As seemingly and surprisingly one of the few actually Asian people on this thread, I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to see words like “yellow” or “Oriental” and things like that here
The words have a long history of having othering and colonialist attitudes and, in the United States, led to thing like the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 1880s, Japanese Internment Camps of the 1940s, and Yellow Peril
If I got a nickel every time someone else tried to act like they had the better authority on my life and experiences, I’d be rich. I’m honestly really tired of other people trying to tell what is or isn’t offensive and it’s been taking a hell of a lot of effort to be civil about this
Honestly, OP, if I were you I’d just pretend its a parallel world and come up with a different name for their race. That way you don’t have to worry about offending anyone.
I wasn’t talking to any one person specifically, I was addressing anyone and everyone complaining about how they’re not just allowed to throw such terms (slurs, they are literally slurs) left and right
You don’t get to decide whether or not other people can get offended. They don’t know or care that you don’t mean offense. Sometimes there’s nothing to do about it. If what you’re saying has a history of attacking a large group of oppressed people though, there’s a bigger problem
Being ignorant does not automatically make you a horrible person. However, if you refuse to address that you might have internalized prejudices, you will not learn from your mistakes and you become part of the problem
This is an honest question,
Is it ok to use an offensive term when we are just talking about it as a term? I mean, not actually using it to describe a person, or endorsing its use. Just talking about it in a metalinguistic sense.
@MockTurtle
I think the issue here is that, if we’re going to be politically correct, then such terms shouldn’t even exist much less mentioned. So my instict tells no, we aren’t allowed to use them around here, even if its just for theoretical purposes.
Can it just be called what it is, which is racist? In situations like this, I find ‘politically correct’ to be borderline useless term that allows people to neatly sidestep the real issue so they don’t feel bad. And also to some people, it’s a personal issue. Even if there was a conversation about the origins (which I briefly explained earlier), this would not the right place to do it
Maybe when someone says that certain words are racist against them, they should be listened to before the mods step in
To respond to the original post/question…I think the best thing that can be done is to just use physical descriptors as best as you can, and then whatever name your using for that nation in that imaginary world, apply it to their nationality.
I would recommend trying to vary it up, that way for someone who is used to the real world analogues might be intrigued by the differences.
A character is more than just physical appearance. If you establish a baseline for their mode of dress, codes of conduct, etc. within the context of the game…that is what a player is more apt to remember.
Also, if you’re having a fantasy equivalent of Asia of any sort, it would be a good idea to look at it from a cultural standpoint as well (for any culture really, but focusing on Asia since that’s what the thread’s about)
From a Western perspective, many East Asian cultures seem more private or formal, but avoid putting it in a way that seems cold and impersonal
There is also a huge emphasis on respecting your elders. In Vietnamese, we have pronouns based on the other person’s age and it seems like several other East Asian languages are similar in that aspect. Like, beyond the standard ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’, a man slightly older than you would be called (directly translated) ‘older brother’ regardless of actual relation. Someone significantly older but not elderly would be called ‘aunt’ or ‘uncle’. A younger person would be called something equivalent to ‘younger sibling’ in Vietnamese. It would be clunky and might break up immersion to do in English, but it would be a good thing to keep in mind if you use any sort of made up language
Also if martial arts make any mention, keep in mind that basically all countries in the world have their own unique styles. Avoid making martial arts specifically an Asian thing and instead give whatever countries in question have their own version
I see the original question, “How do you describe an Asian person without using the word Asian” the same was as if I were to read this question:
How do you describe an American person without using the word American?
The way I would answer that (my thought process):
People vary from region to region, and state to state.
So maybe I would start off with something like “Californian” or “Texan” or “Ohioan” or something along those lines.
Then, let’s say I wanted to get specific about what kind of Californian.
Maybe someone from Oakland.
So, an Oaklander.
It’s just a matter of how specific you want to get.
If he’s a cute guy, just emphasize the cute, instead of the race, works for me anyway?
My brain sees cute first, everything else second, but maybe I’m just weird like that.
In real life, that’s fine and you’re normal, but we’re not talking about real life crushes. We’re talking about fiction. It’s important to establish race early on with poc characters. Otherwise, they’ll probably be presumed white and racist fans will be upset when they find out they made the mistake of empathizing with someone who isn’t white. Tragic.
(I care less about upsetting racists and more about the fans who might stumble across their rants. Stuff like that.)
I don’t know if that would convey to the reader that the person was asian though. I’ve never heard an asian person described as being “gold” before. If I heard a character described as having a “gold” skin tone, I’d be more likely to think they were hispanic or maybe pacific islander.
I’m specifically talking about race rather than country or state of origin. I’d describe an American person as “white” (assuming of course that they were white.)
