In SFGate today, Jeff Yang talks about the clashing ideas of Asian American identity among generations, namely my generation (people born in the 70s) and older, and those who are in their teens and 20s. He brings up issues that have dominated, and continue to dominate dialogue among Asian Americans of my generation (and apparently, of a very small portion of the generation younger than me): our foreignness–or that we’re seen as the perpetual foreigner/outsider (because of our accents and mainstream American society’s apparent inability to really see Asians as Americans); and Asian women as sex objects (without any agency on their own, of course, to want to be sex objects).
To that end, Asian Americans of my generation (GOD, I hate saying that term!) especially those of us who are academics or otherwise involved in popular culture appear to be stuck. Yang also talks about how mainstream American perceptions of Asians has changed, slowly–being integrated into mainstream shows; and how we’ve started to complicate our own perceptions of how we, as Asians, belong in America as both Americans and Asian Americans. But at the same time, Yang also talks about how we’re missing out on other Asian voices, who are reaching teenage and 20-something Asian Americans in ways that “we” never thought of, especially on YouTube, such as HappySlip, and nigahiga.
For me, that’s one of the things that was really frustrating about being in Asian American studies, and looking at the media. I got sick of people looking at both mainstream American society and Asian American identity as these monolithic things, identities and subjects that can’t or won’t change. While people are ranting on and on about the topics that I’ve just mentioned, it’s great to see people taking the dialogue of what it means to be Asian in American society to different places, especially to see how Asian American identity is evolving, and to frankly see how mainstream American culture is evolving with it to integrate Asians as part of the American landscape. It’s nice to see that we’re not just obsessed over constantly looking at Asian women as sex objects lacking agency, somehow needing an Asian man to see the error of her ways (roll eyes), or that we will always be “exotic” or “not belonging”. If anything, it’s showing how the ability of people to be able to access new forms of media and to provide new voices into the dialogue of Asian American identity that we couldn’t see or hear before–and to finally develop some new ways to see Asian America.
And frankly, it’s nice to see other Asian Americans who aren’t neurotic or hung up about their identities.
What next?
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30 Comments to “Asian American 2.0?”
jozjozjoz wrote:
Efi, please stop making me feel old.
Thankyouverymuchbuhbye.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 10:34 am | Permalink
Bo wrote:
Ditto Joz’s comment. When was being born in the 70s considered “old”?
I don’t know about everyone else but I’ve always had issue with seeing myself as part of the “Asian-American identity” largely b/c I never really could articulate the AA identity beyond broad stereotypes that never fit into my own personal sense of self.
It’s refreshing to hear that younger folks are dismantelling the concept of an “Asian-American identity” and simply creating their own identity – however they wish to define it.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 12:54 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
I think that’s always been my issue with Asian American studies and identity. I got really irritated with the insecurities that people who identified as “Asian American”, and how everything got conflated into “Asian American”, particularly since it’s such an umbrella term that doesn’t really identify anyone or anything.
For me, being “Asian American”, or more accurately, 2nd generation monolingual Filipino American, is part of my identity, but not all of my identity. I mean, I’m able to theorize and belly gaze with the best of them, but trying to extract my cultural/ethnic identity without taking into account how else I identify is impossible.
I do really see the shift of how Asian Americans in their 30s and how younger Asian American view their ethnic/cultural identities, and it is really refreshing that they don’t have nearly the hang ups that we do–and I really hope that with that we can FINALLY move beyond interracial dating as a major issue and move towards something more meaningful and substantive.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 1:04 pm | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
My dentures fell out, and I can’t see where they went. Can someone help this Gen X fogey find them?
While you’re helping me find my teeth, all I have to say is that I’m excited that the millennials (or whatever the media like to call them) and forging their own identity within the mainstream. The outsider mentality gets so played.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 1:05 pm | Permalink
Ernie wrote:
Hey, Jun is our official Gen-Y guy! Let’s ask him and have him represent A WHOLE GENERATION.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 1:46 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Wait a minute! You ALL are Gen-Y! I’m at the cusp of Gen-X and Gen-Y myself.
No wonder I feel so old whenever I hang out with you guys! Jesus…
Posted on 27-May-08 at 1:48 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
I think I am the oldest one here.. Gen-X. I remember Jeff Yang speaking at Harvard for an ITASA after I graduated from college – maybe in 1994 or 1995. He was a “representative” for alternative Taiwanese-American careers – i.e not doctor, scientist, engineer or lawyer.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
John, boy did things change after you left college. You got Jeff Yang for ITASA at Harvard. Less than a decade later, we got Coco Lee.
Posted on 27-May-08 at 2:32 pm | Permalink
Jun wrote:
thanks ernie… no pressure…lol
but ill take the time to read that article more carefully and post a response… always wanted to post something about the younger asian generation but never got around to it… this inspired me =)
Posted on 27-May-08 at 2:51 pm | Permalink
The Fighting 44s » Blog Archive » Generations wrote:
[...] saw this post from the fine people of 8Asians today. In the post, Efren links this article by Jeff Yang (founder [...]
Posted on 27-May-08 at 5:26 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
Efren, there is NO WAY you are on the cusp of GenX and GenY! You are firmly GenX (as I am… shhh!)
Posted on 28-May-08 at 7:29 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
joz, I AM older than you..what are you talking about–you’re firmly GenY
Now, get over it!
Posted on 28-May-08 at 8:00 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
Efren, the earliest cutoff I’ve seen for Gen X is any year prior to 1976, i.e. if you were born in 1975 or earlier, you’re Gen X. But most sources now state 1982 as the cutoff. Check out the Wikipedia article on Generation X, which sources Time Magazine. I tried linking to the Wikipedia article yesterday, but my comment must have gone into the Wordpress comment spam dustbin.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 8:18 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
P.S. Either way, I’m still Gen X.
I think a good litmus test is whether you saw any of the original Star Wars movies in the theater during their original runs.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 8:23 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Heh, I was born in 1974, and I remember hearing the cutoff of GenX used as 75-76 myself.
Besides, who REALLY uses GenX and GenY anymore (besides this group)?
I remember seeing Empire Strikes Back AND Return of the Jedi when it first came out–too young for Star Wars though.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 9:16 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
I saw Jedi. I remember being really afraid of Jabba the Hutt.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 9:31 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
I just want to say the Gen X got a bad rap.
GenX was supposedly all “grunge” (ew) and “unaffected” and “uncaring” about the world.. borderline selfish and self-involved, remember?
But in my personal experience, GenXers are quite concerned about what’s going on with the world around them, not at all grungy and (as a generation) less self-involved than (ahem) other generations.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 9:38 am | Permalink
Bo wrote:
I hate to burst the bubble but I don’t think any of us (excluding Jun) can claim to be Gen Y. We all spend waaaaayyyy to much time navel gazing about Long Duk Dong to be Gen Y. The real differentiator for Gen X/Y isn’t so much year but psychographic profile and the external events that shaped our world view. If you can remember the rise of AIDS, school house rocks, and being a latchkey kid you’re Gen X. If Columbine and 9/11 was a significant marker of your adolescence or teen years, you’re Gen Y.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 10:29 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
Grunge resulted when Seattle got indigestion and vomited all over the rest of the United States. But who is blamed for being the purveyors of flannel? Lesbians. I don’t get it.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 10:33 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
We’re all echo boomers, that is, people born between 1977 and 1994. Some of us.. no names…are NOT echo boomers… =P
Posted on 28-May-08 at 11:04 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
Hold on… I think we should coin a new term. We all seem to be trying to prove that we’re almost as old as Efren, so why don’t we divide ourselves into three groups?
1975-1978 – “Almost as old as Efren”
1979-1982 – “Not quite as old as Efren, but not too far off”
1983 on – “Totally not as old as Efren”
Posted on 28-May-08 at 11:48 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Joz: After the first Iraq war back in ‘91, we suddenly were seen as having conscience and having some sort of “identity”–and then we were apparently responsible for the dot-com boom and apparent dot-bomb. I remember going to my 10 year high school reunion in Silicon Valley and 90% of my classmates stayed away because they were either laid off–or actually had lives.
Akrypti: Thanks for making me feel old as dirt! At least the people I swim with and do hip hop with are always amazed that I’m 10+ years older than them and can keep up with (even though I am in pain for days after–my booty doesn’t shake that well anymore).
It’s kinda weird considering that I always used to be the youngest person among all my friends–and now I’m suddenly realizing that I’m now one of the oldest. WTF happened…?
Posted on 28-May-08 at 11:56 am | Permalink
Bo wrote:
The answer is yoga! Not that I’m biased or anything
Practice every day and you will stay young forever. Hey, when I was 21 (which is now OVER a decade ago) I could barely touch my toes. Now I can touch the back of my head with the sole of my foot.
Long live yoga!
Posted on 28-May-08 at 6:44 pm | Permalink
ancient one wrote:
You guys are all kids to me! I was born, in, uh… before the 70’s. Jun is only 5 years older than my daughter.
I agree with the article that Asian American kids are different from previous generations. Yang is right that they have their own new media role models. My kids were the ones who showed me Happyslip, Nigahiga, and Kevjumba – I had never heard of them before they told me about them. Role models in general for them are different than when I was growing up back (way back) in the day. Perhaps my view is skewed by being in Silicon Valley, but the Asian American kids I am around have far better role models and don’t have the kind of inferiority complex I saw with previous generations of Asians Americans. There are Asian American mayors and councilman, CEOs like Jerry Yang and Jen Hsun Huang, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists like Vinod Khosla. We didn’t have that when I was growing up or even in my early days of working – Silicon Valley firms had a glass ceiling back then.
They also interact with things Asian differently. I noticed that a lot of Asian American kids go to Asia fairly often – some as often as every year. That never happened when I was a kid. Asia is powerful and influential now – not only economically but culturally. Stuff from Asia is considered cool now, as Yang points out. Back then – they just seemed backward compared to the mainstream. My nephew goes to the Philippines every Christmas to perform as a DJ. Some of the girls I used to coach in volleyball watch soap operas in Tagalog. Those are ways of connecting with Asia that we wouldn’t even consider in my past.
Still, some of the issues are the same. They are still wary of how they will be treated as minorities. I remember at one volleyball practice the girls were talking to two teammates who returned from a student trip to Washington DC. One girl asked them, “Were you the only Asians there?” The reply: “Yes, but they were nice to us.” My daughter once complained to me that some creepy old white guy subscribed to her and friends’ Youtube channels. Colorism still affects their mentality (see my post in the biracial thread).
While some things are the same, a lot of things are different. I am anxious to see the next part of his article, where he talks to Asian American Youtube stars on what it means to be Asian.
Posted on 28-May-08 at 9:36 pm | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
“I noticed that a lot of Asian American kids go to Asia fairly often – some as often as every year. That never happened when I was a kid.”
I have two words for the Taiwanese members of this blog – They will either trigger warm feelings of nostalgia or trigger PTSD. Here it goes…
LOVE BOAT!
Posted on 29-May-08 at 6:47 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
Yes, I went on LOVEBOAT. I’d say which year, but that would date me.
I think John Lin owes us a post about this…
Posted on 29-May-08 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Joz, given the discussion we’ve been having on this discussion…kinda late for that.
Posted on 29-May-08 at 2:13 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
Efi,
Check that last comment.
How about “no one wanted to date me on LOVEBOAT”
Posted on 29-May-08 at 2:51 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
Loveboat!
I went when I was 18-years-old and had not yet been anywhere with 20 or more unrelated-by-kin Asians altogether. The thought of 2,000 unrelated-by-kin Asians altogether terrified me. Mom signed me up without my consent, included THE WORST photo she could have POSSIBLY FOUND of me and that went into the damn yearbook, and I got shipped off to Taiwan.
Oh yeah. I met west coast Asians for the first time on Loveboat. OMFG DID YOU GUYS TERRIFY ME. Especially those “L.A.” Asians. You L.A. girls look like barbie dolls. Blonde haired blue-tinted-contacts barbie dolls. FOR CHRISSAKES YOU’RE ASIAN. *LOOK* IT!
Posted on 29-May-08 at 3:15 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Youtube Asian Style goes to the movies: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog wrote:
[...] that her style was Asian. Asian style? What’s that? We had a post a while ago about the next generation of Asian Americans and how they are forging their own identities and media. This generation’s situation is so much different from when I was growing up, even though I [...]
Posted on 29-Nov-08 at 5:07 pm | Permalink
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