{"id":33,"date":"2012-01-13T08:41:58","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T16:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freckle.browdy.net\/?p=33"},"modified":"2012-01-13T10:06:36","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T18:06:36","slug":"so-youre-having-a-hapa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/isaac.browdy.net\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"So you’re having a hapa?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I used the term “hapa” previously but it occurred to me this morning that many people reading this may not have heard it before.\u00a0 According to Wikipedia<\/a>, “Hapa<\/strong> is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage.”\u00a0 I don’t know that I heard the term before moving to the Bay Area, but it’s very common around here.\u00a0 (Apparently my spell checker has never heard the term either!)<\/p>\n

The rumor is that hapas are more beautiful than pure Asian or white people.\u00a0 It’s a modern urban myth…or is it?\u00a0 According to this article in Psychology Today<\/a>, “…according to a study…hapa faces are rated as more beautiful than European or Japanese faces. Researchers say the finding may extend to other racial mixes as well. ”\u00a0 I tried to find the source of the study, but only found older references to it.\u00a0 But who needs proof, just look at a hapa and you can tell!<\/p>\n

As if our hapa-to-be didn’t have enough advantages with the enhanced beauty and the amazing parents, it turns out s\/he will be generally healthier as well.\u00a0 The same article states “…evidence suggests that half-Asians’ diverse genetic ancestry would enhance health…”.\u00a0 Besides general health, they say “Genetic diversity, or heterozygosity, is associated with a lower incidence of some diseases. Genetic diseases, such as hemophilia and Tay-Sachs…”.<\/p>\n

So the next time you hear us use the word hapa to describe Freckle, you’ll know we’re talking about our half-asian\/half-white baby with +1 charisma and +1 constitution<\/a> (Edited because my nerdy wife called me out on the original numbers).<\/p>\n

Papa-D<\/p>\n