(no subject)
Haha... that date auction turned out to be pretty darn embarassing, but I'm not surprised... I kinda knew what I was getting myself into. My friend Rakhee convinced me and a couple of my other law school buddies into auctioning ourselves off to raise money for a local Community Center. Actually, "convinced" is not the word... she pretty said she'd hate us if we didn't support her in this event so we didn't have much choice...hahaha. We're such damn pushovers.
My friend Jae and I ended up just fetching $20...hahaha. I guess there just isn't much love for Asian guys in a predominantly cau school. Sometimes I wonder how the general public views Asian men. Our female counterparts are represented by the likes of Kelly Hu, Lucy Liu, and the Lisa Ling. Where are the homegrown male counterparts to these women? Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li were huge stars in Asia before they really had a chance to make big budget movies in the United States. Whatever happened to Russell Wong and Jason Scott Lee? Perhaps Asian men don't sell very well because of the existing stereotypes that the media likes to play upon. Just look at the popularity of William Hung after his stint on American Idol. While he will get his 15 minutes of fame, he symbolizes many of the negative stereotypes that the Western media has of Asian males. Sure, William is a nice guy, but Asians need role models of a different sort as well... not only nerdy engineers, guys that know martial arts, and speak with Asian accents. (More power to Will though... he should milk his popularity for what it's worth and pay off his expenses at Berkeley... after all, you can't buy that kind of publicity.) All in all, it seems there has been a serious failure in the Western media in promoting native born Asian male actors in order to reinforce positive and stamp out negative stereotypes. However, they continue to sexualize and objectify Asian females. Could it be that the majority of the viewing public can't bear to see Asian males in a romantic capacity at all? Perhaps the viewing public and Hollywood simply don't want to see Asian males in such stereotype-breaking roles, but would much rather continue to poke fun at the Asian male stereotypes, thereby immasculating us in the media, while continuing to exploit the exotic qualities of Asian women. Sex sells, but why aren't Asian males painted in the same light? (Maybe the small penis myth has forever ruined us...hahaha. I dunno.) Also, when has anyone felt an Asian accent was sexy? I always hear about how my female friends think English, French, Italian, and Spanish accents are sexy. I know African American and Hispanic males have also fought hard to maintain a positive media image as well...but luckily they have their Ricky Martins, Tyson Beckfords, etc.
I suppose this dilemma won't be resolved for a long while, but I applaud the efforts of Asian filmmakers for bringing movies such as "Better Luck Tomorrow" to the silver screen and helping to change the perceptions the Western media has of Asian American males... we're not just gangsters, engineeers, or martial artists... we're professionals, we're homeowners, we like to party, we enjoy long vacations, and we like our corned beef and hash in the wee hours of the morning while stumbling home drunk (Sorry, maybe that's just me... hehehe.). We've made a start, but there's still a long way to go.
Well, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent...but part of the reason I went off on that little tangent was in part due to some of the demographics of my school and my resultant bitterness for only getting bid on for $20 at the auction...hehehe.
My school is predominantly caucasian, with Jewish and Italians being the biggest groups. There is a growing percentage of minorities... I think Koreans rank the highest in number, with South Asians gaining rapidly in numbers. It's definitely a different environment than I've experienced in California where schools I attended often exceeded 40% in minority attendance, often predominantly Asian. In this environment I often find myself wondering about the perceptions that others have of Asian Americans. While there are many ethnic categorizations of Asians, most of the United States lump us into one group... after all, "we all look the same," right?
The moment I walked into that place, I knew I shouldn't have done the darn date auction... lots of dudes present, but very few Asian women present which meant there probably wouldn't be much/any love for me and my other two Asian guy friends in the auction (refer to my reasonings above). I was right. Bids came only from our friends and that was pretty much it... no excitement from the non-Asian women in the audience when I was on stage or when my other two friends were on stage. It was somewhat disheartening, but only more so when we'd see an average looking caucasian guy draw far more excitement from the crowd and go for a higher bid. While embarassing, I think it made me realize that Asian American have a long way to go before true acceptance in this society. While we're seen as a model minority, and that such stereotypes are good... what happens to those of us that don't fit the mold? We're not all good in math, we're not all engineeers, and many of us don't speak with an Asian accents. While I recognize there are many cultural differences, many of the Asian Americans in this generation have grown up on the same television and cartoon series, the same fast food, been inundated it same glut of mass media... while we may look different, we have assimilated into the American culture. However, we have yet to be fully accepted as equals... perhaps due to real cultural differences and barriers. Many of us don't realize how pervasive and powerful the media has been in creating our perceptions of reality and it is time paint a more accurate portait of Asian Americans in society.
Okay... I'll try to be more interesting and fun next time.
My friend Jae and I ended up just fetching $20...hahaha. I guess there just isn't much love for Asian guys in a predominantly cau school. Sometimes I wonder how the general public views Asian men. Our female counterparts are represented by the likes of Kelly Hu, Lucy Liu, and the Lisa Ling. Where are the homegrown male counterparts to these women? Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li were huge stars in Asia before they really had a chance to make big budget movies in the United States. Whatever happened to Russell Wong and Jason Scott Lee? Perhaps Asian men don't sell very well because of the existing stereotypes that the media likes to play upon. Just look at the popularity of William Hung after his stint on American Idol. While he will get his 15 minutes of fame, he symbolizes many of the negative stereotypes that the Western media has of Asian males. Sure, William is a nice guy, but Asians need role models of a different sort as well... not only nerdy engineers, guys that know martial arts, and speak with Asian accents. (More power to Will though... he should milk his popularity for what it's worth and pay off his expenses at Berkeley... after all, you can't buy that kind of publicity.) All in all, it seems there has been a serious failure in the Western media in promoting native born Asian male actors in order to reinforce positive and stamp out negative stereotypes. However, they continue to sexualize and objectify Asian females. Could it be that the majority of the viewing public can't bear to see Asian males in a romantic capacity at all? Perhaps the viewing public and Hollywood simply don't want to see Asian males in such stereotype-breaking roles, but would much rather continue to poke fun at the Asian male stereotypes, thereby immasculating us in the media, while continuing to exploit the exotic qualities of Asian women. Sex sells, but why aren't Asian males painted in the same light? (Maybe the small penis myth has forever ruined us...hahaha. I dunno.) Also, when has anyone felt an Asian accent was sexy? I always hear about how my female friends think English, French, Italian, and Spanish accents are sexy. I know African American and Hispanic males have also fought hard to maintain a positive media image as well...but luckily they have their Ricky Martins, Tyson Beckfords, etc.
I suppose this dilemma won't be resolved for a long while, but I applaud the efforts of Asian filmmakers for bringing movies such as "Better Luck Tomorrow" to the silver screen and helping to change the perceptions the Western media has of Asian American males... we're not just gangsters, engineeers, or martial artists... we're professionals, we're homeowners, we like to party, we enjoy long vacations, and we like our corned beef and hash in the wee hours of the morning while stumbling home drunk (Sorry, maybe that's just me... hehehe.). We've made a start, but there's still a long way to go.
Well, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent...but part of the reason I went off on that little tangent was in part due to some of the demographics of my school and my resultant bitterness for only getting bid on for $20 at the auction...hehehe.
My school is predominantly caucasian, with Jewish and Italians being the biggest groups. There is a growing percentage of minorities... I think Koreans rank the highest in number, with South Asians gaining rapidly in numbers. It's definitely a different environment than I've experienced in California where schools I attended often exceeded 40% in minority attendance, often predominantly Asian. In this environment I often find myself wondering about the perceptions that others have of Asian Americans. While there are many ethnic categorizations of Asians, most of the United States lump us into one group... after all, "we all look the same," right?
The moment I walked into that place, I knew I shouldn't have done the darn date auction... lots of dudes present, but very few Asian women present which meant there probably wouldn't be much/any love for me and my other two Asian guy friends in the auction (refer to my reasonings above). I was right. Bids came only from our friends and that was pretty much it... no excitement from the non-Asian women in the audience when I was on stage or when my other two friends were on stage. It was somewhat disheartening, but only more so when we'd see an average looking caucasian guy draw far more excitement from the crowd and go for a higher bid. While embarassing, I think it made me realize that Asian American have a long way to go before true acceptance in this society. While we're seen as a model minority, and that such stereotypes are good... what happens to those of us that don't fit the mold? We're not all good in math, we're not all engineeers, and many of us don't speak with an Asian accents. While I recognize there are many cultural differences, many of the Asian Americans in this generation have grown up on the same television and cartoon series, the same fast food, been inundated it same glut of mass media... while we may look different, we have assimilated into the American culture. However, we have yet to be fully accepted as equals... perhaps due to real cultural differences and barriers. Many of us don't realize how pervasive and powerful the media has been in creating our perceptions of reality and it is time paint a more accurate portait of Asian Americans in society.
Okay... I'll try to be more interesting and fun next time.