What does normal look like when you grow up with a foot in two different ethnic and cultural camps? For me, the reality of growing up as an ethnically 100% Japanese in a majority White/WASP neighbourhood meant that for the most part, societal norms were based on a particular set of cultural expectations. This was simultaneously a joy, a puzzle and a challenge. I was always proud of my Japanese heritage, but at that time there was no real sphere to enjoy or explore this except in the confines of home and family and the annual Japan festival held far on the other side of town. Post World War II the Japanese community on the west coast of North America was vastly reduced, fractured and scattered. This was the expected and desired outcome of the restriction on Japanese-Canadians who were not allowed to return to their homes in British Columbia until 1949, due in large part to concerns over cheap labour and general anti-Asian sentiment. Meanwhile, in 1943, the Canadian government had authorised the selling of homes and property without their owners' consent. There was in many cases, literally nothing left to come home to, and many did not bother. Some, such as my uncle, had endured crippling racism, and swore he would never to return to British Columbia - and he never did. As with many children growing up straddling different worlds, it felt simpler and quite natural to fall into line with what everyone else was doing and thinking even while your parents were stricter, your household had two ‘official’ languages and expectations were sometimes subtly, sometimes openly, at odds with your friends’ families. This has certainly had an effect on my understanding of what it meant to 'normal'. For a long time this involved desiring to cultivate a certain type of beauty (reader, that was never going to happen) and to wallpaper over anything that could make me stand out as somebody 'abnormal' whether that revolved around food, friends, or even opinions. This seems to be a common enough reaction. It has taken a time and reflection to reach a place that has allowed me as an adult to feel truly joyous about the differences that make me who I am. Society has also changed hugely since I was a child, and certainly in the Western world acceptance and celebration of different cultures and ethnicities has grown in a meaningful way. It is an enormous and happy shift that being ‘different’ can mean something hugely positive. The road forward has been thrown wide open so that we can as individuals create and inhabit our own new 'normal'.
If you are interested in joining my East Asian Girl Gang find our private group on Facebook and join us on the website! We're a community of all ages and sectors tied by our shared East Asian heritage, here to foster friendships and connections, increase visibility, celebrate successes, give support where needed and desired and have some fun - not necessarily in that order.
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