In the reviews section of Sept. 26 issue of The Chronicle, a review was made on eating with chopsticks. I understand it may have been intended to be humorous; however, I think it fails to be so. What it ended up doing instead was continuing a sense of otherness toward Asian cultures from Western societies. Growing up in Hong Kong, I don’t see chopsticks—a tool much older and ingrained in a culture—to be “too time-consuming.”

“Eating with chopsticks just seems so counterintuitive when forks, spoons and even sporks exists.” This line alone subtly perpetuates the idea that Western ways of life are more “proper” or “superior.”

I’m curious as to how this was let through to publishing because it doesn’t seem like necessary or appropriate content. To me, it looks like filler content that was not backed with good judgment.

I believe the intent wasn’t malicious. That being said, intent does not negate the outcome of an action. I hope for all The Chronicle staff to continually grow their cultural sensitivity and awareness, which extends to Chronicle readers on proper use and how to prevent these problems from occurring in the first place.

Alexandra Rixon 

Sophomore journalism and design double major