midnightreigns21 asked:
Iam wanting to write a story about a girl who has asthma, a learning disability and is considered by society to be less than average. She is also a little over weight. When she has been given immortality other immortals shun her and want her dead. To escape from this she goes to a martial arts temple in China. She is also an American. I was wondering how I could incorporate both cultures in my story?
Overweight Chinese American girl with asthma & learning disability, martial arts, & China
Disclaimer: I’ve written this response assuming that the main character herself is Chinese or Chinese-American.
Some stuff I’d like to discuss point-by-point:
Being an Asthmatic
- Asthmatics don’t exactly have the best representation in media, so I’m worried about a non-Asthmatic writing a story where the main conflict is centered around the MC’s method of coping with ableism.
- Especially considering how we’re portrayed as stereotypical nerds/geeks for not being absolute athletes (haha maybe because pushing ourselves that far will literally result in an asthma attack-)
- I have a feeling that in addition to the point where Chinese people are already stereotyped as nerds, having her be asthmatic as well does mean you’ll have to be more careful in how you present her. We already have the whole “model minority, East Asian = nerd” thing going for us.
Being “overweight”
- America’s definition of “overweight” looks different for all kinds of people!
- Someone who’s statistically considered “overweight” by American standards might pass as being “average” (in American standards once again) and vice-versa! The existence of the word actually insinuates the existence of an ideal weight– pretty fatphobic.
- If you mean to say that she’s fat, chubby, and/or plump, then do so. Don’t dance around the term just because it’s deemed ‘undesirable’ by our Eurocentric beauty standards.
- (Additionally, being chubby is associated with the nerd trope as well. More to watch out when developing her character.)
- Mod Rune mentions the specific way you’ve phrased how as a result of her being overweight and asthmatic, she’s “considered by society to be less than average” and she’s shunned/wanted dead specifically for these two reasons.
- Being disabled =/= incompetency or being less than an abled person. Once again, an OwnVoices situation would make sense; However I would still worry about infantilizing Asthmatic/chubby people this way.
The plot… oof.
I’m worried that your method of combating the already-delicate conflict (that she’s looking for a way to cope with her feelings of inadequacy induced by ableism/fatphobia), is pretty insulting. You specifically word her trip to China as an “escape” which I feel could have a much better reason– your excuse as is sounds to lead into a story of “refinding myself at the home of my birth culture” or something like that- especially with the fact that she’ll be doing this at a martial arts temple. A very cultural aspect of China.
Martial Arts?
- That being said; Even though a Chinese martial artist does feel rather stereotypical, it does help with asthma (source: me and Taekwondo)
- Specifically, according to this study from NCBI on the correlation between asthmatic children and Taichichuan, results have shown that “12 weeks of Tai-Chi-Chuan could improve the pulmonary function, decrease airway inflammation, and improve quality of life in children with mild asthma”.
- However Northern Shaolin, Hung Ga, Wing Chun, and other Chinese forms of martial arts could work as well! Please do research on the specific techniques and differentiate between them. Appropriating Chinese martial arts on top of the fact that it’s already rather tropey- very bad.
A different plot?
- Perhaps don’t send her off to China to quote, “escape from how other [immortals shun her and want her dead]”.
- I think a better motivation for this change in landscape would be “She wanted to train to get stronger and improve her health with how it was negatively impacted because of her asthma.”
- The thing with a lot of disabled people is that– we don’t want to have to “keep up” with abled people. We don’t want to need to take all these extra measures just to be able to function ‘normally’ (or at least the one defined by society). I feel that the motives in your original plot panders to that idea that she must get stronger or else she’ll never be accepted by the other immortals. A Chinese-American asthmatic myself, I’d much rather see her self-worth measured through her own growth as an individual than how well she ‘fits in’ with non-asthmatics.
- Marika mentions that people also often do martial arts for culturally-relevant exercise– so this could also be a way for her to reconnect with her birth culture.
- Sophia also mentions that being overweight has little on one’s skills as a martial artist; So it shouldn’t be used as an argument as to why someone shouldn’t be taking on a certain expertise. (Seconded, as someone who did kendo: some of the better kendoka were overweight and had more precision than I did –Jess)
Incorporating TCK Culture:
- Look for stuff written by actual Chinese-American third-culture kids!
- Every little part of life- from the stories parents tell their kids before bed to the kind of food we eat daily- is 100% influenced by both our caregivers and the community we live in. For me personally, we’d have hotpot dinners with other Asian families during the Lunar New Year and I’d typically be sent to Chinese school on Sundays as well.
- Mods Jess and Lesya touch up on some TCK elements in this ask as well! (Wanting to Learn More About Culture Because of Chinese Name) However your MC celebrates her cultures will also depend on how assimilated into America her family is.
- Like I said earlier: look for materials that Chinese-American TCKs and immigrants have written! There’s no better way to learn about certain customs than getting them from the actual source.
My ending thoughts!
- These are honestly traits that I’d love to see more, as an asthmatic Chinese-American myself who has done martial arts in the past, haha.
- Be extra careful when a ton of your character’s traits are found in East Asian (Chinese) caricatures! Be sure to flesh her out as a three-dimensional character as this description that you’ve given us (regarding her conflict) makes me go >.>– I don’t like it as is.
- Give her motivations for herself that aren’t purely to conform to others (per the submissive Asian girl trope). Having a bullied Asian girl does feel like it plays into this, so please don’t have her measure her worth as an individual based off of the standards set by abled people!
- Do tons of research on Chinese martial arts! Marika mentions huge points below that I want you to consider when giving her a specific speciality– just saying “a martial arts temple” doesn’t cut it.
(As always, any reader feedback/additions would be appreciated!)
~ Mod Emme
These are my thoughts as someone who has practiced various styles of Chinese martial arts.
While the quality of the instructor and the student’s efforts are crucial, I think you need to be clear on the following:
- The style of martial arts your character will be doing
- Their physical limitations
- The type of learning disability they have.
Different fighting styles suit the limitations of different body types in different ways
- A person who is overweight may find styles with explosive movements that put weight on vulnerable joints like the knees to be painful. Styles that favor stable stances may be more feasible than those that emphasize movements with lots of air time, crouching and jumping.
- A person who is inflexible will need a style that encourages them to keep limber to avoid getting hurt.
- A person with diminished lung capacity will need a style that safely challenges their endurance.
Different learning disabilities might make certain styles more or less difficult to learn
- ADHD may favor fast fighting styles with complex move sets and a wide variety of weapons.
- Issues associated with memory retention may make styles that emphasize sparring easier than those that focus on memorizing forms
Make no mistake, the culture of a style will be as much of a consideration for your character as the Chinese and American cultural influences. Do your research, and inquire with practitioners as to what styles would work well for your characters.
The tumblr blog How to Fight Write would likely be a good resource on the physical logistics of different styles.
- Marika
