Does anyone know why Asians "get humiliated"..."easily?"

Like they have some type of "personal honor" that get's "offended" ..."easily?"

I'm not putting anyone down... or making a joke.

I'm looking for genuine socialogical insight.

Does anyone know what I'm asking, provide cultural knowledge...?

It goes back the Samurai and honor and shit.... they have just been conditioned to think that way... it's got nothing to do with their ethnicity, it has to do with their culture.

What makes you ask this? Did you piss off some Asian dude?

I knew it was a cultural thing among asians along the lines of what your saying. I was hoping for a explanation more revealing of what it was all about. Yes, I've seen some asians get red-faced over things that I would have expected just about anyone to blow off... I've had a few run in's with some asians 1/2 my size that were ready to give me a beating over an offense that I caused them ignorantly, etc... So it occoured to me to ask and see if I could gain any insight on the subject of that particular cultural code.

Some people are just fucking assholes man.

I kinda doubting these are Asians that actually live in ASIA, I bet these Asians you are referring to are little punk bitch American or European Asians... am I correct?

O BTW, I am part Asian, and you have NOT offended me (nor can you, so don't worry).

Honestly I ally more with the mentality of Native Americans than Asians (I'm part Native American too).

Actually, I'm pretty sure what I'm speaking of is an "asian," or "asian cultural" thing, distinctively. Now that I'm thinking about it, I had a roomate that was 100% japanese. He was a nice guy, and an overall cool dude for the most part. He wasn't an asshole. One time he was telling me about something and I started laughing. He thought I was "laughing at him," and got pissed and spit at me. I couldn't understand what was going on. That's what I'm asking about.

Well what did you say? Or what did you laugh at?

And were you in Asia?

It was years ago, and in the U.S., he immigrated here. I don't recall the details of the conversation. Only the feeling that I laughed because what I thought he said was funny. But he thought my laughter was an insult. If I had known His code, I would've known to compose myself and reflect auesterity. but I was clueless, that why I'm asking as I've picked this type of thing up from other asians.

There are at least a couple of things.

First,Japanese and Chinese culture is pretty dang buttoned down from an American perspective. To grossly oversimplify: the men are s'posed to be stoic and sober and the women are s'posed to be demure. Respect is tantamount and sex and uncleanliness and unlawfulness are taboo. Korean and Vietnamese cultures are more of a grab bag, some are more western and some are more Chinese.

Now, Sometimes immigrant culture can amplify cultural ideals. This can be really hard for the children of immigrants who experience one culture at home and another in school or at work. Just go easy on the western sex humor and be respectful. No 'yo mama' jokes! If you can learn to vibe with all kinds of folks you'll be rewarded.

For insight into Chinese humor check out Stephen Chow's movies. He is one of the most popular filmmakers in China. Shaolin Soccer is my favorite. Just be sure to get the actual subbed Chinese version and not edited for western release version.

It's like crazy ultra-violent slapstick. I love it!

Ya that seems pretty silly Spock (for him to get so mad).

I really hate people who give off that "you must respect me" vibe... HATE 'em!

Its considered a big insult and one of the worst offenses in a number of asian cultures to publically insult someone or make them look stupid. Where it comes from I am not entirely sure but its certainly is cultural.

O come on, I'm Asian! Who am I gonna offend?

I have the feeling that people from poor countries where human rights are considered to be a form of western decadence by the authorities, basically tend to kling on more to all kind of abstract things like 'tradition'. When you're raised to think that as a person you don't mean shit and your life is worth nothing, i think all the other things from wich you can derive meaning become more important. For many westerners the principle also aplies, that when you're poor and have no job, or a job that is simply humiliating, that you start to identify yourself with other things from wich you can derive a sense of pride or honour; 'the hood and your homies', manchester united, the church, patriotism and all the other senseless shit.
Many asians, the homies and manchester united-fans will ofcourse always deny that they have no self-esteem and think their life has no value but when you're raised to belief that mao-zedong was a great guy then you inevitably also belief that killing 100 million ordinary citizens is not such a big deal (btw, it was his ambition to kill about 300 million people) wich then inevitably must lead to the conlusion that your own life cannot be such a big deal either. Confusionism and taoïsm tend to be opposite's in this disregard for life, though. Confusionism tells you that you're life is worth shit and that you're supposed to shut up and be humble while the authorities are killing your family while taoïsm (wich the chinese government ofcourse tried to totally ban initially) tells you quite the opposite; that life itself is sacred.

BTW, i have asian ancesters myself as well, so if i have insulted anyone; take comfort in how much i must have insulted myself by now just as well.

EXCELLENT interpretation Polytrip!

And yes Taoism is awesome!

Most Asian cultures are very big on "face," meaning maintaining a dignified presence, and having one's dignity acknowledged by society. Asian people go to lengths to allow others to "retain face," in humiliating situations--and expect others to do the same for them.

There's a certain pretense involved, but, apparently, everyone stays happier if nobody feels humiliated in Asian society. I think that's why Asians are so sensitive to humiliation as it may happen in the west.

Westeners actually TRY to "humiliate" each other, as a form of competition, sportsmanship, or clowning around. While Asians are surely happy to be ruthlessly competitive, they still find it important to allow all losers to retain their public face.

I'm not Asian, but I have quite a bit of interest in practical Asian cultural practices. I hope I've made it understandable...

Wow I never thought of it like that (even being Asian!)

That aspect of it is very honorable but some Asians are silly with it.

My Roommate is Asian... and he's pretty chill.

I always respected that aspect of Asians. Hmm... Asians. No it's not asians. Most Indians/pakistanis that area etc have a way better sense of humour then westerners.

But I think as you go further east you will find much more pride and importance placed in the concept of family. You carry that family's name then you better do your best of making sure you make it look good. Well mainly in japan but that's the land of etiquette... but then there's the shock culture and all that squid porn...

No wait. The more I think about this the more I think it to be a bad generalisation. In my experiences humility is only shown when inflicted upon an area of the self that is sensitive to humility.

I think humility will be much more easily found in the past than in another continent.

Or maybe this is just from my perspective as I encourage people not to feel this way (within reason).

'Coatl, you say you're (half) Asian, but...weren't you born and raised in the US? Asian behavior isn't genetic, it's cultural. Most people of Asian heritage I know, who were born in America, have pretty strong western cultural characteristics (even if their parents try to imbue them with some Asian ethnic perspectives).

Yes I was born and raised in the U.S., correct.