An older lady who works as a float receptionist (she substitutes any receptionists in the Clinic who are sick or out for vacation) recently told me, “Oh you have an interesting accent. Are you Oriental?”
I have never been asked that way before. I understand she meant ‘Asian’ and I guess I wasn’t really bothered by it. At supper, I shared this hilarious story with hubby and he was surprised. “It’s actually considered rude.” Oh really? I didn’t know that.
So then of course I have to Google it. Seems to me that mostly Asian Americans are the ones who’d feel offended by the O word. Not the Asians who were born and raised for a good chunk of their life time in, uh, Asian countries.
‘Oriental’ has a strange connotation to it probably because it’s Eurocentric. This source would explain why and how. It summarized that “…some Asian American activist types decided that “Oriental” was a Bad Word, and that ‘Asian’ was more accurate, less Eurocentric, and less loaded with strange connotations…”
Which is why I thought this debate is really interesting. The subject was: Asian people are annoyed when people call them Oriental, like they are a rug or something. It’s like calling a Brit, Victorian. Twelve people agreed to this statement, while only 3 didn’t. One of the disagreed ones gave a very thoughtful opinion. In an essence, he’s stating that the Asians who are annoyed by it is because they’ve been told they should be.
It makes sense. I have not heard of this so-called Oriental-name-calling before of this very day. I don’t believe my mother, or sister (with an exception of my smarty pants brother), or cousins back home in Indonesia know that they should be annoyed if they were called ‘Oriental’. I just learned from my non-Oriental husband that it’s been considered rude. I personally don’t see why I should be annoyed, but I will take a stand: the next time somebody called me ‘Oriental’, I would politely inform them that it’s geographically incorrect. Hopefully this next person did not skip Geography class when they’re in high school.
“I’m Indonesian. From I-n-d-o-n-e-s-i-a. Hello? Southeast Asia? Have you heard of Bali?”
hihihi, oriental aneh toh? malah nggak tau *grin* so, kalau ada kalimat asia oriental itu bagaimana? masakan oriental itu bagaimana? dan for example, ada kalimat “tutur wanita yang memiliki paras oriental itu” bagaimana?
pasalnya, ya susah sih ya …. kalau tahunya asia itu cuma tembok cina dan perempuan pakai sari [yang menurut mereka, eksotisnya asia ya cuma ini]. dan sudah berapa juta kali aku pernah bilang “i’m indonesian, not a pinoy nor chinese.” whuihhhhh!!! *mari kita ganyang*
Oriental ? You’re too hot for it 😉
Arie, tuuuu kan… bener gue. I don’t really think anybody who is originally from Asia, really awares that should be annoyed when somebody calls them ‘Oriental’. But I think it’s so hilarious to hear somebody really say,” Oriental? Do you think I’m some kind of rug?” :p
Awww Vita, you’re too nice *blush*
oh…. baru tau jugak….
hm… gw suka sih ditanyain, “are you chinese?” ada juga yang nanya, “korean?” ato “japanese?”
sorry mister, I am Indonesian tuh… no… no… not indon, but Indonesian from Indonesia!
*bangga thea…*
hi ruth! lega gue jadinya… kirain gue doang yang belom pernah denger. isn’t it sad, in today’s world, not so many people know indonesia?