(flickr photo credit: 
Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about YouTube phenom Charice. Sometimes, there are cool glasses of hateraide served with said conversations about Charice.
More hateration in this dancerie after the jump.
Moye: I’m a fan of Glee but I’m not a fan of Charice. Does anyone want to write about [how Charice will appear on an upcoming episode]?
Christine: Rachel’s gonna have a MELTDOWN … can’t wait to see the Diva Showdown Season… that is, if I remember to even tune in.
Dino-Ray: If Charice had a NOT A FAN button on her Facebook page, I would click it. Yes, I am a hater.
Joz: I liked Charice when she was a kid belting out Whitney songs, but not sure that I’m a fan of the “grown up” (remade) Charice. I heard that a lot of Filipino folks (both in the Philippines and Fil-Am) do not like her. Is this true and why is this so?
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I picked up this story about Shirley Tan and her partner Jay off a couple of blogs and I can think of few things that seriously piss me off more. Though I’m a person of faith, and it’s my “job,” sometimes working within an institution that has generally ambiguous views towards gays and lesbians based on various religious reasons can be hard enough for me to swallow some days, especially over anything that tries to keep families apart when there is enough in this world that succeeds at it. I feel particularly sensitive to this issue since I work with kids who have dealt with divorce/separation. It’s still a different story when there is no good reason for a family to not be together based on something like race and ethnicity (I’m thinking about the immigration issues in AZ and soon so many other states in the US) or the parents’ sexual orientation.
Shopping With GASP!
Fanboys rejoice! The full-length trailer for the comic-to-TV-to-movie adaptation of The Green Hornet movie (out in theaters January 2011) has hit the Internet — and it doesn’t look half bad.
I thought it was going to be hard to accept funnyman Seth Rogen as an action hero, but based on the trailer, it kind of fits. Then there’s Jay Chou, who is, of course, the true star. He plays Kato (originally played by Bruce Lee in the ’60s TV series) to Rogen’s Green Hornet. From the trailer, Kato is the brains behind the team while Britt Reid (a.k.a. The Hornet) is the endearing bumbling brawn.
Do you think the movie looks promising?
When I was 34, my doctor refused to biopsy a lump I found in my right breast. He told me I was too young to get breast cancer and had no family history. Besides, he said, “Asian women don’t get breast cancer.” He was wrong. After a second doctor told me with “99.9% certainty” that I didn’t have the disease, I told him I wanted to be 100% certain, so he biopsied the lump. To his shock, I had breast cancer.
Susan Matsuko Shinagawa’s experiences with doctors and cancer are not unique. This NPR discussion with Kathy Ko from the Asian Pacific Islander Health Forum talks about the model minority myth applied to Asian-American health, and breast cancer in particular. That seems so terribly wrong, as I have known a number of Asian-American women who have gotten breast cancer and Tim’s Mom died from it.
The NPR discussion also talks about health disparities in between Asian-Americans and other Americans and between Asian-American subgroups. For example, U.S.-born Vietnamese women are four times more likely to die of breast cancer than any other Asian-American ethnic group. That is in contrast to another study that says that Asian immigrant women as a group are 4 times more likely to die of breast cancer than US born women. Native Hawaiians experience high rates of diabetes and obesity, and Asian-American childhood obesity is on the rise.
Just as the Asian-American model minority myth applied to academics blurs academic disparities between different Asian-American subgroups, aggregating health data across all Asian-Americans causes important information about subgroups to be lost. Asian-Americans as a whole are 50% less likely to die of heart disease than non-hispanic whites. But within that broad group, Native Hawaiians are 40% more likely to be diagnosed with heart diseases than non-hispanic whites. Asian-American kids are the fittest in California, but Filipinos and Pacific Islanders (actually broken out separately here) are not as fit.
What are Asian-Americans to do? The NPR discussion mentions some solutions, like encouraging culturally appropriate health care access and increasing health care coverage. Susan Matsuko Shinagawa suggests that some Asian attitudes about cancer, like not talking about it, need to change. Other studies suggest that adopting the American diet increases cancer risks, so maintaining good eating habits and not being sedentary can go a long way into staying healthy.
A while ago, I had blogged about how Americans expect their business leaders to be white. When you are a Caucasian male in China, you definitely stand out as a foreigner and probably expected to be a white collar worker at the very least, if not a company executive. So I wasn’t totally surprised and somewhat amused about China’s practice of hiring white expatriates to represent foreign business partners. Mitch Moxley wrote about his experience for The Atlantic.
“And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: ‘Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.’”
I remember back in the mid-90s, I was visiting my high school friend Tom (who happens to be white) in Hong Kong. For the day, we went into Shenzen, China to visit the factory where his company manufactured and assembled small home appliances. I recall quite distinctively him half-way jokingly saying that when he visited the factory, productivity went up by 10%. When we walked through the factory, the Chinese factory workers definitely took notice. The fact that my friend Tom was fluent in Mandarin (and learning Cantonese) and I was less so–the factory workers were none the wiser. But Tom was actually an executive unlike the confessions of the fake businessman.
There was a rather interesting sight at the 2010 E3 trade show (Electronic Entertainment Expo) last Tuesday where North Korean soldiers were marching around in circles inside the convention center and around the Staples center in Los Angeles. No, it’s not a sign that America’s irrational fears are coming true, but rather a promotion for the upcoming THQ video game Homefront, which takes place in the near future when North Korea invades America. (It sounds a lot like the Red Dawn remake, doesn’t it? That’s because the plot of the game is written by John Milius, writer of the original Red Dawn).
So I’m going to make a confession and let it be known that I was one of these actors. While I fully admit that it was a “sad-ass gig,” as Phil Yu would say on angryasianman and that most of you would call this “selling out,” I did what I had to do as the opportunity presented itself to me. However, I owe full responsibility for what I did and the community activist part of me would make sure I would never forget this. As such, I will provide the insider’s point of view of what really went down for this gig.
When I submitted my headshot to this particular ad agency, there was no need for an audition: just be Korean and not be overweight. With the qualifications being a simple match, I was instantly booked for the part. My only responsibilities were to be there from 8:30am to 4:30pm and march around mindlessly wearing a North Korean soldier outfit. The pay was $160 with lunch and breaks included. It was my choice to take the role because I needed the money. I noticed I wasn’t alone as I saw a lot of familiar Asian American actors I know in the Los Angeles community who were also part of this fake army. We had an amused conversation that we were aware how sad this gig was but getting paid was better than not getting paid.
I love food. I am not terribly fashionable, although some people have said they “like my style.” I’m not sure what that means; maybe I would label my style as casual hippy-urban, because I basically wear flowy tanktops and shorts with black Kangaroo kicks, or graphic tees and jeans with Chacos whenever I can get away with it. Anyways, whatever.
So of course, I’m insanely admiring (i.e. jealous) of both Top Chef Masters host Kelly Choi and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, two beautiful APA women who are successful and not only experts on food–they get to eat incredible food for a regular living! And talk about it! And judge people and make shrewd, interesting comments about it!
When I got sucked into Top Chef, the food drama was a big factor, but I was definitely enamored with Padma, the gorgeous Indian-born host of the show. She has an easy, effortless way about her in the way she talks and gracefully carries herself, her fashion sense and obviously discerning palate. She really and truly exhibits the “Easy Exotic.” The new season is based in Washington, DC and airs Wednesday nights on Bravo. Can’t wait to watch my lady-crush all season!
Happy Father’s Day to all of you fathers out there! Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki wishes all fathers a Happy Father’s Day. As far as I know, this is the first Internet video address by a presidential cabinet member to address Father’s Day. But if Father’s Day is addressed, would Mother’s Day be addressed as well? How about Valentine’s Day? That would be weird.
The Advancing Justice Conference is a national civil rights and social justice conference that aims to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders in one place to address a broad range of issues facing the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. It serves as a unique forum where researchers, advocates, direct service providers and other leaders can meet face-to-face, talk about their common challenges and find ways to work collaboratively.
Planned highlights include legislative briefings with members of Congress, key policy makers and advocates to discuss critical legislative priorities of importance to the Asian American community and a young leaders program. The 2010 conference will also coincide with the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival featuring Asian American and Pacific Islanders, which will give conference attendees an opportunity to participate in many activities related to the festival.
I really don’t know how to introduce this video, so I won’t — but beware. The following video contains language not suitable for all ages.
The first couple of minutes kind of had me rollin’, but after thinking about what this guy (nice paper boy cap by the way) is teaching the audience, it makes sense. When we learn a new language, what do you get excited about learning? Curse words. There’s something about saying “f*ck you” in seven different languages that give you a certain amount of street cred. It, in a weird way, makes you more connected with other cultures. It makes you classy and worldly.
And P.S. — check out the size of that dude’s microphone pinned to his tie.
Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about novelty glasses looking like… uhmm… oh goddamit, just read the dialogue.
(WARNING: Dialogue is somewhat NSFW.)
Tim: While searching for an image for an article I’m writing for 8asians, I found this. I’m trying to decide if I should use the image, but personally I think the item is a bit too racist, and really doesn’t tie into my story about Chinese being the most nearsighted people in the world.
Moye: EWW, they look like vaginas.
Efren: At least they don’t look like vuvuzelas.
Joz: I find Moye and Efren’s comment way more offensive than the racist glasses.
Dino-Ray: Ummmm… yeah. They do look like mini fleshlight glasses.
Great. Now all I see are fleshlights “devices for discreet sperm collections.” And if everyone on a mailing list has to go down like that, you’ll have to as well. HAPPY FRIDAY, EVERYBODY!
I’m not sure about the premise of this Gillette commercial – an investigative reporting team converging into a locker room asking a variety of half-naked men what they think of Gillette’s new Fusion ProGlide shaver. But I was kind of surprised to see a shirtless Asian American in the commercial; it’s nice to see that finally, an Asian American can be the best a man can get.
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