#in fact a lot of disabled people are fat & vice versa

[pa-pa-plasma]

look, if your kneejerk reaction to "being obese can cause health problems" is "so you're suggesting we abuse fat people" I think you need to go to therapy. simply acknowledging a health issue that disproportionately effects people who are fat is not abuse. no one is suggesting forcing you to go on a starvation diet. we are saying you deserve to know what you will possibly need to deal with in the future, health-wise. that shouldn't be hidden from you, or anyone with any condition that can cause other issues, & if being told possible health issues is a trigger, then you need help to get to the point where you are capable of viewing your health objectively instead of through the lens that everyone is making fun of you.

[writingwithcolor]

Iam wanting to write a story about a girl who has asthma, a learning disability and is considered by society to be less than average. She is also a little over weight. When she has been given immortality other immortals shun her and want her dead. To escape from this she goes to a martial arts temple in China. She is also an American. I was wondering how I could incorporate both cultures in my story?

Overweight Chinese American girl with asthma & learning disability, martial arts, & China

Disclaimer: I’ve written this response assuming that the main character herself is Chinese or Chinese-American. 

Some stuff I’d like to discuss point-by-point:

Being an Asthmatic

Asthmatics don’t exactly have the best representation in media, so I’m worried about a non-Asthmatic writing a story where the main conflict is centered around the MC’s method of coping with ableism.

Especially considering how we’re portrayed as stereotypical nerds/geeks for not being absolute athletes (haha maybe because pushing ourselves that far will literally result in an asthma attack-)

I have a feeling that in addition to the point where Chinese people are already stereotyped as nerds, having her be asthmatic as well does mean you’ll have to be more careful in how you present her. We already have the whole “model minority, East Asian = nerd” thing going for us.

Being “overweight”

America’s definition of “overweight” looks different for all kinds of people! 

Someone who’s statistically considered “overweight” by American standards might pass as being “average” (in American standards once again) and vice-versa! The existence of the word actually insinuates the existence of an ideal weight-- pretty fatphobic.

If you mean to say that she’s fat, chubby, and/or plump, then do so. Don’t dance around the term just because it’s deemed ‘undesirable’ by our Eurocentric beauty standards. 

(Additionally, being chubby is associated with the nerd trope as well. More to watch out when developing her character.)

Mod Rune mentions the specific way you’ve phrased how as a result of her being overweight and asthmatic, she’s “considered by society to be less than average” and she’s shunned/wanted dead specifically for these two reasons.

Being disabled =/= incompetency or being less than an abled person. Once again, an OwnVoices situation would make sense; However I would still worry about infantilizing Asthmatic/chubby people this way.

The plot… oof.

I’m worried that your method of combating the already-delicate conflict (that she’s looking for a way to cope with her feelings of inadequacy induced by ableism/fatphobia), is pretty insulting. You specifically word her trip to China as an “escape” which I feel could have a much better reason-- your excuse as is sounds to lead into a story of “refinding myself at the home of my birth culture” or something like that- especially with the fact that she’ll be doing this at a martial arts temple. A very cultural aspect of China.

Martial Arts?

That being said; Even though a Chinese martial artist does feel rather stereotypical, it does help with asthma (source: me and Taekwondo)

Specifically, according to this study from NCBI on the correlation between asthmatic children and Taichichuan, results have shown that “12 weeks of Tai-Chi-Chuan could improve the pulmonary function, decrease airway inflammation, and improve quality of life in children with mild asthma”.

However Northern Shaolin, Hung Ga, Wing Chun, and other Chinese forms of martial arts could work as well! Please do research on the specific techniques and differentiate between them. Appropriating Chinese martial arts on top of the fact that it’s already rather tropey- very bad.

A different plot?

Perhaps don’t send her off to China to quote, "escape from how other [immortals shun her and want her dead]". 

I think a better motivation for this change in landscape would be “She wanted to train to get stronger and improve her health with how it was negatively impacted because of her asthma.” 

The thing with a lot of disabled people is that-- we don’t want to have to “keep up” with abled people. We don’t want to need to take all these extra measures just to be able to function ‘normally’ (or at least the one defined by society). I feel that the motives in your original plot panders to that idea that she must get stronger or else she’ll never be accepted by the other immortals. A Chinese-American asthmatic myself, I’d much rather see her self-worth measured through her own growth as an individual than how well she ‘fits in’ with non-asthmatics.

Marika mentions that people also often do martial arts for culturally-relevant exercise-- so this could also be a way for her to reconnect with her birth culture.

Sophia also mentions that being overweight has little on one’s skills as a martial artist; So it shouldn’t be used as an argument as to why someone shouldn’t be taking on a certain expertise. (Seconded, as someone who did kendo: some of the better kendoka were overweight and had more precision than I did --Jess)

Incorporating TCK Culture:

Look for stuff written by actual Chinese-American third-culture kids!

Every little part of life- from the stories parents tell their kids before bed to the kind of food we eat daily- is 100% influenced by both our caregivers and the community we live in. For me personally, we’d have hotpot dinners with other Asian families during the Lunar New Year and I’d typically be sent to Chinese school on Sundays as well. 

Mods Jess and Lesya touch up on some TCK elements in this ask as well! (Wanting to Learn More About Culture Because of Chinese Name) However your MC celebrates her cultures will also depend on how assimilated into America her family is.

Like I said earlier: look for materials that Chinese-American TCKs and immigrants have written! There’s no better way to learn about certain customs than getting them from the actual source.

My ending thoughts!

These are honestly traits that I’d love to see more, as an asthmatic Chinese-American myself who has done martial arts in the past, haha.

Be extra careful when a ton of your character’s traits are found in East Asian (Chinese) caricatures! Be sure to flesh her out as a three-dimensional character as this description that you’ve given us (regarding her conflict) makes me go >.>-- I don’t like it as is.

Give her motivations for herself that aren’t purely to conform to others (per the submissive Asian girl trope). Having a bullied Asian girl does feel like it plays into this, so please don’t have her measure her worth as an individual based off of the standards set by abled people!

Do tons of research on Chinese martial arts! Marika mentions huge points below that I want you to consider when giving her a specific speciality-- just saying “a martial arts temple” doesn’t cut it. 

(As always, any reader feedback/additions would be appreciated!)

~ Mod Emme

These are my thoughts as someone who has practiced various styles of Chinese martial arts. 

While the quality of the instructor and the student’s efforts are crucial, I think you need to be clear on the following:

The style of martial arts your character will be doing

Their physical limitations

The type of learning disability they have. 

Different fighting styles suit the limitations of different body types in different ways

A person who is overweight may find styles with explosive movements that put weight on vulnerable joints like the knees to be painful. Styles that favor stable stances may be more feasible than those that emphasize movements with lots of air time, crouching and jumping.

A person who is inflexible will need a style that encourages them to keep limber to avoid getting hurt.

A person with diminished lung capacity will need a style that safely challenges their endurance.

Different learning disabilities might make certain styles more or less difficult to learn

ADHD may favor fast fighting styles with complex move sets and a wide variety of weapons.

Issues associated with memory retention may make styles that emphasize sparring easier than those that focus on memorizing forms

Make no mistake, the culture of a style will be as much of a consideration for your character as the Chinese and American cultural influences. Do your research, and inquire with practitioners as to what styles would work well for your characters. 

The tumblr blog How to Fight Write would likely be a good resource on the physical logistics of different styles. 

- Marika

[dpdr-dreams]

What's weed connection with dpdr?

Weed strains when ‘abused’/ taken in excess can result in a type of panic attack which forces the body into a dissociative state, with depersonalised and derealised symptoms, although trauma still must be present for this to occur for the body to fall back onto this preconditioned protective state. “ case series of 6 patients who developed persistent depersonalization disorder in adolescence after consuming cannabis. In 2 of these cases, the illness course was severely disabling.“  “someone living with panic attacks is less likely to respond to the experience with relaxation, and many instead respond with a panic attack or rush of anxiety.“

but the truth is thc and other receptor binders in various strains (which each ratio will vary between different strains, so that must be taken into account when looking at both triggers and treatment) can help regulate this already off balance from trauma induced depression or anxiety like symptoms!! so when used medically and with regulation, a thought out plan in response to the already developed state your endocannabinoid system seems to be in rather than just symptoms (which is why trauma history and understanding how your brain is developed is key to most treatments) is essential to getting the right help. 

what natural and/ therefore synthetic (weed) do: “cannabinoids function like a “dimmer switch” for presynaptic neurons, limiting the amount of neurotransmitter (e.g., dopamine) that gets released, which in turn affects how messages are sent, received, and processed by the cell.”

and in fact the human body actually “produces its own “endogenous” cannabinoids (chemicals otherwise unique to the cannabis plant). These cannabinoids—whether formed in your brain or inhaled via smoking—fit neatly into a series of specialized receptors located throughout the human body, with their greatest concentration in the hippocampus (which regulates memory), the cerebral cortex (cognition), the cerebellum (motor coordination), the basal ganglia (movement), the hypothalamus (appetite), and the amygdala (emotions).”

but because weed can hold high amounts of THC- the chemical that affects the access and managing of these important brain areas naturally- when someone lets too much into their system at once, THC consequently “overwhelms the EC system, quickly attaching to cannabinoid receptors throughout the brain and body. This interferes with the ability of “natural cannabinoids” to do their job of fine-tuning communication between neurons, which can throw the entire system off balance.” and when accompanied by an anxiety or panic attack the body goes into ‘shock’, and with it being in the current unbalanced state, it causes your body to use the defense mechanism DPDR (triggered from being a past coping mechanism in likely subtler forms in childhood), but as it occurs in this state the way the body copes can be to keep the body at a regulation at this level. also depending on how much or how you took the weed it can be stored in fat cells which can be released over a period of time even after stopping (which can reduce withdrawal effects making it practically unharmful physically to stop taking which is great but can make symptoms maybe last longer as it’s responding to a gradual reduction). but this also means is the attack of anxiety is more linked to thc dose it will subside with time, however, if taken by someone with a prior history of panic and anxiety (or other mood) disorders it will become a case of treating the source of that illness than the thc dose. 

Cannabis for Restoring Balance

Cannabinoids from cannabis have the ability to bind to cannabinoid receptors and restore balance too. in people suffering from chronic pain, -which effects emotional, sleep, cognitive and sensory health- THC is not only an analgesic, it also blocks the pain from stimulating the cannabinoid receptors that are triggering the increased heart rate, blood pressure, mood effects and sleep deprivation in the brain, as the EC system is so integrated with our whole well being. which also explains why mental disorders despite being primary psychological illnesses have physical side effect symptoms and vice-versa for physical health.

Cannabis has been shown to offer health benefits in treating a number of these overlapping mental/physical conditions associated with homeostatic imbalance, including:

Arthritis

Lupus

Depression

Fibromyalgia

Appetite disorders

Diabetes

Crohn’s Disease

Researchers are also looking at the effects of cannabis on schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that may be due to an unbalanced dopamine and other neurochemical cycles in the brain. which as dopamine receptors have a cannabinoid receptor as a part of that neuron we know weed can be a huge part of that regulation and treatment.

But as i said before at the start cannabinoids can also be key to regulating what our bodies may lack as the result from the EC systems now developmental issues related to abuse/ trauma and born mental health issues. weed is not something to be written off as a scary thing that can induce such a terrifying illness as dpdr, as it can also treat it. regulation and medical control of a prescription plan is what modern medicine needs to look into as controlling our EC system is key to regulating even the most complex of health issues, something only weed can teach us to treat from. “clinical data fully support the involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the etiopathogenesis of several mental diseases in terms of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoid levels, present in mood disorders (anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and suicidality) as well as psychosis. human studies seem to suggest that pharmacological modulation of this system might represent a novel approach for treatment. (schizophrenia)” source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26408164

in summary, over-stimulation of the EC system (from taking too much of a very thc dominant weed strain) causes imbalance, which in trauma sufferers can cause a panicked state triggering a prior childhood coping mechanism into a more severe form (DPDR). But this relationship between THC and the out of balance EC is also known now to be of amazing help in the regulation used for treatment against a lot of the physical changes in the brain and symptoms of dpdr.

thanks anon for the ask i enjoyed writing on this topic, especially as im not from the large group of people who suffer from the THC induced dissociative disorders,  i found it really useful to understand how it occurs for other people and the surprising new treatments. sorry if its a bit long and all over the place/repetitive as being a severe dpdr sufferer myself it maybe is not written very well/coherently but i hope that it still answers your question abit !  so thanks again anon and wishing you well!