Asian (Chinese) Discrimination

I met a girl. A cute girl.

I’ve been living in Shenzhen for a little more than 6 months now. I have a lot of extended family living here and I’ve made a bunch of friends. However, one part of my social life that has been lacking is girls…or atleast until recently.

2 weekends ago I met a girl named Mei Feng, or Scarlet, randomly at a club. We danced, chatted, hung out and played dice at her table. We had such a good time that I invited her to dinner a couple of days later.

Before arriving at the date, I was kind of nervous. I have the annoying habit of forgetting what people’s names when I’m drinking. Even worse, I usually have no recollection of what they look like either (bad times). When Scarlet finally arrived, however, I was relieved. She was cuter than I had remembered.

Not only did she have an tall, athletic and curvy body, but also tanned skin. She had nice big eyes, a gentle nose and really nice lips. Her smile filled up the room.

As we got to know each other better during our dinner conversation, I discovered a few interesting things about her (among others)

• She didn't have too much experience with dating because guys would always talk to her friends and rarely talk to her.
• She was made fun of as a child for being tall. Many of her cousins didn't like to walk with her down the street because of the disparity in height (she’s not that tall)
• She was made fun of as a child for having darker skin tone. That continues this day.
• When I complemented her on her smile and lips, she was surprised. No one had ever said anything nice about them. Everyone only said negative things.

I was very surprised by these things because, in my perspective, she was a very attractive girl. While I found all of her attributes sexy, the majority opinion in China sees her as average with unattractive features. The next weekend, I invited her to hang out with a few friends and me at a bar. All of my Chinese friends thought she was average. My boy, Jason, from the US agreed with my view.

In a recent post on China Law Blog, entitled China Has No Racial Discrimination, Dan Harris addressed a very interesting issue on racial discrimination in China that made me think about Scarlet.

The post this time is on an article I just read from Xinhua proclaiming that "all ethnic groups in China are equal and no racial discrimination exists.

As I learned in my Liberalism, Communitarianism and the Good class and my 1^st Amendment class at Columbia, it is important to dissect a statement and examine the all of the phrases and words. In this statement, the most important parts are China and racial. This statement only addresses ethnic Chinese people in China, not expats and foreigners in China. It also only addresses discrimination on the issue of race.

By getting to know Scarlet in the past couple of weeks, she can be a good guide in this discussion. She is from a poor family in 广西 province.

• Scarlet came from a poor family. She didn't go to college and dropped out of high school. She migrated to Shenzhen to find work, but had a difficult time finding it because of her educational background. After a lot of hard work and some luck, she’s a successful sales associate for Mary Kay cosmetics.
• Scarlet is a tall girl (around 1.70m). While this is considered a good trait to have in China, Scarlet experienced discrimination as a kid. Since she was taller than her just about everyone in her family, only her father would walk with her. None of female family members would walk with her due to the height disparity. Also, men are intimidated of her since she was young based on her height. Being taller myself (I’m 6’2” or about 1.91m), I have only gotten compliments.
• Scarlet has relatively big feet (size 37...i’m guessing a 6?). Everyone makes fun of her because of it and she can’t fit into the tiny high heels like everyone else can.
• Scarlet has big round eyes and a soft nose (good things) - and big lips and a big mouth (bad things). She gets complimented and made fun of for the respective traits
• Scarlet has dark skin. She feels it is a big drawback on her looks. As someone in the cosmetics industry, she understands how much “prettier” it is to have fair skin. However, she cant help it. I have really tan skin. I was actually just made fun of it 3x today from a couple of my colleagues and yesterday, from my aunt.
• Scarlet is from 广西 and spoke Cantonese growing up. Her Mandarin is fine, but needs improvement. She definitely has a slight accent. Although her friends give her slack for it, it doesn't effect her professional career.
• I have no clue what ethnic group Scarlet is in.

Scarlet's story can be redone for the entire Chinese population. My cousin is affluent and has fair skin, but isn’t as skinny and slim as the typical Chinese girl. I am tall and have an Ivy League education, but I have dark skin and can’t write Chinese characters that well (I’m still working on it). My friend is considered handsome and has a lot of street smarts but he’s shorter than average and didn't do well in school. It’s all the same: people are loved for their “accepted” attributes and discriminated against for their 缺点. That’s life in China.

From my experience living in China with Chinese friends and family, I have never known what ethnic group anyone was. My aunt on my father’s side is Manchu. I found that out last year when my mom told me. My grand-uncle on my father’s side is Mongul. A few of my colleagues are all minorities from small rural villages. No one has any clue until they are specifically told. That is the beauty of China: solely based on your skin color: You can be identified as maybe poorer, maybe a laborer, maybe a 花销 (Oversees Chinese). What you can’t see is your ethnic group.