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[jasonng]

At most Asian restaurants, have most of you been treated better based on lighter skin tone?

I'm darker versus the rest of my family and my brother was born with a pretty pale complexion. The waiters at this Chinese restaurant we used to frequent would constantly hand him the check, when it was my treat. I paid for it and overheard the waiter saying that he thought I was the poor man out. =\

That's fucked up. My last serious relationship was with a girl who was Cambodian and she had to deal with Asians with a superior complex, including her ex who was Chinese like me. I told her I wasn't like that. Still I saw her insecurities come out when she felt like a "second class Asian" when problems arises. I never understood racism let alone racism within the Asian community.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Hello.

I remember seeing this thread while I was away in HK/China on vacation, and I said to myself I'll post here eventually. Then christmas happened and I got way too busy, so here I am now. Chinese, born in HK, moved to Toronto when I was 9. Anything else? (Boy this is sounding like an AA intro).

 

[Kevyt]

At most Asian restaurants, have most of you been treated better based on lighter skin tone?

I'm darker versus the rest of my family and my brother was born with a pretty pale complexion. The waiters at this Chinese restaurant we used to frequent would constantly hand him the check, when it was my treat. I paid for it and overheard the waiter saying that he thought I was the poor man out. =\

Wow that really sucks... I:

Light skin individuals are mostly oblivious to this because they don't have to deal with this kind of situations.

 

[clav]

At most Asian restaurants, have most of you been treated better based on lighter skin tone?

I'm darker versus the rest of my family and my brother was born with a pretty pale complexion. The waiters at this Chinese restaurant we used to frequent would constantly hand him the check, when it was my treat. I paid for it and overheard the waiter saying that he thought I was the poor man out. =\

Yes there is skin tone racism within countries.

The general stereotype is lighter skin Asians (usually from the North) look down to the darker skin Asians (usually from the South). Supposedly, the darker skin implies working outside, usually for menial labor reasons (low class).

 

[jasonng]

Yes there is skin tone racism within countries.

The general stereotype is lighter skin Asians (usually from the North) look down to the darker skin Asians (usually from the South). Supposedly, the darker skin implies working outside, usually for menial labor reasons (low class).

Please don't tell me people actually believe this.

 

[Zoe]

Please don't tell me people actually believe this.

That's pretty much a standard that has applied in cultures worldwide for ages.

 

[jasonng]

What a gross mentality.

 

[jasonng]

The world is not a pretty place.

You want an avatar quote but I won't give you the satisfaction.

 

[Septimus Prime]

At most Asian restaurants, have most of you been treated better based on lighter skin tone?

I'm darker versus the rest of my family and my brother was born with a pretty pale complexion. The waiters at this Chinese restaurant we used to frequent would constantly hand him the check, when it was my treat. I paid for it and overheard the waiter saying that he thought I was the poor man out. =\

This I've never experienced, but I do often get better service/lower prices at Chinese businesses when I speak to them in Mandarin.

I remember this one particular restaurant, which had these huge "No MSG" signs on display, ended up admitting to me that they do, in fact, use a little MSG when I pressed in Chinese over the phone. I started in English, and they insisted, so I switched my language, and said some stuff about my mom being allergic, and then finally the lady was like, "having a little MSG in the meat is inevitable because we get it from the supplier like that."

EDIT: I'm quite pale.

 

[CapNBritain]

Yes there is skin tone racism within countries.

The general stereotype is lighter skin Asians (usually from the North) look down to the darker skin Asians (usually from the South). Supposedly, the darker skin implies working outside, usually for menial labor reasons (low class).

My whole family is hella dark. I used to swim outside for 2 hours a day in high school and looked like burnt toast. Years of office work has turned my skin to a light mocha now, but the darkness has always make people unsure of my ethnicity. I never noticed anyone looking down on my because of my skin color, but I'm pretty oblivious to those things.

I do have one friend who refuses to date dark Asian women, despite being almost as dark as me. It's really weird, and he insists that it's not a racism/classism/whatever thing, but a beauty preference. He also will only date skinny, young and "hot" Asian women, so there is that. He's single.

 

[clav]

I do have one friend who refuses to date dark Asian women, despite being almost as dark as me. It's really weird, and he insists that it's not a racism/classism/whatever thing, but a beauty preference. He also will only date skinny, young and "hot" Asian women, so there is that. He's single.

I think his parents have some involvement / influence in his dating choices.

 

[MissDeviling]

I get told by my parents maybe I'm too pale because I don't go out exercising enough. :B My dad and sister on the other hand have more olive-like skin.

Hello.

I remember seeing this thread while I was away in HK/China on vacation, and I said to myself I'll post here eventually. Then christmas happened and I got way too busy, so here I am now. Chinese, born in HK, moved to Toronto when I was 9. Anything else? (Boy this is sounding like an AA intro).

Hey, you're from the Occupy Central thread! ^-^/ Hello!

 

[Warrior_Keoni]

I do notice some discrimination definitely when shopping at various Asian supermarkets. I'm not dark enough to be constantly discriminated against, but I've definitely seen examples of others (especially older folks) talking behind darker-skinned Asians and staring at them.

My family and I were shopping for a big dinner one time when this other Chinese couple was talking crap about this possibly Vietnamese family that were fairly darker in tone.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

I get told by my parents maybe I'm too pale because I don't go out exercising enough. :B My dad and sister on the other hand have more olive-like skin.


Hey, you're from the Occupy Central thread! ^-^/ Hello!

Ahaha. Yes. That one still stings for me. It's such a weird place to be in, having it technically attached to my history and background, yet still remote enough. Don't know whether to be objective or not.

It's also a weird thing for me to visit HK, because even though I am fluent, people can pick out that I'm not local. And man, even in HK does the language thing matter. Shops are way more open to you when you speak Mandarin or English instead of Cantonese.

 

[YesNOnoNOYes]

I'm whiter than some white people. I know, we just compared last week. We were talking about spray on tans with a friend.

aah yes yes

I guess I failed to mention that most of my extended family, my mom included, prizes alabaster-ness in general

Like, white asian = white westerners

Although white asians' white is different tone to white westerners' skin tone, ...but if you are 'pale', you are ~awesome~

?????

PROFIT



man i can't care less actually XD im not dark, but i'm not pale, so it's nice i guess.

Spoiler

on the OTHER side of second-hand embarrassment stuff, there is a subculture in japan who idolizes dark skin because they associate it with ~hip black people~ :x it's super facepalm how people fetishizes other people all across the globe.

 

[Le-mo]

OH YOU POSTED HERE. Please tell me it was my card that led you here haha



.

It was. I didn't know there was an Asian gaf on here until I read your card. Thanks again for the gifts!

At most Asian restaurants, have most of you been treated better based on lighter skin tone?

I'm darker versus the rest of my family and my brother was born with a pretty pale complexion. The waiters at this Chinese restaurant we used to frequent would constantly hand him the check, when it was my treat. I paid for it and overheard the waiter saying that he thought I was the poor man out. =\

My friends, family and I are fairly light skinned so we never encountered problems like that. I don't know if it's a thing here in Seattle. Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[Astarte]

I get told by my parents maybe I'm too pale because I don't go out exercising enough. :B My dad and sister on the other hand have more olive-like skin.

The Korean half of my family is pretty dark skinned while the Japanese side of my family are pale skinned people. Walking into a family reunion is like looking at a yin-yang painting :X

 

[MissDeviling]

Ahaha. Yes. That one still stings for me. It's such a weird place to be in, having it technically attached to my history and background, yet still remote enough. Don't know whether to be objective or not.

It's also a weird thing for me to visit HK, because even though I am fluent, people can pick out that I'm not local. And man, even in HK does the language thing matter. Shops are way more open to you when you speak Mandarin or English instead of Cantonese.

Same, born there but immigrated when I was 5 to Canada, so I'm almost CBC. I love the culture of Hong Kongers though. They're so lively! Canada feels a little more mellow in comparison.

I haven't gone back in these few years, but my parents said the shops have definitely changes. Is it the high-end shops that are like this or is this applicable to all shops?

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Same, born there but immigrated when I was 5 to Canada, so I'm almost CBC. I love the culture of Hong Kongers though. They're so lively! Canada feels a little more mellow in comparison.

I haven't gone back in these few years, but my parents said the shops have definitely changes. Is it the high-end shops that are like this or is this applicable to all shops?

Pretty much all that does retail, but more high end I guess. Just funny to see locals get ignored by the body shop.

 

[y2dvd]

That's pretty much a standard that has applied in cultures worldwide for ages.

I second this. Cambodians can be very dark. Some used to tell me how lucky I was to get my pale Chinese side and were envious of it.

 

[Warrior_Keoni]

Same, born there but immigrated when I was 5 to Canada, so I'm almost CBC. I love the culture of Hong Kongers though. They're so lively! Canada feels a little more mellow in comparison.

I haven't gone back in these few years, but my parents said the shops have definitely changes. Is it the high-end shops that are like this or is this applicable to all shops?

Pretty much all that does retail, but more high end I guess. Just funny to see locals get ignored by the body shop.

I always enjoyed visiting Canada especially around the Toronto area. Have either of you visited the US enough to distinguish any particular points between Asian-Canadian and Asian-American?

My experience is that Asian-Canadians tend to have a more "homely" feel in some of the shops, but not too aggressive for selling things especially at Pacific Mall. Chinatowns around here on the East coast tend to be eyeballing everyone and making fairly crude remarks.

 

[MissDeviling]

Pretty much all that does retail, but more high end I guess. Just funny to see locals get ignored by the body shop.

Kind of the same as Chinese restaurants where I live. They pay a lot more attention and care to white people. Makes sense I guess, since they tip better and expect some conversation.

Kind of apprehensive about my visit back this October, since things are pretty rocky there it seems.

 

[Kevyt]

I remember my parents (my mom specifically) telling me that certain colors did not look good on me because of my dark skin. Growing up I liked bright red and yellow colors, as well as opaque greys when shopping for clothes . My mom would always say no to them. It would make me look darker, and she would argue that it didn't go well with my skin color. So yeah, that pretty much happened every time as a little kid when I needed new clothes. Now I wear any color I want, lol. Who cares about skin color not matching with your clothes color. >.>

 

[MissDeviling]

I always enjoyed visiting Canada especially around the Toronto area. Have either of you visited the US enough to distinguish any particular points between Asian-Canadian and Asian-American?

My experience is that Asian-Canadians tend to have a more "homely" feel in some of the shops, but not too aggressive for selling things especially at Pacific Mall. Chinatowns around here on the East coast tend to be eyeballing everyone and making fairly crude remarks.

I've only visited New York once and I only went to one slightly Asian place, was like a buffet thing that my tour group went to. Was OK lol, nothing notable. I guess if you visit the cafes around Toronto they're more homely, kind of like emulating places back in Hong Kong.

I hear cultures are more homogeneous in US than in Canada, though not sure if that's true. Maybe we tend to be less North American and more like wherever we're from? Most people I know have immigrant parents or are immigrants themselves though.

Lol Pacific Mall's turned into a phone/tablet repair mall and case shop... Bubble tea and curry fish balls and egg... cake things are still around which is nice.

 

[robox]

Have either of you visited the US enough to distinguish any particular points between Asian-Canadian and Asian-American?

i find canada/us differences tend to be minute. i'm way more interested in differences between asian-asian and asian-american. i can usually classify each on sight. (i don't know enough about european-asians)

 

[Zoe]

I remember my parents (my mom specifically) telling me that certain colors did not look good on me because of my dark skin. Growing up I liked bright red and yellow colors, as well as opaque greys when shopping for clothes . My mom would always say no to them. It would make me look darker, and she would argue that it didn't go well with my skin color. So yeah, that pretty much happened every time as a little kid when I needed new clothes. Now I wear any color I want, lol. Who cares about skin color not matching with your clothes color. >.>

That's actually pretty important to fashion...

 

[Septimus Prime]

Who cares about skin color not matching with your clothes color. >.>

My wife cares. "Can you please not wear that anymore?"

 

[Windam]

I remember my parents (my mom specifically) telling me that certain colors did not look good on me because of my dark skin. Growing up I liked bright red and yellow colors, as well as opaque greys when shopping for clothes . My mom would always say no to them. It would make me look darker, and she would argue that it didn't go well with my skin color. So yeah, that pretty much happened every time as a little kid when I needed new clothes. Now I wear any color I want, lol. Who cares about skin color not matching with your clothes color. >.>

Matching the right colours with your skin complexion is pretty important if you're into fashion. Can go a long way with making people look better in things like suits, for example.

 

[Mr. Wedgewood]

I have a "farmer" tan. Kinda sucks.

 

[Slermy]

I've always been a fan of a darker skin tone.

I think that might be because as a kid I used to be darker, but now as an adult I am pretty pale and appear to be fully caucasian to most individuals. There have been many times I'm in an Asian grocery, restaurant, etc.and upon paying with a credit card, the employee immediately changes their attitude towards me once they see my name.

 

[cdyhybrid]

I'd like to have a tan, but it's pretty hard to do that while living in Seattle. Fake n bake is not an option.

I was pretty dark growing up because I was at the beach/pool all the time!

 

[Erheller]

I'm really pale. Because of that a lot of people think I'm half white, which I'm not.

 

[Warrior_Keoni]

I've always been a fan of a darker skin tone.

I think that might be because as a kid I used to be darker, but now as an adult I am pretty pale and appear to be fully caucasian to most individuals. There have been many times I'm in an Asian grocery, restaurant, etc.and upon paying with a credit card, the employee immediately changes their attitude towards me once they see my name.

For the positive or negative?

 

[Slermy]

Generally for the positive.

 

[Kevyt]

That's actually pretty important to fashion...

Matching the right colours with your skin complexion is pretty important if you're into fashion. Can go a long way with making people look better in things like suits, for example.

Well I'm not into fashion. I'm with the idea that a five year old should be able to have a nice bright red sweater with power rangers in it if he wants to. Don't tell that five year old he can't because of his skin color. It sends a negative message to the child about his/her skin color and the kind of clothes he/she can wear.

 

[Windam]

Well I'm not into fashion. I'm with the idea that a five year old should be able to have a nice bright red sweater with power rangers in it if he wants to. Don't tell that five year old he can't because of his skin color. It sends a negative message to the child about his/her skin color and the kind of clothes he/she can wear.

It's really just for the people who care about what they wear and look like. Self conscious people? Assholes? Fashionistas? All three?

 

[Troubled Bat]

Just dropping by! I've been going through community lately, then discovered AsianGAF. So... Hello everyone!

 

[Kevyt]

It's really just for the people who care about what they wear and look like. Self conscious people? Assholes? Fashionistas? All three?

I don't understand your questions in relevance to my previous post.

Just dropping by! I've been going through community lately, then discovered AsianGAF. So... Hello everyone!

Hello!

 

[Brianâ˜]

Hello everyone!
Brian, born from Australia.
Parents are from Vietnam~

 

[Troubled Bat]

I'm not Asian myself. I'm Hispanic/Navajo! But throughout my whole life, people have thought that I was based on my looks. Hah. I just find it funny at this point, and I still get that till this day.

Hello!

Hai Hai Hai!

 

[Rainy]

Hello everyone!
Brian, born from Australia.
Parents are from Vietnam~

Hello! Welcome

 

[Troubled Bat]

What are we listening to? What will we drool over!?
I need to know these answers! (*´>&#1076;<)

 

[Kevyt]

What are we listening to? What will we drool over!?
I need to know these answers! (*´>&#1076;<)

Food!

 

[Troubled Bat]

You have my attention.

 

[y2dvd]

We always talking about food up in here...and I don't mind. I love asian bakery shops mMm mmm mMmmmmm.

 

[Zoe]

We always talking about food up in here...and I don't mind. I love asian bakery shops mMm mmm mMmmmmm.

Asian-style cake >>>>>>> regular cake

 

[Kevyt]

Thanks for the lunch suggestion, guys.

Off to 85C I go!

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/85-c-bakery-cafe-irvine#8AlKxyL1HZMYK_G6eyEpiA

http://85cafe.us/locations.html

Yum! Enjoy :3

 

[Troubled Bat]

What is that? It looks good!

 

[Septimus Prime]

I don't really get the mega-popularity of 85C. I mean, it's pretty good, but it's not different from any of the other Chinese bakeries.

 

[jasonng]

We don't seem to have 85C on this side of the coast but judging from the pics their pastries look more aesthetically pleasing at the very least. But yeah, Chinese bakeries are a dime a dozen here. When I used to work really late at nights, I look forward to hitting up one on Main st the next morning and get myself some roast pork buns, a pineapple bun, egg tart, and hot milk tea.