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Assignment 09

There was two incidences that revolved around me being an outsider. However, these experiences did impair view of the world I was living but at the same time helped develop my personality. These incidences happened when I was quite young so my views have changed a bit over time but it does erase the oppression that is there.

I developed a skin condition called Eczema, which altered my life forever. To this day, I have no idea why I got it but it is a part of me and I accept it. However, when I was younger I had no idea what I had was not normal and it was not until kindergarten I realized that. On the first day of kindergarten, a girl noticed my hands and she immediately told everyone in our class that I had a disease. She even mentioned that if anyone got near me they would get it too. I was isolated instantly. No one dared to come near to me. This taught me that not everyone was kind or to be trusted. I oppressed based on my skin just because it was different from everyone else. This difference became special to the other kids and took advantage of it. There was no difference between us but the fact I had a skin condition they could never really include me into their group.

I went to a middle school predominately Asians. I had a lot of friends that were Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. Basically it was a different part of Asia that I was from. I got along well with them. It was very competitive, we were constantly comparing our grades and I was able to keep up with excellent grades. However, I knew I was still not fully accepted regardless of our cooperation. There was always this sense I kept getting that I should not get too close you have no idea what they were thinking about you. Eventually I met my best friend’s mother and that was when it officially kicked in. She absolutely adored me because I was a student and wanted her daughter to be like me but nothing more than that. She thought my health was poor and I was very fat. She tried to give my mother books to help me lose weight and change my diet. This coincides with what Collins was trying to say with racial and sexist domination. My best friend’s family was naturally skinny and had a different kind of diet that I was not used to. When you were south-Asian, your portions were huge and the more you eat the better. With east-Asians, their portions were rather smaller and were encouraged to eat healthy. Most of the people in my family developed diabetes and other health problems and they had more weight on their body. This ran through my genetics so it was easier said than done to lose weight for me.