In "Fish Cheeks," Amy Tan reflects on her past struggle as an Asian American attempting to fit in with white society. She recalls an experience in her past when she tried to hide her heritage in order to fit in.

I can identify with Tan myself; I too have attempted to fit in by blending in with society. Admittedly, in the past I tried to separate myself from my identity in order to avoid being judged. Paradoxically, I was judged for this- by Asians and non-Asians alike. Similar to Tan, I was the type of person who "wanted to disappear" whenever a family member expressed their Asian heritage too extremely and for that, I was looked down upon those by other Chinese people. However, I later realized that all of my desires to separate myself resulted not from my existence as a Chinese person, but rather the stereotypes that others correlate with being Asian; this taught me how to embrace my culture and rid myself of shame.

From a young age, I was corrupted by the Asian stereotypes within society- stereotypes that have been tossed around countless times by peers and the media. Statements like "all Asians are nerds" and "all Asians are quiet and only talk with other Asians" became something that I heard all the time. But there was a problem; I didn't want to be seen as a nerd, and I knew I wasn't a quiet kid, So in my childhood brain I told myself that I didn't want to be seen as Asian. Dang stereotypes........

However, now I have come to differentiate between Chinese culture and Chinese stereotypes. This realization allowed me to truly appreciate my heritage. Now I am aware of the beauty that culture yields and I am proud of my Chinese culture (and the food too!). The Asian stereotypes drove both me and Tan to be afraid of what others may think of us, but by forgetting about the stereotypes that drove us to be insecure with our culture, we are finally able to be "proud" that we "are different".