By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Model actress Chrissy Teigen, who recently co-hosted the short-lived day time talk show FabLife on ABC, is embroiled in a twitter war over the word oriental.
Just a heads up that this all began from me preferring my salad dressing not being called “oriental”
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 13, 2016
That’s right, salad dressing.
Teigen made an innocent comment about how she thought it was inappropriate to find an antiquated word being used on an airline’s menu to describe its salad dressing.
She also seemed amused that the word on a menu bothered her, but acknowledged if someone called her oriental, she would not be offended.
That launched a heated discussion over social media over the appropriateness of the old term. Her ambivalence seemed to harden her stance as the discussion became more heated.
Like if you’re over 50 you can call me oriental to my face but this is a new menu and I’m not a rug
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 13, 2016
Do I think saying “oriental” is inappropriate? Yes. Laughable and ignorant. Am I OFFENDED when I hear it? No.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 13, 2016
I really appreciate all the non-Asians telling me what is offensive to Asians, though. Thank you. Writing it all down.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 13, 2016
.@goddessUrja so your objective here is to get me to stop speaking on what is an “Asian issue” because i don’t speak on “Asian issues”?
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 13, 2016
What’s amazing is that this is still an issue at all. What we choose to call ourselves is a matter of preference. If someone tells you they go by the name Ronald, but you insist on calling him Ronnie, you’re just being inconsiderate–maybe even rude.
Yet if the majority of a community declares that Asian is the preferred term, but you turn a deaf ear and used the term oriental, in most instances its white privilege rearing its ugly head. When you don’t even allow a community to decide what it likes to referred to as, you’re not showing that community any respect.
Teigen says she’s tolerant of the word oriental because she thinks most people who use it don’t really understand and are likely of a different generation.
These issues are always good to discuss in the open. Teigen using her celebrity status to do that is a good thing.
What’s your take on this issue?
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