Curing my white fever
Sex on Tuesday
My parents raised me to prefer Vietnamese men, but I grew up in an upper-middle-class suburban environment, which was predominantly white.
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Portrait of a Lauren on Fire
Off the Beat
At that age, I didn’t really know what a gay person was. I had grown up watching “The Birdcage” and “Will & Grace” with my mercifully liberal family.
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Not Vietnamese enough
Off the Beat
Jennifer. This is your white name. Little Thảo didn’t understand the feelings that would come out of accepting this small change.
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My mom: The ultimate fishing buddy
Off the Beat
I undervalued another lifelong fishing buddy — a fishing buddy who exhibits the most excellent qualities in a fisherperson: my mom.
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Waves: An outlived metaphor
Off the Beat
My attempts to look into the history of feminism led me to an internet archive filled with articles referring to the efforts of feminists in “waves.”
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‘Nerd Sport’: On finding family
Off the Beat
There’s no way I’m going out to play this weird sport thing — I mean, there’s no way I could, not with everyone watching, not with these strangers.
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My Scott Pilgrimage
Off the Beat
I could tell Michael Cera’s titular character was an awkward guy, but during the second viewing I figured out I had finally met my on-screen likeness.
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Keeping my head above the blue and gold water
Off the Beat
My first few weeks here were a culture shock, to say the least. I remember being told that everyone here was on top of their game
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A study on navigating conservative family members
Off the Beat
It is complicated to navigate familial relationships with people who have political and social ideas so incompatible with your own.
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Listening fatigue
Off the Beat
In a way, I started to feel more connected to the world around me — the world that I tried to take myself out of through music.
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