Judging a face

I know I've heard this comment a lot, and I'm sure everyone else has well, and regardless of how many times I continue to hear this comment, it never fails to irritate me when I hear it. I hate when people outside of the Asian race continuously clumps all Asian ethnicities together as one, assuming that all of us are one particular ethnicity, rather than trying to get to know what other ethnicities are out amongst them in society. I've noticed that a lot of Caucasian people tend to assume all Asian people are Chinese or Filipino. What in the world is that all about? Chinese people and Filipino people don't define the Asian race, thank you very much. There are plenty of other ethnicities and cultures that come together to form the Asian race, such as Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, etc. that are also under the Asian race umbrella, but everyone fails to address these other ethnicities and shed light on them so that people are more willing to learn about them.

I've even had times when people would literally ARGUE with me about my ethnicity - I mean, really? You're going to argue with me about what ethnicity I am? When I tell you I'm not Chinese or Filipino or Japanese, that usually means that I don't fall under either of these ethnicities and that I'm a different ethnicity classified under the Asian umbrella, so get over it - you're guess wasn't right, better luck with the next Asian girl that comes by. I know that I don't look like your average Vietnamese girl - I hear these types of comments all the time...

"You look mixed - are you half white and half Chinese?"
"You look Chinese because of the shape of your eyes."
"Are you Filipino? You have to be Filipino. Look at your hair!"

I mean, maybe it's because my eyes are more almond-shaped than other Vietnamese girls, or maybe my colored contacts throw people off. I think I look Vietnamese, but apparently, to EVERYONE else, I don't. I look like a mix of various things that no one can figure out. In a way, that isn't a bad thing, and in a way, it is. I know when I had light brown hair and thick blonde streaks in my hair, people would think I was Filipino all the time, and then they'd sit there and have the audacity to argue with me about my ethnicity. I mean, I've even gotten mistaken for Mexican and Caucasian before... THAT assumption was a new one. Whatever the reasons are for clumping us all together like we're a whole bunch of nobodys that fail to exist, it's crap. From time to time, it does offend me because people are just making assumptions based on what they claim as [ignorant] knowledge. I try to brush it off and just forget about it, but lately, I hear it consistently, all the time and it's frusturating to hear.

I mean really? What defines an Asian girl as "a typical Asian girl"? I don't think people should make assumption based on what they see in someone's appearance, because that doesn't really tell you much about anything... instead, people should be more open to learning about ethnicities and cultures unknown to them.

--Kim [=