gros faux pas

This past weekend, my coworkers and I celebrated the holidays with a traditional American feast and a white elephant exchange. The day before the party, I went to the nearest kitsch shop to look for the 'worst' gift I could find for under 20 RMB. Gold lacquered piggy banks with prominently rounded rear ends, earmuffs in the shape of rat-nosed foxes, a kiddie camera that makes a clicking noise and flashes a 5-watt bulb.
Then, up next to the sleek glass picture frames and chic ladies purses, I saw it: a bobble-headed clock. A very kitschy bobble-headed clock.

The base was in the shape of a sneaker with Ronald McDonald colors: yellow, white, and ketchup red. To this base was attached a spring coil, and at the head was an equally tomato-colored clock in the shape of a thumbs up sign. On the thumb was a smiley face, with two donut eyes and a sliver of a smile. The fingernails were painted mauve, and the letters HAPPY danced across the bottom of the hand. On the face of the clock was a cartoon picture of a little boy holding a flower and kissing a girl. The caption read, "Hello! When you're troubled, just enjoy sliding like me!" (I never knew "sliding" was slang for making out.)
I bargained this bauble down to 20 RMB (yes, can you imagine the starting price was actually higher!?) and went home quite pleased with my purchase. This pleasure seemed justified when a coworker unwrapped my gift during the white elephant game and everybody screamed with delight. Pretending I didn't know what the gift was, I asked another coworker, who explained, "It's a really bad gift. It's like the end of life!"
I had chosen my gift perfectly.
Or so I thought.
The next day, I discovered the true reason for the excessive laughter at my present. It turns out that in Chinese culture, you should never, ever gift a clock to someone, especially not to somebody old. Doing so means you want that person to die, or, quite literally, that the end of their life is near!
Merry Christmas!

prejudice

In the US, we cannot deny our historical and continuing practice of racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice. Despite well-meaning legislation, we still see the effects of such discrimination, from the demographics of our socio-economic classes and our educational and health care systems to the traces of injustice reflected in our language and social consciousness. Things have improved over our country's brief history, particularly in the last fifty years, but intolerance continues in shaded forms.

Since September 11th, intolerance has grown from greater fear. The oxymoron "Islamic terrorist" has become a political catchphrase. Even the intended victims of prejudice have become confused in the blinding constriction of prejudice itself. At the Chicago airport, I met a soldier on his way home from serving in the Gulf. When I asked him to watch my suitcase while I went to the restroom, he replied, with a grin on his face, "Sure, I'll make sure no Iraqis get to it."

In the US, the daily mix of skin colors, religions, sexual identities, etcetera, seems to encourage emphasis of and breed antagonism over such differences. Political tensions with people of different faiths and genetic compositions only add fuel to the fire. But this prejudice does not thrive only in melting pots; it is alive and healthy in largely homogenous societies, too. In fact, I have witnessed more blatant acts of bigotry by laypeople in China than I ever have in the States.

Before going to the US, my Chinese coworker expressed her belief that many Americans are racist though they claim the ideal of equality. I could not deny her this analysis. But in the US, she did not observe any such acts of discrimination. Whether the racism she expected was non-existent or simply hidden from view, equality and respect were what she observed. I cannot say the same for my experience here.

In China, the Shanghainese are known for being arrogant and superficial, for looking down upon fellow citizens from less developed or less westernized areas. Those from Beijing are also branded as haughty, though in an aristocratic rather than a materialistic vein. However, no regional prejudice seems more pointed or generally accepted than that against the Uyghurs. The Uyghurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, a region in the northwest populated mostly by Muslim Turkic groups and other Chinese minorities. The Uyghurs are stereotyped as unclean and uneducated - and, especially, as thieves. They are the butt of jokes, the accepted and expected villain in stories of petty crime. I've seen people avoid them on the streets, walking at a safe distance if they must cross paths. I've even seen a woman warn passersby to watch out for their belongings because Uyghurs were coming their way. Uyghurs are the gypsies, the untouchables, of China.

Beyond their borders, the Chinese hold a deep prejudice against people from certain neighboring Asian countries. A number of Chinese I've met feel a latent hatred towards the Japanese, a remnant of often tumultuous relations between their two nations. Those in my grandparents' generation can still recall the bloody struggle for Shanghai in the Second Sino-Japanese War, followed directly by the battle and well-known massacre in Nanjing. The hostility has filtered down to today's generation. A few months ago, a Chinese coworker errantly sent an email through our office listserv calling for her compatriots to denounce Japan's attempt to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. And comparing somebody's physical appearance to that of a Japanese may be seen by some as insulting.

Koreans receive their fair share of discriminatory remarks from the Chinese, too. The most common stereotype of Koreans is that they have all had plastic surgery because, as my real estate agent so cheerfully put it, "they are all so ugly." Apparently there is a joke about a beautiful Korean couple walking down the street pushing an ugly baby in a stroller. You can guess what the punch line might be.

Minorities in China comprise approximately 7% of the population. In the US, that percentage more than quadruples. Regardless of percentage, both our countries have an Other. And it seems that wherever there is an Other, prejudice thrives.

Maybe it is our nature to feel this way. Maybe it is human nature to fear the unknown. But in so many other ways we have transcended our nature, so what is stopping us now? Enough of our petty prejudices. Let us go find out and make it known: we are all the Other.

back in business

Thanks to my trusty Webmaster, I can once again post to my blog. No more excuses for my extended disappearance.