For some reason in Japan, Mongolian spots are important especially when hafu children are concerned.
Mongolian Spot is a birthmark most East Asians get when they are born. It disappears by the time they are about 5. Often thought of as a mark of a Mongol, it’s supposedly a sign that the child is of Mongol decent.
Due to Japanese propaganda most Japanese people think only those of Mongol decent has this mark. (Hence the term “Mongolian Spot”) It’s not true, other ethnic groups can have them, just in a less of a percentage. The reason it's called Mongolian Spot is because East Asians almost always get this blue marking on the body.
This “myth” makes Japanese Families more focused on the fact that some hafu children do not get Mongolian Spots. Apparently, I had it when I was a child and my mother was very happy about it. But this happiness about a blue spot on your butt is a weird Japanese thing.
My mother believes that the Hafu children who are born with Mongolian Spots are more “Asian” than those who are not. Which is stupid, but you’ll be surprised how happy Japanese families (especially grandparents) are when their hafu children get Mongolian spots. It almost makes them think that somehow the child is more them. (My sister who did not get a Mongolian Mark was very popular to advertising firms to do diaper commercials in Japan, but my mother commented that she’s too Caucasian. She almost said in a derogatory way…)
I recall my mother’s friend had a boy and he got a Mongolian Spot and how excited the grandfather was that his grandson had the mark. He was so happy that he stated this whenever he talked about his grandson. Weird considering it’s just a blue mark on the butt.
I guess my main problem with “Mongolian Spots happiness” is the fact that my mother and her friends use it as some sort of marker of their Asian heritage. In a strange case of reinforcing a stereotype, they truly think it makes them more likely to be smarter (like in Math and Science) and more Asian in general.
My sister without the Mongolian Spot wasn’t as good in Math as I was, which I actually liked because she blew the stereotype of all Asians being good in math, but reinforced the idea that my sister was indeed not as Asian in my mother’s mind. I can't imagine how that made my sister feel to be segregated even a little because of a blue spot on the butt. If a full Asian kid didn’t have this mark would his “Asianess” be questioned? Probably not… but as a hafu kid… one is never really treated equal… are we?
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7 comments:
This is fascinating and one of those things I never heard of before. I want to voice again how much your experience and insight are appreciated! I have the feeling I'm going to continue to learn a great deal from your posts.
Thanks for reading!
:D
The spots look exactly like bruises. Sometimes parents of kids born with the spot in other lands have been suspected of child abuse, have you ever heard of these cases?
You know I only heard stories from my mother's friends about Mongolian Spot being mistaken for bruises. I'm sure it happens, and even the adoptive parents are shocked when they see it. Hopefully now days they are looking it up on the internet and finding out what the bruise-looking spot really is. Frankly, I think that people who provide services with adoption of Asian children should educate the parents on Mongolian spots before they get adopted, so that they know and can tell their doctors.
It's funny, but my son was born with a big blue spot on his little bottom, much bigger than mine ever was. Fortunately where I come from healthcare workers already know all about them. (Japanese aren't the only ones who have the Mongolian spot, despite their fond illusions to the contrary.) It fades when you get older.
One of my friends was shocked to see it when she was changing my son's diaper, and asked me if I'd been beating him. I had to explain to her what it was, she'd never heard of it before.
My daughter was born with a perfect oval shaped blue spot on her her left butt cheek. I just found out yesterday that she has the "mongolian spot" she is six years old and still has it. It's a little lighter now but still very noticeable. heres the funny thing, she was born in Ny but I am Boivian with some spanish. inca and french decent. My husband is Bolivian with yugoslavic and spanish decent. we are both light skinned and my daughter came out a little more chinky eyed and darker skin color. And what a personality she has! ! !
I don't know the reason why but it is quite known that Chinese and Korean babies don't acquire the Mongolian spots as much as Mongolians or Japanese (or native Americans). So I guess it's not really an Asian sign...mabye it has more to do with horseriding? Or maybe because Mongolians and Japanese like sumo or wrestling so much. Just joking...
I was born with the spot in Australia ages ago, and my father was called from the Chief nurse and was apologized saying that some nurse might have dropped the baby (me). My dad saw the bruise and laughed and told her that this was just a Mongolian spot then the Chief nurse called all the nurses in the hospital and started a lecture on what a Mongolian spot actually looked like!
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