When you are born with yellow skin and black hair into a multicolored country, socioculturalism is a daily reality. Although my parents label me as an ABC (American Born Chinese) with amusement, unbeknownst to them, every day is a continuous combination of integration, negotiation, and assessment of how my decisions and actions define who I am. For example, if I choose Peking duck over sirloin steak for dinner, does that make me more Chinese? Where did this preference for a northern Chinese delicacy even stem from? My parents are from Shanghai, so my preferred protein should really be freshwater shrimp. Of the dance styles that I enjoy the most, my decision is straddled between Chinese and hip hop. When I’m seeking symptomatic relief from colds, I instinctually reach for Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Phenylephrine. But, for sore throat relief specifically, my first line treatment of choice is Nin Jiom herbal lozenges and syrup. Asian Americans are predisposed to specific cancers and there is an overwhelming prevalence of Hepatitis B in the Asian American community. Because my diet is probably closer to the average American diet, what disease risk factors and predispositions do I actually have?
As illustrated above, I am socioculturally stochastic. Even the best statisticians would not be able to make any sense of this variability and extract a reliable pattern to predict my future actions. While I have never felt intimately tied to my ancestral culture, my physical appearance is a daily reminder that there is no escaping it. Despite my inability to lean one way or the other, whether I like it or not, I am American, Asian, and Chinese. Although I have traveled extensively around the world and have lived in several microcultures within the US, it wasn’t until I traveled to Ghana that I began to understand the significance and potential consequences of my blended identities within a broader context....
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More nurses should be blogging about the FDA's recent movements on DTC genetic testing. This is a patient and consumer advocacy issue!
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