Hello, My Name is

found to be the least likely to report sexual assault, according to a telephone survey conducted amongst 8,000 men and 8,000 women. This study was conducted by the Center for Policy Research, with cosponsors of the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control.

Nondisclosure of sexual assault by Asian Americans stemmed from fear of ostracization from family and friends. This was based on a qualitative study by Kelly H. Hoo at the University of Washington. Hoo cited “negative consequences on relationships with parents” and “post-rape concerns” as the largest hindrances to Asian victims speaking out. It’s important to reassure victims about their concerns and help them heal their wounds.

The study focused on instances of sexual assault that were alcohol associated, tying back to Miller’s case. After Turner was arrested for the rape, millions took to the internet to shame the victim behind Emily Doe. Miller discussed the disparaging comments she received over the years in an interview with Bill Whitaker on “60 Minutes.” She credited these online comments for the progression of her shame.

“Rape is not a punishment for being drunk,” Miller countered. Though she admitted a hangover was well deserved after heavy drinking, she reiterated that no one deserved to be violated.

Nobody wants to be defined by the worst thing that’s happened to them. — Chanel Miller

SOURCE: YouTube, “I Am With You - Chanel Miller”

As victims like Miller stand their ground in the face of injustice, the fight for sexual assault survivors prevails. If and when future victims are brave enough to bare their stories, it’s imperative that their voices are validated. The voices and identities of victims of color in particular must be recognized. There’s nothing more disheartening than to be silenced in the face of one’s perpetrator.

Miller’s words carried an unprecedented weight for the future. Buzzfeed published her 12-page victim impact statement which subsequently went viral. An influx of support from people, including other survivors allowed Miller to “feel the shame dissolve.”

The support she received was indicative of the power behind her voice. As she stripped her identity of Emily Doe, Miller showed the world how she was capable of being more than an “unconscious, intoxicated woman.” Her name is Chanel Miller and she gives strength to me and everyone else who reads her story.

No one gets to define you, you do. — Chanel Miller

Hello, My Name is...

An inside look on four Asian American girls and their birth names

Amisha. Yewon. Izin. Mercy. What do these four names have in common? It’s hard to figure it out just by looking directly at them, but they are the first names of four different Asian American girls. It may not seem like it, but it’s true. Not all Asian Americans go by an American name, and not all of them go by an Asian name.

What makes a name “American”? Diana Boxer, a linguistics professor at the University of Florida, explains that an American name is one that sounds familiar to Americans. For example, the names Sarah and John both sound familiar, and they are two very common names in the U.S.

Then what makes a name “Asian”? Boxer says that an Asian name is one that sounds foreign to Americans, making it “cognitively difficult to process and, perhaps, remember.” For example, the names Amisha and Yewon are less common in the U.S. and, therefore, less familiar to Americans, especially in comparison to names like Sarah or John. 24 | fall 2019 This comparison makes them more “foreign.”

The decision to use one culture’s name over the other is a deeply personal one as each person relies on their own unique perspectives to come to their decision.

“When I was younger, I didn’t like having an Asian name, and I wished to have an American name to fit in more,” Amisha Patel, an Indian American political science sophomore at UF said. “I love having an Asian name now, and I’m proud to have a cultural name because it makes me feel closer to home and my ethnicity.”

Yewon Lee, a UF health science sophomore, identifies as Korean American. She came to the U.S. in 2009 and received her U.S. citizenship during her senior year of high school. Like Patel, Lee originally hoped a more American name would make her life easier.

“I thought having an American name would help me fit in better,” Lee said, “but now I don’t think I need to have an American name just because I’m in America. It’s a name that my parents gave me, and I want to keep it as it is.”

Both Patel and Lee are Asian Americans who were given an Asian birth name only. They share the same mindset, in which they wished they had an American name at some point in their lives, but gradually grew into their Asian name as they got older. And now, they take an even stronger pride in their Asian name.

I’m proud to have a cultural name because it makes me feel closer to home and my ethnicity.

— Amisha Patel

Izin Ton, who is also a sophomore studying health science at UF, has a more complicated cultural background but still shares the same sentiment as Patel and Lee: her Asian name holds a deeply personal value. Although her parents are Chinese Vietnamese, she identifies as Chinese American. She says that she loves her Chinese name because it was given to her by both of her parents, and it serves as a way to “stay rooted” to her culture.

On the other hand, Asian Americans given both an Asian name and an American name at birth tend to give out their American name most of the time.

According to Boxer, one reason for this is that an American name is simply more practical. Because Asian Americans live in the U.S. and are surrounded by other Americans, using their American name is often more natural and a way to assimilate into the culture. Even Lee, who only has an Asian name, confessed that she didn’t always like her name because it prevented her from assimilating into American culture.

AMISHA

YEWON

Mercy Tsay, a Taiwanese American freshman studying telecommunication and specializing in digital film and TV production at UF, prefers to go by her American name. She attributes this to the difficulty Americans have pronouncing her Asian name. “I have the feeling that it would end up confusing people, and some people already have a hard time recognizing my English name, often confusing it with Mary or Marcy when they hear it,” Tsay said. Ton also brought up the issue of pronunciation. “There has never been a person who has said my name right the first time we met or when they saw it on paper or social media,” Ton said. “It usually takes a couple of times for someone to remember how to pronounce my name.” Another significant reason for using an American name is potential workplace bias toward white-sounding names. Job applicants with Asian names seem to have a harder time receiving offers than applicants with American names. In other words, employers tend to favor applicants with American names when it comes to looking for new employees. This bias has also leaked into the college admissions process. “Asian applicants often changed foreignsounding names to something Americansounding,” journalist Dina Gerdeman wrote in an article for Harvard Business School. “One Asian applicant said she put her ‘very Chinese-sounding’ name on her resume in her freshman year but only got noticed after subbing in her American nickname later.” While having an Asian name is a great way to represent Asian culture, it can work to someone’s disadvantage in the American workplace. Yewon Lee recounted seeing people “give up making people pronounce their names and go by white-sounding names.”

There has never been a person who has said my name right the first time we met... — Izin Ton Unfortunately, Lee isn’t the only one who has noticed this. “A lot of my family members have actually talked to me about this and explicitly said that they gave their children whitesounding names to try and prevent this from happening,” Ton said. Despite Asian Americans’ efforts to conceal their Asian name, Boxer says that surnames give away racial identities because we automatically correlate them to a certain ethnic group. This is especially harmful if that ethnic group is a minority. “If you have a first name that you’ve Americanized and not your last name, that can still indicate that there will be some bias,” Boxer said. According to a 2018 poll from NBC News, 64 percent of Americans believe that racial discrimination still exists as a major problem in the U.S. Even if Asian Americans have a U.S. citizenship, they are not always immune to the judgements that pervade American society. “People of color shouldn’t have to change their ethnic names so they can get a job,” Patel said. “The company should put in effort to learn how to pronounce their names.” A name is a part of one’s identity. Therefore, changing one’s name can be seen as changing one’s original identity. According to Tsay, Asian Americans are not the only ones dealing with this issue, meaning that other minorities suffer from these “consequences” just because they have an ethnic name. A name is simply a way to identify oneself, but it can hold so much power in the lives of Asian Americans and other minority groups. Although it does not say everything about people’s personalities, it represents who they choose to be. Amisha, Yewon, Izin and Mercy each have their own reasons behind their name choice. But in the end, they are just four girls, each with their own unique name.

Our UCF chapter also features a story in their issue on how Asian and American names affect the Asian American identity. Check out the article at: http://www.sparks-mag.com/