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The End Of Spam Shame Summary

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The End of Spam Shame The article, “The End of Spam Shame: On Class, Colonialism, and Canned Meat” by Sylvie Kim originally appeared in Hyphen Magazine in 2011. In the article, the author discusses how consuming Spam has influenced her life, and in light of her experience she claims that people should not be ashamed of their culture. To her audience who face the same dilemma as herself, she urges them to take a firm stance on their culture, and not be bullied by the cultural critics. In addition, the article suggests that suspending ethnocentrism is key to understanding the cultures that flourish beyond the boundaries of one’s nation. Moreover, the author’s personal experience of the subject matter, and the way she presents her argument with sufficient examples and support make her argument extremely cogent. …show more content…

She also mentioned that she “had to eat Spam in private” because of “class-based Spam shame.” She grew up in the Midwest where people consider her culture as “weirdo Oriental way,” such that she hid her cultural heritage to protect herself from being judged. These stories make the article personal, and it captures readers' attentions. Especially, the following sentence "My childhood was chock-full of nitrates, sodium, and an amalgam of four-legged animals chopped and cured into uniform cuts of salty goodness that was inexpensive, easy to heat, and lasted for damn near forever..." leads readers to be sympathetic. Her diction to explain canned meat has negative connotation, and it makes reader feel that she has strong feeling towards canned meat such as, Spam. Thus, she is trying to make readers have compassion for her from the uses of

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