The Student Room Group

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

What's with Asian culture that allows racism, homophobia, child abuse and oppression?

Wanting to rant about this for a while but haven't had the time.

Talking about the stereotypical strict Asian family (call out for generalisations all you want but it's a fact this is the majority of Asian families. Ergo it's reasonable) which I'm sure most people are aware of. Common theme being very strict parents who care more about family honour and respect than their own kids.

In Asia racism is fairly common it seems, white people are a completely different species and talking to them or being friends or going out with them is seen as disrespecting your culture. Apparently this is ok though because it's "their culture", reverse the roles with white people though and you'll see how this is racist.

Being gay in an Asian family is a taboo subject and most people will hide it. Again, it's disrespectful to the family because you're denying them grandchildren.

In Asian families it's very common to strictly discipline your child by hitting them, I'm not talking about a slap on the bottom, full strikes to the face. If you do anything wrong it seems you deserved to be disciplined because you have disrespected your parents. Examples would be not doing well in exams or staying past your curfew.

Last but not least oppression. Pretty common one, most Asian families put strict house rules on their kids like not being allowed to go out with friends or doing insane amounts of extra work or not being able to date etc... Kids being made to do lots of housework and cooking too is common.

I have much more to say and I've only described the main issues I personally have with Asian culture. Feel free to discuss and debate this with me.

It seems as though we keep coming back to the same point of respect and honour, but there is no honour or respect in any of these things.

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Schrödingers Cat
Wanting to rant about this for a while but haven't had the time.

Talking about the stereotypical strict Asian family (call out for generalisations all you want but it's a fact this is the majority of Asian families. Ergo it's reasonable) which I'm sure most people are aware of. Common theme being very strict parents who care more about family honour and respect than their own kids.

In Asia racism is fairly common it seems, white people are a completely different species and talking to them or being friends or going out with them is seen as disrespecting your culture. Apparently this is ok though because it's "their culture", reverse the roles with white people though and you'll see how this is racist.

Being gay in an Asian family is a taboo subject and most people will hide it. Again, it's disrespectful to the family because you're denying them grandchildren.

In Asian families it's very common to strictly discipline your child by hitting them, I'm not talking about a slap on the bottom, full strikes to the face. If you do anything wrong it seems you deserved to be disciplined because you have disrespected your parents. Examples would be not doing well in exams or staying past your curfew.

Last but not least oppression. Pretty common one, most Asian families put strict house rules on their kids like not being allowed to go out with friends or doing insane amounts of extra work or not being able to date etc... Kids being made to do lots of housework and cooking too is common.

I have much more to say and I've only described the main issues I personally have with Asian culture. Feel free to discuss and debate this with me.

It seems as though we keep coming back to the same point of respect and honour, but there is no honour or respect in any of these things.


I agree with most of what you say. (Although I never experienced being beaten!). I think for many asian parents they fear their children "losing" their culture by partaking in things deemed "too western" and so they become overprotective. It's funny because if I visit Pakistan, I can go out until 3/4am and no one says a thing. Here, it becomes an issue. There's just such a culture gap, I guess it worries some Asians families, we grow up in one culture and will feel that's the norm and the right way to live, so for them "western" culture is something alien and odd.

With regards to the whole "honour" thing, some cultures are just more collective, whereas in the UK we are very individualistic and don't care about as large groups of people and choose to do what we want for ourselves, as opposed to its consequences to a large range of people. (Both have pros and cons I'd imagine, I prefer a individualistic society though),
Original post by cake_lover
I agree with most of what you say. (Although I never experienced being beaten!). I think for many asian parents they fear their children "losing" their culture by partaking in things deemed "too western" and so they become overprotective. It's funny because if I visit Pakistan, I can go out until 3/4am and no one says a thing. Here, it becomes an issue. There's just such a culture gap, I guess it worries some Asians families, we grow up in one culture and will feel that's the norm and the right way to live, so for them "western" culture is something alien and odd.

With regards to the whole "honour" thing, some cultures are just more collective, whereas in the UK we are very individualistic and don't care about as large groups of people and choose to do what we want for ourselves, as opposed to its consequences to a large range of people. (Both have pros and cons I'd imagine, I prefer a individualistic society though),


What part of Asia are you from?

I agree with your reason of why they do it, but the reason is silly. Just because you're around another culture doesn't mean you'll change yours.

I'm still uncertain as to why this is the norm in Asian culture because most of the time it's repercussive in a very detrimental way
Original post by Schrödingers Cat
What part of Asia are you from?

I agree with your reason of why they do it, but the reason is silly. Just because you're around another culture doesn't mean you'll change yours.

I'm still uncertain as to why this is the norm in Asian culture because most of the time it's repercussive in a very detrimental way


South Asia.

Tbf it's relatively new that we can move to a completely different part of the world and live in a new culture, and consider asian parents who moved here in the 80's for example, for them they will have resisted change for that long to preserve their culture, only they don't realise the culture in their home country has also evolved. I've seen many Asians who still act like they're from 70/80's Pakistan/India/whatever, but see people from their own country who are more westernised. We can only hope their children won't be as resistant to adopting British culture.

That's your opinion. In my seminar, this one chinese guy was adamant that employing family and friends to your company is better than going through a rigorous fair (in our opinion fair) process. We'd in this country think that's totally wrong. Where we grow up shape our perception of things? :dontknow:
Original post by cake_lover
South Asia.

Tbf it's relatively new that we can move to a completely different part of the world and live in a new culture, and consider asian parents who moved here in the 80's for example, for them they will have resisted change for that long to preserve their culture, only they don't realise the culture in their home country has also evolved. I've seen many Asians who still act like they're from 70/80's Pakistan/India/whatever, but see people from their own country who are more westernised. We can only hope their children won't be as resistant to adopting British culture.

That's your opinion. In my seminar, this one chinese guy was adamant that employing family and friends to your company is better than going through a rigorous fair (in our opinion fair) process. We'd in this country think that's totally wrong. Where we grow up shape our perception of things? :dontknow:


Ah ok,

Not really that new... considering most Asian families have been moving to the west only recently it should be so that their culture should have changed in the process too? Interesting thought though....

I wouldn't necessarily say It's British culture to not hit your kids and force them to do things they don't want to do.... In my opinion it use to be like that everywhere, it just seems Asia hasn't adapted to changing culture as quickly as the west for some reason. A lot of people are even clinging on to it...

Tbf that makes sense to me.... depending on the business it's good to have people you can trust. What's wrong with employing friends and family? Some people want to employ family to keep the business in the family and so it stays the way they want it.

I just think in general the west has the right perception on life, yes I'm bias but I believe humans should be allowed to do what they want... maybe I've just been liberalised :laugh:
Original post by Schrödingers Cat
Ah ok,

Not really that new... considering most Asian families have been moving to the west only recently it should be so that their culture should have changed in the process too? Interesting thought though....

I wouldn't necessarily say It's British culture to not hit your kids and force them to do things they don't want to do.... In my opinion it use to be like that everywhere, it just seems Asia hasn't adapted to changing culture as quickly as the west for some reason. A lot of people are even clinging on to it...

Tbf that makes sense to me.... depending on the business it's good to have people you can trust. What's wrong with employing friends and family? Some people want to employ family to keep the business in the family and so it stays the way they want it.

I just think in general the west has the right perception on life, yes I'm bias but I believe humans should be allowed to do what they want... maybe I've just been liberalised :laugh:


I guess some resist the change, to "preserve" their culture.

I think with the west being wealthy, for a good number of years, they were able to become more educated and progress culturally. Some Asian countries are still developing and so maybe they just have some catching up to do?

Once again, it's all down to perception. This was in reference to a large company though, I'd understand if it was a family owned business. There's no right or wrong answer here though. :tongue:

I agree, I prefer the extra freedom offered on this side of the world, and generally I feel more at home here. But hey, whatever makes people happy.
Original post by Schrödingers Cat
Wanting to rant about this for a while but haven't had the time.

Talking about the stereotypical strict Asian family (call out for generalisations all you want but it's a fact this is the majority of Asian families. Ergo it's reasonable) which I'm sure most people are aware of. Common theme being very strict parents who care more about family honour and respect than their own kids.

In Asia racism is fairly common it seems, white people are a completely different species and talking to them or being friends or going out with them is seen as disrespecting your culture. Apparently this is ok though because it's "their culture", reverse the roles with white people though and you'll see how this is racist.

Being gay in an Asian family is a taboo subject and most people will hide it. Again, it's disrespectful to the family because you're denying them grandchildren.

In Asian families it's very common to strictly discipline your child by hitting them, I'm not talking about a slap on the bottom, full strikes to the face. If you do anything wrong it seems you deserved to be disciplined because you have disrespected your parents. Examples would be not doing well in exams or staying past your curfew.

Last but not least oppression. Pretty common one, most Asian families put strict house rules on their kids like not being allowed to go out with friends or doing insane amounts of extra work or not being able to date etc... Kids being made to do lots of housework and cooking too is common.

I have much more to say and I've only described the main issues I personally have with Asian culture. Feel free to discuss and debate this with me.

It seems as though we keep coming back to the same point of respect and honour, but there is no honour or respect in any of these things.


Agree with most points, but what's wrong with teaching your son/daughter how to cook? Better than those white British people at unis that don't know how to boil an egg.
Original post by SuckMeBeautiful
Agree with most points, but what's wrong with teaching your son/daughter how to cook? Better than those white British people at unis that don't know how to boil an egg.

that is being prejudice towards white students because im pretty sure that most of them can cook:s-smilie:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by habibasaid
that is being prejudice towards white students because im pretty sure that most of them can cook:s-smilie:


Of course yes call me racist now too even though I'm white and British... :rolleyes: I'm not talking about every single one but A LOT don't know how to cook anything more complicated than a pasta dish.
Original post by SuckMeBeautiful
Of course yes call me racist now too even though I'm white and British... :rolleyes: I'm not talking about every single one but A LOT don't know how to cook anything more complicated than a pasta dish.


im not calling you racist even do im white myself O_O....
but when you are considering to say a opinion back it with facts because A LOT of people i know can cook more than a pasta dish.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by habibasaid
im not calling you racist even do im white myself O_O....
but when you are considering to say a opinion back it with facts because A LOT of people i know can cook more than a pasta dish.


It's not like anyone is actually going to do a full-blown research on this topic but I'm too speaking from personal experience and from experience of my friends who are at unis so I'm not lying either :rolleyes:
Original post by SuckMeBeautiful
It's not like anyone is actually going to do a full-blown research on this topic but I'm too speaking from personal experience and from experience of my friends who are at unis so I'm not lying either :rolleyes:

i understand :redface:
What I'm trying to say is there's nothing wrong or at least I don't see anything wrong with having your children to help you out around the house, i.e. be it in cooking or making them clean the house (dusting&vacuuming). Only spoilt people would find a problem. Who's supposed to do all this work? Parents? On top of working and earning money? Also, not everyone is rich enough to afford a maid to do all these tasks for them. Me and my siblings would always divide up the tasks of cleaning the house and I could hardly say my parents tortured me this way :rolleyes: Sometimes, my parents would ask me to cook dinner but I didn't mind and in fact I would volunteer as I love cooking. I can't stand those spoiled brats who expect their parents to 'serve them everything on the plate' - take them there, cook them this, buy them that :rolleyes:
Original post by SuckMeBeautiful
Agree with most points, but what's wrong with teaching your son/daughter how to cook? Better than those white British people at unis that don't know how to boil an egg.


Don't see a problem with forcing kids to do your cooking for you and clean up for you. Cleaning up for themselves or doing housework is different.

Also I'm not talking about teaching them how to cook, that's completely different. I agree with that most people at uni can't cook but probably less do with them being white BBritish than to do with the fact it's easier to buy take out food than ever.
Original post by Schrödingers Cat

In Asian families it's very common to strictly discipline your child by hitting them, I'm not talking about a slap on the bottom, full strikes to the face.


You get worse than this, apparently - kneeling on uncooked rice for extended periods is one example.
Reply 15
Original post by TurboCretin
You get worse than this, apparently - kneeling on uncooked rice for extended periods is one example.


Seriously? I despise all kinds of child abuse personally, but that seems more vengeful than disciplinary :/

Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile

Let me guess.This thread has something to do with your gf family treatment towards you?
Asia is a huge place.
And yet they seem to be the most successful ^^ China and India are just booming right now. I'm not Asian, just an observation.
Original post by Jibola240
Asia is a huge place.


this lol. What OP says doesn't apply to 'Asia' Only certain parts of Asia lol.