A few links
I'm trying to post a weekly roundup of links at my main lj, dreamer-easy - lots of news about asylum seekers, especially with an election coming up in Australia later in the year. There's always much more than I can find time or energy to post, but I saved up a few for seeingred, so here you go - three opinion pieces from the Australian papers, and one blog posting from the US:
So much for a balanced diet argues that Australian reality TV "could do with a little less white meat".
In Is there such a thing as 'Asian privilege'?, Candice Chung ponders why the media have explained US fashion designer Alexander Wang's success as not the result of talent but of ethnicity - and why this sort of explanation is so common.
Australia is in an odd position geographically and culturally - a white British outpost next door to Asia. Referring to the lengthy racist tirade endured by an ABC presenter and his two year old daughter on a Sydney bus, Do we change ourselves or 'the other'? argues that "Fear of otherness in the Asian Century is something young Australians will want to avoid." Rather, the exploding economies in Asia will create opportunities for Australian students with a grasp of Asian cultures and languages.
Finally, for those who don't already know my shame, last year I became hopelessly obsessed with Kpop. (At least this was before Gangnam Style.) It's not just about pretty, pretty Korean boys, though: I soon realised that (a) Korea's culture and history are absolutely fascinating and (b) I know next to nothing about them. So I found On South Korean 'Superficiality': We Are Deeper Than You Want To Know highly relevant to my interests. It offers challenges for any Westerner trying to understand (South) Korean society, especially someone like me whose primary point of contact is through fashion and beauty: "The US has essentially 'branded' the very concept of a free, tolerant society and manages that brand meticulously."
So much for a balanced diet argues that Australian reality TV "could do with a little less white meat".
In Is there such a thing as 'Asian privilege'?, Candice Chung ponders why the media have explained US fashion designer Alexander Wang's success as not the result of talent but of ethnicity - and why this sort of explanation is so common.
Australia is in an odd position geographically and culturally - a white British outpost next door to Asia. Referring to the lengthy racist tirade endured by an ABC presenter and his two year old daughter on a Sydney bus, Do we change ourselves or 'the other'? argues that "Fear of otherness in the Asian Century is something young Australians will want to avoid." Rather, the exploding economies in Asia will create opportunities for Australian students with a grasp of Asian cultures and languages.
Finally, for those who don't already know my shame, last year I became hopelessly obsessed with Kpop. (At least this was before Gangnam Style.) It's not just about pretty, pretty Korean boys, though: I soon realised that (a) Korea's culture and history are absolutely fascinating and (b) I know next to nothing about them. So I found On South Korean 'Superficiality': We Are Deeper Than You Want To Know highly relevant to my interests. It offers challenges for any Westerner trying to understand (South) Korean society, especially someone like me whose primary point of contact is through fashion and beauty: "The US has essentially 'branded' the very concept of a free, tolerant society and manages that brand meticulously."