The pressure to fit in–it’s what Julie Chen may have felt when she decided to have eyelid surgery to look more “western” and less “Asian.”
It’s what many Asian Americans and other minorities have felt, according to Helen Wan, a corporate attorney at Time Inc.
In a piece she wrote for the Daily Beast, Wan recalls the time she was on the subway with other work colleagues. A middle-aged Chinese woman carrying a bag of food with distinctly Chinese odors got on the train and sat next to one of her colleagues. The colleague shot a disapproving glance at his co-workers. When the woman speaking Chinese tried to ask Wan for directions, Wan pretended she didn’t understand.
Wrote Wan: “Of course, I do speak Chinese (courtesy of Wei Hwa Chinese Language School), and I could probably have directed this woman to the Fulton stop, but I could not bring myself to do so in front of all those curious eyes.”
Wan recalls many more stories like that in the Daily Beast.
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