I’ve noticed that it seems to be extraordinarily rare for an ethnically Asian person to drive a pickup truck, but at the same time it seems to be remarkably common for a Caucasian person to possess a truck, even when there doesn’t appear to be any need for them to do so. Has this been your experiece as well?
By ‘Asian’, I’m referring specifically to East Asians, although I would guess that other Asians might also have extremely low rates of truck ownership as compared to Caucasians.
Why is this the case? Is there some reason why Asian people are vastly less interested in driving pickups than Caucasians??
Huh. A good proportion of the guys (maybe a third, at a WAG) I run into hunting are Asian, and they almost all have pickup trucks. The few that don’t mostly have SUVs. Sure, they’re the smaller trucks, but those are better for driving down narrow brushy roads anyway.
In Korea, at least, a pickup truck is associated with people who sell vegetables/fruit/eggs/whathaveyou on the streets - i.e., a certain “social class” that many upper-middle class people would not want to be associated with. I remember my friend telling me that she expressed a random wish to drive a pickup truck to her dad and he said “No one drives those, unless you’re selling eggs. Or cabbage.”
I dunno if that holds true for Koreans living here, though.
I assume you mean something like “why don’t people of East Asian ethic origin who live in the USA drive pickup trucks”, because let me tell you there are millions and millions of Asians driving trucks in Asia.
Driving a pickup truck is part of the overtly macho culture of mainstream male USA, fairly specific to Caucasians and Hispanics, which stems from the romantic idea of the West that those groups are still mesmerized by. Similarly the fascination with country music, guns, hunting, jeans, cowboy boots, camping, leather jackets, and so on.
It simply has no relevance to Asian culture, they express their masculinity in other ways.
I think size of the individual might come into play. Larger guys tend to drive trucks because they have more room to them. Smaller people(which includes alot of asians) might not be comfortable in a space oversized for them.
The there is the pick-up is steriotypical of rednecks and lower class tradesmen often a culture where racism exists. Maybe they choose not to drive them to avoid being associated with that culture.
I know asians that drive pick ups. I would agree they are the minority of pick-up owners.
Pick-ups are generaly bought and used by people that have a use for them. Most people wouldn’t buy one if it wasn’t needed in their line of work.
I’m now thinking of one of my current co-workers (Chinese), who drives a big-ass white pickup, and my old section head (Japanese), who also drove a ginormous pickup. Neither of them are particularly tall guys, either.
Methinks Surreal needs to expand his/her circle of pickup truck drivers.
As the answer to virtually all the racial-streotype-questions-designed-to-reinforce-said-stereotypes-by-use-of-negative-modifiers (i.e. “Why don’t Asians?” instead of "Do Asians?) we get here is: they do.
I’ve noticed that a number of Asian shopkeepers drive minivans, predominantly older Toyotas. Makes sense. They’re farily inexpensive, have lots of room, and are reliable.
As far as the alledged ‘hauling cabbages’ mentality, it seems that many older Asians (mostly Vietnamese where I am) are class conscious. I noticed that many older Vietnamese women wear gloves while driving. I was told that they did that because they didn’t want their hands to tan, because tanned hands indicate the person does manual labour. Lexuses and Rolexes also seem to be very popular in the community.
Come to think of it, I don’t see nearly as many pickup trucks on the road as I used to. I think maybe a lot of the people who used to drive them have moved to SUVs instead; same big size and space for hauling, but much better looking.
While I object mildly to the OP - as Rigamarole says, the answer is “they do” - one of the answers is that Asians are very money-conscious. Note I didn’t say “miserly” or “stingy”. Just conscious. And Toyotas and Hondas get better gas mileage, and supposedly break down less often, and cost less initially, at least in the minds of the purchasers*, etc., etc., etc.
*I think they do all that…but I just know someone is going to come around and say “Well, blah-blah truck is WAY cheaper, so you’re wrong.”
It’s partly because few Asians have thoroughly converted to (or grew up with) the suburban American mentality: one car (or truck) per person, all shopping done at strip malls and big-box stores, doing home improvement projects yourself, towing boats on weekends, etc.
But of course there’s a cultural component as well. I’m Japanese and I couldn’t bring myself to buy a truck, even though I could make good use of one. (I live alone, I have 2 dogs, and I often carry big toys like canoes and recumbent tricycles.) There’s no logic to it, I’m just not used to thinking of a truck as a practical and cost-effective personal vehicle. I ended up getting a minivan which seemed more “reasonable” to me.
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