Canto Cutie - Volume 2

Intimacy is a theme subtly depicted
quite o!en in your comics, in your
comic “On Touch”, you openly
discussed the stereotype of Asian
families being lacking in providing
physical intimacy to their children.
How do you feel like this aspect of our
culture impacts our ability to express
emotions with close family and
friends?
While stereotypes can only gesture at
the deep expanses of our lived
realities, there's something to be said
about the lack of touch in how some
families who identify as Asian
communicate. What may feel like a
lack in one area (touch) can somehow
be expressed in many other ways
(cooking, checking on each other's
health and wellness). On Touch came
out of a sequence of small touches I
had experienced in a few days: having
a doctor hear my heartbeat, and
having a retail worker adjust my
glasses in a glasses shop: I felt this
urge to be held, and ended up having
to hug myself when I got home. While
not everyone likes to be touched or
touching, I realized I had resisted the
idea of myself as someone who
needed touch, maybe because I grew
up around a culture that emphasized
the "virginity and purity" of people
socialized as women. For people who
love through touch, not being touched
can feel very lonely. Finding friends
who love cuddles and hugs has helped
me bridge the ways in which I can
only communicate some of my
feelings through touch.