http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/16/asian.suicides/index.html
Asian-American women ages 15-24 have the highest suicide rate of women in any race or ethnic group in that age group. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Asian-American women in that age range.
This obviously does not come as a surprise to most of the members here. Being a woman is tough enough, but to deal with the cultural burdens of being Asian, especially in American society, when the two cultures mix about as well as oil and water, one might as well be juggling knives.
And then there is the fact that burdens of being Asian-American come in all shapes and forms, sometimes overlapping one on top of the other. If it’s not having to deal with people treating you like a foreigner even if your English is way better than theirs, just because you have Asian-originating features, then you’re dealing with parents expecting you to abide by rules of the culture THEY grew up with, which you can only partially relate to. Let’s not forget our preteen years when we wistfully watched our Caucasian friends experiment with makeup and gushed over the day’s hottest boy bands, while we were expected to concentrate on getting A’s and maintaining this image of “purity” and “innocence” – meaning, no makeup, no boys and no shirts that did not almost cover your neck and drape down below your hips.
Yes, not all of these burdens apply to all of us and, yes, there is so much more ground to cover. As I’ve already said, they come in all shapes and sizes. However, what we all have in common is that there really is not much of an outlet for us to talk about our issues. I know I sure as hell can’t talk to my family about it. For many of us, we’re supposed to pretend that these problems are nonexistent because having a problem of any kind, especially in relation to depression, is seen as a flaw that mars our worth and value as members of our ethnic communities. Or maybe it’s just that we just don’t see it as that big of a deal.
However, it IS a big deal, and the above statistics are proving it.
For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to build a forum where young women who are no longer in high school could get together and just talk about EVERYTHING. There would be no taboos, but the singular most important rule would be that there would be NO judgment and a strict commitment to confidentiality of all conversations within the forum. I know that it’s such a small step towards empowering us, but I did learn that empowerment begins with developing a voice and I could not think of a better way to start this.
It’s still new and constantly subject to change, and there’s only a small membership base at the moment, but it’s a start. If any of you girls want to come in and just interact from time to time for all of the reasons mentioned above, you’re more than welcome to join. I hope you guys don’t see this as just some advertisement for my own personal gain. I just wanted to let you guys know that some of us are making the effort to provide an outlet for a community that seems to need it most. Personally, I have nothing to gain out of this except the pleasure of making new acquaintances 
Rules are: No men. No judgment. Confidentiality. Must be 19+ and done w/high school to join.
LEAVE A COMMENT OR E-MAIL ME AT ALIENMAN AT GOLDFISHCAKE DOTTTTT COMMMMMÂ TO JOIN!!
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I am alienman. Writing a small blurb about myself is the hardest thing to do. "Blurb" is a funny word.
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