously have never felt at home in amer*ca bc I genuinely think I’m too culturally Asian LOL like my mannerisms, morals, values, and cultural references are all Asian and I like being in Asia... I saw this tiktok about this girl showing how her Chinese dad does stuff like cook all the meals, makes furniture for his wife, holds her hand, takes care of his mother in law, etc, and all these Americans were like omg goalsssss I’ve never seen a relationship like this your parents are ELITE 😍 um I’m sorry but that’s NORMAL for Chinese ppl at least according to MY shandong family??? That is literally the bare minimum to me and I’m saying this even though the time I’ve spent w my dad probably adds up to only 100 days total in my whole life... the only thing that I actually like about amer*ca is that 1) American qtp*c are the best ppl in the world 2) my parents will never leave there idk why though, and 3) ppl outside of amer*ca are seriously so FOCKING ignorant about race it pisses me off so much every day lol. I will never understand normal Americans’ love languages wtf I still share a bed w MY mom even though we have like 3 extra beds and I’m happy about it bc I love her and I think that’s normal... -_-

Also I’m sorry to sell out but I LOOOOOVE being able to pass as not-a-minority I seriously love feeling not oppressed (actually not true bc I get microaggressed every day but w/e) I LOVE that I will never get racially hate crimes I will probably neverrrrr face physical violence if I stay here, I have good food good healthcare good public transportation, etc... also sorry to be shallow but I like boys who seem “feminine” by American gender standards (as we all know being able to “cr*ssdress” successfully is actually man-like behavior in many parts of Asia but u know... I love to spend time w ignorant asiaboos online) and I will never find that in America LOL um...

Anyways I’m stressed bc I feel like I HAVE to go back to America financially bc I have to start building a career now and therefore go back and stay there forever until retirement?? Therefore returning to the “real world” after my 3 years of play :’( and I want to be in a qtpoc community again and I’m excited for that but I love Asia I want to stay here I want to meet qt asians I want to BE asian asian 😢

[horrormanga]

i dont think anon meant she STARTED it i think they meant started doing it. but yea if there was so such thing as ariana grande and someone showed me that picture i would think shes racially ambiguous/mixed bc shes imitating asian features. she always was kind of an asiaboo i guess being ambiguously black got boring

Idk i mean I’m not trying to put down how anyone else feels about this but like..she’s just wearing winged eyeliner like she always does. I think if she wasn’t wearing the eyeliner in that pic, this discourse wouldn’t have even happened 💀 also it doesn’t help that most people aren’t used to seeing her with her natural color skin

[alatariiels]

that green pony dude aka the regina george of anti essay dee dapuyu tumblr: anyone who disagree with me is a ccp apologist degenerate asiaboo stans!!! fuck everyone who hates yt supremacy!!!! 😡🤬😡🤬

Lol, I love the regina george nickname. But yeah, that's exactly who he is. And considering how he is an apologist for white supremacy, how is that hypocrite calling people ccp apologists?

[tbhstudying]

[pt one] would u consider someone who has a lot of asian friends/majority of their closer friends asian, watches chinese and japanese movies w their chinese friend, and has a few asian stationary a koreaboo or asiaboo? im genuinely confused on this bc my korean friend said she doesn't see me as a koreaboo, but one of our middle eastern/asian friend always jokingly calls me that and im not sure what exactly to do. i think it might have to do with the fact that one of my ex-friends was a koreaboo

[pt two] my ex-friend was a koreaboo and i didn't know what that was until i started hanging out w my current korean friends who felt really uncomfortable around her. i ended up realizing how uncomfortable my ex-friend was making me and my other friends so i eventually stopped hanging out with her, but im being called a koreaboo by one person even though i don't really see myself as one? im just kinda confused and all i can think of that would make me seem like the was mentioned in the first ask

honestly, i can’t judge you since i’ve never seen you or your behavior irl. i’d suggest asking your friend why she calls you that. if it’s a joke + it hurts your feelings, you could ask her to stop. if she has a legitimate reason, listen to it and evaluate yourself to see if it really is koreaboo-like behavior. 

[jesus-christ-super-ace]

BRUH

did you not read any of my points??? also filipino is an ethnicity, there aren't white mother fuckers who identify as filipino. certain traits aren't choices, no shit sherlock. hetero can mean attracted to the opposite sex but is the attraction sexual? because if it's not how do you know that the person you're attracred to is the opposite sex, i mean you don't ask that on first dates. if someone is gay before they realize that they're trans, but then transition, they're straight. that's just how it works, search it up and do some research on youtube, i can send you articles and videos from reputable sources if you want. republicans don't usually think like that wndndkxm, also what do you mean by deny science? you're the one denying the science. homosexuals exist, that's a fucking fact. djcndk i'm not that stupid. also white mtfs that identify as filipina??? bish wha??? no one's doing that shit, if you're thinking of asiaboos that's a whole ass can of racist worms that we're not talking about. literally barely anyone agrees with you. look at your blog, it's just an arguing ground from multiple tumblr users, go watch she-ra or the owl house instead of arguing with a child. srsly it's a much better use of your time.

Lol I'm not a terf, I'm literally agender. Lesbianism includes trans afabs like me because we're all born exclusively same sex attracted. Ever heard of Leslie Feinberg? Zir is the most famous trans lesbian who ever lived. Nonbinary, like me. Homosexual, like me. If homosexual afabs can't use the word lesbian to describe exclusive same sex attraction between afabs, can we make up another word or do we have to give that up to amabs attracted to afabs too?

im-

bro, all i said was, “trans women are women and can be lesbian” i never brought people outside the gender binaries into this convo, also, terfs aren’t always women, terf stands for ‘trans exclusionary radical feminist” and you don’t have to be a woman to be a feminist, so you can still be a terf. i literally don’t get your points at all. nb people/people who do not identify as binary genders can be lesbian. now, the definition for lesbian states that being a lesbian means being sexually attracted to women, not femminine genitalia. so that includes trans women. s m h 

[insects4girls]

Things Asiaboos Usually Do:

Asiaboo- A person who has an obsession with (normally) East Asia, going as far as wanting to be Asian and appropriating Asian culture. Other names for asiaboos are weeaboos (people obsessed with Japan), koreaboos (people obsessed with Korea) and chinaboos (people obsessed with China). An asiaboo can also be called someone with ‘yellow fever’ as a synonym. Asiaboos are also not always a specific race, even though the majority of asiaboos are white. Other POC (people of colour) can still be asiaboos, but are less likely to be one as they have more respect of other cultures and they understand first hand discrimination and fetishisation.

[Just a PSA: in the following paragraphs only Korea, Japan, China and India will be mentioned. This is no meant to cause offense to other Asians, it is meant to show how ignorant and unwilling asiaboos are to other Asian countries that aren’t Korea, Japan, China and India. The countries names can easily be replaced with any other Asian country. Also Trigger Warning: slurs towards Asians will be used but censored.]

Disclaimer: all the events that asiaboos ‘might do’ I (asian-asf) have witnessed first hand.

-Asiaboos do not care for actual Asian culture. Instead they care for the romanticised version: whether it be Korean boys professing their love dramatically, Japanese school uniforms and senpai-kouhai relationships or dramatic Bollywood-style scenes of (again) love. They do not care for the history of Asian countries or actual culture. They do not care about the discrimination Asian people receive.

-When it comes to discrimination towards Asians, asiaboos are uncannily silent. They want to be us, but they don’t want to be treated like us. When witnessing racism towards Asians, they say nothing, and laugh it off. When called out, they will say “Of course I stand up for Asians! I have Korean oppas/ watch anime/ like Bollywood dancing! I can’t be racist!!” but dearie, liking a specific part from a specific country does not excuse you for being racist. Doing ‘ch*nky eyes’ and then saying ‘I have oppas and unnies I’m not racist!!1!” still makes you racist. Liking the pop culture of a country that is not yours does not give you a free pass to be offensive and racist, and then you do not get to use said pop culture to protect yourself from people who call you out. As well as using Asian pop culture to your advantage, you are ignoring everything else that has happened to reach the current state of the pop culture. Ignoring the history means that you help to contribute to the erasure of history, and they make the culture into another consumable product for the Western world to enjoy. If you do not stand up and speak out about the racism you’ve just witnessed, you are aiding the racist. If you ‘love Japan’ but use ‘ew I look Asian’, you are being offensive. If you specifically trawl through Instagram looking for Asian internet friends, you are being offensive. Asia and Asian people are not your products. And most importantly, Asian culture is not yours to consume and be apart of.

-Now, I’m not saying its horrific if you have Chinese takeaway every Friday night, or if you go to YoSushi to have a meal with friends, or if you go to a Tandoori place as a treat for you and your family, but I am saying its disgusting if the same food you enjoy you also throw away as an insult, or you try to prove something. Quite frankly someone who’s a ‘curryface’ should go to the doctor and being able to use chopsticks does not mean you’re ‘basically Jackie Chan’. What, you love sushi? Does not make you Japanese. It does not give you a right to say “I’m so cultural” or “I’m practically Japanese inside”. Because you’re not.

-The thing is, quite simply, asiaboos think they have respect for Asian cultures, so they think it gives them leeway to act like its theirs. They have little respect for the people of that culture, or the history of that culture.

If you like South Korea, you still don’t get to compare North Korea to your parents midnight curfew.

If you like Japanese culture it does not give you a right to wear something that is not yours: ie, a kimono with or without Japanese makeup (which constitutes as yellowface, which a whole post will be written about later). It does not give you a right to incorporate ‘kawaii’ or ‘senpai notice me’ or ‘baka’ into every sentence that comes out of your mouth.

You like Chinese culture? Then don’t act like having ‘Chinese eyes’ is an insult.

You like Bollywood? That doesn’t give you a right to have a laugh by mocking the accent.

You like Thailand? Doesn’t mean you get to use the stereotype of Thai prostitutes as the butt of your (offensive) joke.

[ineedtofuckingvent]

White person: *learns Korean and discusses their interest in Korean culture, completely non problematic*

Internet: fuck you get the fuck out you racist colonizing Asian fetishist!!!1!1!1!!

Person of color: *clearly fetishizes Koreans*

Internet:

—————

There are/were black kpop trainees in Korea, and no one twisted it to be problematic. But the second a white person is a trainee in Korea, suddenly they’re a racist colonizing piece of shit that only fetishizes Koreans and is a “koreaboo,” which is fucking racist.

—————

White person: *expresses an interest in and liking for kpop*

Internet: *goes off on a tangent about how white ppl are the absolute worst things to ever exist and are subhuman*

—————

It’s really interesting how those “koreaboo/asiaboo cringe” compilations really only show white ppl, and very seldom anyone of color. It’s almost like they’re targeting “whities” just to get more views and applause from the racist internet. Because, as we all know, poc can do absolutely no wrong, and are allowed to appropriate other cultures as much as they want, but the second a white person wears a kimono, for example, they’re “culturally appropriating Japanese culture!!!1!1!!”

[jaejoongs-nipple-piercing]

That was summer 2013. I had songs by all of them, 2NE1 and Big Bang on my Nano in 2013, because I would listen to them at work during break and lunch and then I had them when I started taking classes again in the fall of 2013. And 2014. And 2015. Yes, I gave you crap because I didn't understand how you could like something you didn't understand. But it quickly grew on me. Now I think I have more songs and know more about some of the groups than you. It's true, you just think it isn't because you don't know when I downloaded a lot of them. If I wasn't working my computer and my iPod would be full of Kpop. And Chinese, Japanese, maybe Vietnamese, Thai and Taiwanese music too. I'm an Asiaboo, ok? You happy now? 😢

How is it that I just found this exists this year? I’ve been listening to them since @emeraldbabygirl put their videos up on our tv in 2013. They’re hopped up on energy drinks or something, how else do they have THIS MUCH ENERGY?!?

[abra-ka-dammit]

-

When does appreciation for racial features become fetishization?

Like is it creepy for someone of one race (or specifically a white person I guess?) to gush about the general features of another race and find them particularly attractive over other races?

(I mean stuff like skintone ranges, nose/eye/ear shapes, etc, things like that)

Like I'm thinking abt those.... Idk, asiaboos or whatever, girls who go on abt how Koreans flatter noses and bla bla bla are way sexier than other races and that kinda crap, generally stemming from an overall belief in that race's superiority; and I wanna say they fall into fetishization of a sort, but

If there's not that creepy worship of a race or culture surrounding it and it's really just a physical attraction to the features typical/common to a particular race, is that fetishization?

[fatenumberfor]

im sorry that member of my race is like... that 😬

props to that white girl for being the brutally and disgustingly honest voice of koreaboos/weeaboos/sinoboos lmfao I guess someone had to say it for people to realise how gross they are. call out your local asiaboo today

[insects4girls]

when will you be posting on how not to be an asiaboo?

You’ve caught me ;-;

I really really really need to work on it and I’ve even written it out in my journal but it still needs a lot of editing and adding, but thank you for reminding me!!

I still have 5 days of school left and I’m starting a new job but I pinky promise I’ll try and get it up sometime this week.

Thanks for asking! -Emma xoxo

[insects4girls]

working on how to not be an asiaboo rn!! please be a lil more patient thanks xoxo

tho srsly  by this time yall should know I'm ALWAYS late for stuff lol