[Dementyia]

I have never been called a wannabe Asain, but in my youth, I have been called wannabe Native American and Wannabe white (I'm 3/4 caucasian, 1/4 mutt).

I think it is just a sign of how closed-minded some people can be. I like some of the street fashion and much J-Pop, as well as bento boxes, we love anime, my eldest daughter is bent on reading all the manga she can rent fro our local library, and my family owns only chopsticks and spoons for eating (food prep is different of course), but we aren't obsessed with the culture, there are simply things from Asian cultures (we write Chinese simplified kanji, and paint in the Chinese watercolor style for some of our art classes, so yes, more than one Asian culture) that we really enjoy.

I don't think that makes us any more or less our own genetic structure though. The Internet and mass media has made it really easy to evolve as an individual, developing preferences for many different aspects of varied traditional cultures.

The ability to celebrate a culture one was not born into is a great gift, not something to be ridicules, IMHO.

I'm on the board of my city's local Native American center, and I was saying the same thing just last week after the board meeting. Birth means nothing if your heart wishes to celebrate and embrace a culture, and the decision to love (or even live) a cultural lifestyle not yours genetically does not change your culture, or make you a wannabe, it just makes you more of a you!

I actually think it is quite an honor for people to choose to enliven a culture by emulating it. I see it much as keeping traditions alive, (like learning to tat or crochet, but to a larger extent) and spreading understanding among the world's peoples, not faking or mockery.

Being original and one-of-a-kind rocks!