Analyzing Amy's Ashamedness

I had just finished reading Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks”, and I must say- it is basically my life. I can definitely relate to Tan’s teenage life because I am a teenager, and I am an ABC (American Born Chinese) with parents from Asia. The tofu and squid that she oh-so-eloquently described as “stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges” and “bicycle tires” (Tan 95) are common dishes in my household, so I don’t think of them as described. However, Tan’s description is only depicting how outsiders like Robert and his family would see them. As a result, it is quite interesting how quick Tan is to criticize “all [her] favorite foods” like this (95). Having grown up eating these foods, she must have never really thought about them in this manner until she wanted to think and be like Americans.

Unlike Tan, I never really grew up ashamed of my culture. My family still maintains many traditional customs, and I never think twice about letting people see them. I think a part of the reason why Tan wanted to be “the same as Americans girls” is the environment she grew up in. Oakland, California in the 1960s (when Tan was 14 years old) had a 2.1% Asian population, and Troy, Michigan in the 2010s (when I was 14 years old) had a 13.3% Asian population. Conclusively, growing up in areas with different Asian population densities plays a role in ethnicity acceptance. I became more accepting of my culture, as it was more prevalent in the environment I lived in, unlike Tan's. But at least Tan eventually embraces her Chinese heritage. It's better than her letting go of it all. Kudos to her mother for instilling this sense of pride in her.

This is supposed to look like bicycle tires.