Thread: Patronimics

Originally Posted by nightfaerie

^ that was me talking just now

Get your act together nightfaerie!

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Originally Posted by Anonymous

...and be identified immediately as a foreigner whether I want to be or not, or I could choose a Russian name for people to call me by, which I think is what I'd rather do..

No matter what you do you will still be immediately identified as a foreigner unless you speak Russian with a perfect Ryazan accent. Chosing a Russian name will not help.

true, but for example if there was an immigrant from India in the United States, named Kamabidukhalati, he'd be picked on more than if he had people call him an American name

Is this why all the Chinese-Americans I know have really boring names like "Alan" and "Stephanie"?

I personally like very cultural last names, or first names. Probably because I live in a very diverse area with many many immigrants.(including me and my sisters)

I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not pravit, but yeah most of the chinese people have american names (Bill, Amanda, Carolyn, Sara, Christina) but then their middle name is chinese

Their middle name is really their Chinese name in disguise. I guess it's so they don't have to explain how to pronounce a name with Q's and X's in it at those stores where they call out your name when your order is ready.

Perhaps they use English names inorder to fit in better? Not they having an English name is going to save them from being outcast altogether, but it may be a sort of soft padding-down of their differentness. There is actually a phenemoenon on Australia of some older generation Chinese disowning their home culture. It's minority that actuallt severs their tues to their homeland, but the desire to be accepted can get even proud Chinese people changing their names for social easing.
My Indonesian friend's name was Wendy. He was a male. So, even though he'd a proud Indonesian, it was much easier for him after he changed his name to Daniel. (Though, yes, this had a gender element too. But the pricipal is similar).
For the kids that change their names, when their parents had given them a native name- I shouldn't write off the fact that maybe some Asians actually like the English speaking culture more. It's very alluring, especially for teenagers. And, especially if their parents at home spread on their heritage on too thick. Teenagers are always rebelling against tradition in non-traditional surrounding.

Many of the Chinese and Korean kids at my school don't have English names, but when they don't the teachers get confused and don't know how to pronounce it. Sometimes they have trouble pronouncing my name "Eugenia" and my friend's name "Alisa". They constantly end up calling her Alyssa.... So sorry to be off topic if it seems that.

Not off-topic.

Just making sure beacuse I see how people act when others get off topic.

Yep yep, I think it's mainly for ease of pronunciation, but you are quite right in that there are a lot of Asians who just want to assimilate into white culture. Of course, they never had a say in what their name was going to be.

Most didn't , I'd assume. But it is very common for the child to change his own name. But I guess the parent forsaw the problems, if they gave their children Englisg names. I don't know much about the parents calling their kids Englisg names. I only really know the mentality behing the ones that change their own.

Prav, enlighten me. Just how strong is the need to 'assimilate'. Obviously you have no desire to lose your own identity, but social practicality must beg you to make concessions. Depending on how tolerant a society you live in. Does being Asian cause significant troubles, or is it easily dealt with? I know different places have different experiences, and different people with the same place. But I only hear 'political' mumbo jumbo about racism in America, never much honest and candid 'from the horses mouth' life dealings.

Interesting question, Brett. I do not know if Asians are discriminated against in work or education, but I do know that the figures show Asians outperforming other minorities and in some cases Whites. But although we seem to (in general) be more successful in those areas, we also get the most flak, mainly because of our small number. Bollocks to American society having evolved to a "non-racist" point. There are simply so many Blacks and Hispanics in the country that nobody would dare saying anything they would object to. But Asians are relatively few here, so racism against them is much more accepted and widespread in general.

About the need to assimilate, I imagine it happens regardless of race based on the surrounding environment. Chinese people living in Chinatown have no strong need to assimilate. Whereas the token Asian(or Hispanic, or Black) in an all-white neighborhood will have plenty of urge to assimilate. And since there aren't that many Asians to begin with, well, you know what happens. About Asian women being more prone to assimilate, I won't say anything about it, since people argue about this constanly, but the statistics show that 50% of Asian women marry out of their own race, compared to 25% of Asian men. Whether this says something about Asian men or White women, I won't dare to say.

BTW, I happen to live in a city that has maybe 4 Asian people in it, so I guess the ultimate deciding factor is the way the person reacts to their surrounding environment. There are Asians that will hear the word "chink" and secretly wish they were white, whereas this will make others take more pride in their own culture(in some cases to a militant level ).

So no, being Asian does not cause significant trouble, but if there is a white person who dislikes both Asians and Blacks, he will most likely say something to the Asian while keeping his mouth shut around the Black. Asian people, however, have the tendency of not responding to this sort of insult(and thus promoting it), which is why I was so outspoken when TATY made some offensive remarks the other day.

In my opinion, the only way to change the situation is either for Asians to swarm into the US in great numbers or return to their own countries. Or perhaps Asian women will outmarry in such great numbers that all the "Asian Asians" will eventually disappear and be replaced by "half-Asians", who are generally very well accepted in White society(because they are, for all purposes, White).

The rate in Australia for Asian female-White Australian male must be mind-blowing. Its pretty exciting to see actually, so many of these couples walking down the street. There must be something about the two cultures' gender roles that makes this combination so compatible. I must admit, there's quite a high proportion of Asian women that I find attractive in the evreyday glancing past sense. I never thought of Asian women as 'my favourite women', rally, by I get this inkling that I'll somehow end up with an Asian woman for the rest of my life. I don't know why, exactly. But, it's got something to do with the gender role differences in both societies' women. But it rings true for me that meeting foreigners in general entices new emotion, so it'll inevitably extend to ramantic relations aswell.

by I get this inkling that I'll somehow end up with an Asian woman for the rest of my life.

Brett, please, man, don't tell me you're "one of those" too!

But it rings true for me that meeting foreigners in general entices new emotion, so it'll inevitably extend to ramantic relations aswell.

For some reason it doesn't work the other way around. It's so bad that I was really happy that the Chinese guy in my "Integrated Chinese" textbook has a white girlfriend.

Well Pravittt, Brettt, I have a 17 years old Korean niece who is a smart and attractive lass. I will accept six ponies and a bucket of firewater for an introduction only to her but I"ve gotta warn you, she is already a handfull.

How did it come about that your niece is Korean? Wouldn't that make one of your siblings Korean? Or is she half-Korean?

"Niece' is his word for slave girl, Pravit.

Alas!