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Re: making love language (Vietnamese or English?)


The person asking the question was not concerning himself with the
intricacies of the language. He didn't ask, "Given the fact that
the Vietnamese language does not deal well with sexuallity, how do
Vietnamese-Americans express themselves during sex?" His question was
simplistic, voyeuristic - surface level. And why the hell are you all
rushing to baby him?

On Fri, 20 Dec 1996, Anonymous Poster wrote:

> Vietnamese is a language that doesn't deal well with sexuality, and thus
> it certainly would be an interesting question to ask. To illustrate, the
> terms are: "la`m ti`nh", "ddu.", "cho+i", "du+'t". The first is way too
> formal, the second vulgar, and the last three, depending on context, are
> degrading. There's much sexual politics in a prudish culture, and language
> reflects that.
>
> There's nothing stupid that I see in the question. But then, I'm an idiot.
>
> Best,
> KyAnh
>
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I really don't know what to say to respond to the posting below, but I
> > guess I can take a shot at it.
> >
> > My first reaction to the posting was to ask, "who the hell would ask such
> > a stupid question?"  I would like to ask why anyone would even think of
> > asking a question like that.  Would this person "ttnt" ask that question
> > of a Polish or a Czech American?  If not, it would hint to me that
> > this person has internalized Orientalist fantasies of Vietnamese
> > Americans, especially in terms of our sexuality.  Also, why are you asking
> > the people on this list what language all Vietnamese Americans use while
> > making love?  For one thing, not all Vietnamese Americans can even speak
> > Vietnamese.  Now that we have been established in the US in significant
> > numbers for
> > over 20 years, a new generation of American-born, American-raised
> > Vietnamese Americans is coming about, some of whom do not speak
> > Vietnamese.  Also, as a 1.5 generation Vietnamese American, I am able to
> > speak, read and write Vietnamese, but I have met quite a few other 1.5s
> > who can't (including several of my own brothers).  For another
> > thing, why does the writer assume that we can speak for all Vietnamese
> > Americans?  Just a news flash: we are not all the same!  We are
> > individuals who sometimes, believe it or not, think independently!  I
> > really hate it when people ask me a question and take my answer to mean
> > that ALL other Vietnamese and Asian Americans think the same.  Give me a
> > break!!
> >
> > Also, why do you want to learn it in Vietnamese?  By asking the question
> > you are telling me that you are NOT Vietnamese-speaking, and since
> > statistically most Vietnamese Americans can speak Vietnamese, I'll just
> > assume you're not one of us  (forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm taking my
> > best guess, based upon your original posting).  This really sounds like a
> > question that would come from a
> > Rice Queen.  Even if I told you how to say these things (which I NEVER
> > would) do you really think you're going to impress your future Vietnamese
> > American "lovers?"  Chances are, anyone blind or mentally-colonized enough
> > to do the deed with you isn't going to care what the hell you say in bed.
> >
> > It irritates me when non-Vietnamese want to learn a few token phrases of
> > Vietnamese to try and impress us (most of the time, they butcher our
> > language, but some of us are just too nice or whitewashed to tell them how
> > stupid they sound) with how culturally-open they are.  It sounds like the
> > case of the colonizer using the language of the colonized to subjugate and
> > objectify them.
> >
> > Hope this helps in your quest to "make love."
> >
> > Kieu-Anh H. King
> >
> >  On Wed, 18 Dec 1996, Anonymous Poster wrote:
> >
> > > ...to continue on the "language" topic, I'm wondering what language Vietnamese-
> > > Americans use during making love? For my case I use English but love to
> > > learn how to say it in Vietnamese (gio.ng Nam hay Ba('c gi` cu~ng ddu+o+.c :-))
> > >
> > > ttnt
> > >
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