The Banyan Tree Project — How Saving Face Costs Lives
Written by Andrew Cho
In honor of the upcoming May 19th holiday, the annual National Asian & Pacific Island HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I would like to highlight the Banyan Tree Project’s current work in tackling systemic stigma associated with HIV in the Asian & Pacific Island population. As a first generation Korean American, I grew up breathing between the intersections of both my Korean and American identities — if someone were to ask me what the single most striking difference between Korean and American cultures is, I would probably point to the concept of “saving face.”
When I look back to the first time that I came to the United States, it wasn’t the manicured lawns, the sheer size of the land, or the fact that strangers regularly struck up conversations in the middle of a line at a grocery store. As a kid, I knew America was a massive country where buildings have the liberty to build and expand horizontally andvertically, and the depictions of Americans in both Korean and American media led me to believe that everyone in the states were characterized by aggressive friendliness and natural charisma. So, while the unsolicited conversations with strangers and the massive space did not come as much of a surprise, true cultural shock came from the fact that American culture encouraged, praised, and even demanded, individuality. Individualism and self-efficacy seemed to be at the heart of the American psyche; the perennial “American dream” highlights the individual’s ability.
In the Korean culture and many of the East Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander cultures that I am familiar with, individualism has never been quite a virtue. Yes, heroes and exalted men and women exist in our histories and we are inundated with high academic expectations; however, the cultural emphasis is on individual success for the family, individual achievements for social harmony and cohesion. Honor, or pride of the family supersedes the interests of the individual — this is even alluded to the film Crazy Rich Asians.
So, take a culture where a single person’s achievement is a reflection of the whole — the converse then is true; a person’s “fault” or “flaw” is a stain on the collective. Then, add onto this a culture that is still largely socially conservative in regard to sexual health and sexuality. While HIV still unfortunately carries the burden of heavy stigmatization, Asian and Pacific Islanders face an especially unique cultural stress that prevents them from seeking proper HIV treatment. To seek proper HIV treatment and prevention plans is to essentially “admit fault” and reflect poorly on not only the individual themselves but also their family… it is not a matter of health but rather “saving face” — parading a mask of leading a perfectly “normal life” despite suffering from a disease.
The Banyan Tree Project recognizes the unique challenges that face the Asian and Pacific Islander population in seeking HIV treatment plans. They understand that combatting stigma and changing the narrative around individuals suffering from HIV is the first step. The Banyan Tree Project provides resources like the following Media Toolkits for dissemination: they have created factsheets about PrEP, Stigma, and HIV in the current API communities, they created posters, made communication materials for organizations hosting events under their mission — all in an effort to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV.
Finally, they empower API individuals living with HIV to share their stories — so that the cultural barriers tethering other people from seeking proper treatments out of fear. You can read their stories here.
