Colorism, the bias that whiter skin is better, manifests itself in sales of skin whitening creams.  This video from CNN shows how these creams are marketed to both male and female Indians.   Filipinos are also plagued with colorism and are also consumers of skin whitening creams.  I have always thought that colorism and skin whitening were damaging to the the psyches of people of color.  It turns out that some whitening creams can be physically damaging too, and California health officials are investigating skin whiteners after a woman’s mercury poisoning.

Some skin whiteners include mercury because mercury inhibits the production of melanin, which gives skin its color.   Prolonged mercury exposure can lead to neurological problems and death.    The woman who was poisoned was a Latina woman who had gotten her skin whitener from relatives from Mexico.

California officials will be testing a sampling of skin whiteners for mercury.  They will be targeting business catering to three priority groups:  Chinese, Filipinos, and Latinos.   In 2010, the Chicago  Tribune found that six skin whitening products had mercury, and were manufactured in Lebanon, China, Taiwan, Indian, and Pakistan.

Whenever I see an article like this titled “Filipino Cuisine Poised to Break through Gastro Ceiling,” I think “yet again?”  Over twenty years, I ate at Cafe Glenda on Solano Avenue in Berkeley and thought, “Has Filipino food finally made it?”   Efren wrote about Filipino Food becoming the In Thing four years ago.  A few years later came a discussion on how and why Filipino food was unassimilated.  So what’s new and different this time?

I think that a couple things are different now.  Vendors like the Adobo Hobo and many other Filipino restaurants have shown that Filipino food can be a viable option.  Filipino food is getting buzz at places the the Winter Fancy Food show, and a product line like Kusina ni Maria (Maria’s Kitchen) is now available in the Whole Food Markets grocery chain.  Even more extreme Filipino foods like Balut are being served in restaurants.

Filipino Food is also adapting to deal with mainstream American trends.  Chefs have been experimenting with adaptions to Filipino food to make it healthier.  There is now Vegan Filipino food, a concept which I still have problems wrapping my mind around.

Will Filipino food make it?  It would be great to see it happen and give  Filipino Entrepreneurs and Filipinos Americans in general more exposure.  Not far from where I live in Silicon Valley, there are Filipino restaurants that are making it and that I go to periodically.  I think that’s a positive sign, but I for now, I am going to wait and see before declaring Filipino cuisine as having it made it into the American Mainstream.

I have written before about the character of Ravi on the Disney Channel’s Jessie show and talked about how some wonder why this Indian American character has to have an accent.  The reason why is apparent in this clip which makes Ravi’s Indian culture the entire joke. Not surprisingly, the clip has raised a stir in blogs like this and garnered many dislikes (I can see why Disney turned off comments). Some people don’t think it is so bad, but then again, others react to lines like “I am a human samosa” (not in this clip but in other episodes).  What do you all think?  Is the portrayal racist, unfunny, both, or neither?

Number Two Son’s reactions to the clip was that it was “culturally ignorant.”  He no longer watches the Disney Channel.  My personal take is that it is both racist and unfunny.  Even Baljit’s portrayal on Phineas and Ferb is better than this, as it is funny most of the time and doesn’t drive all of its humor out of weird versions of Indian culture.  There is a chance that Jessie“can get better and more nuanced in how it treats Ravi, but I’m not holding my breath.

People born in the year of the dragon are said to be destined for wealth and success. Notable dragons include Bruce Lee, Deng Xiaoping, and Maggie Cheung. Some places in Asia are expecting and even wanting a baby boom during the year of the dragon. But does being born in the year of the dragon really give you an advantage? A study done at George Mason University attempted to find out. I was born in the year of the dragon, and I’d really wanted to read this study to see whether I am destined for great things.

What did the study find?  George Mason University economics professors Noel D. Johnson and John V.C. Nye found that for some, there is an advantage! Asian American babies born in the 1976 year of the dragon have on average .34 more years of education than other Asian non-dragon babies. What is the cause of this difference?  The study concludes the parents are the cause. Says Professor Nye:

“Belief in the superiority of dragon-year children is self-fulfilling.  The demographic characteristics associated with parents who are more willing and able to adjust their birthing strategies are correlated with greater investment in their children.”

This can be seen as they found that immigrant Asian babies have as much as a half a year education advantage while in the general U.S. population, no advantage is seen by those born in the year of the dragon. My parents don’t pay attention to the Chinese Zodiac and thus were unlikely to have adjusted birthing strategies to accommodate the year. Oh well. I would have liked to have had a magical advantage in life!