Saturday, April 10, 2004
--he bangs--
last year i was late for my obligatory asian american angst entry in celebration of asian pacific heritage month so i decided to be early this year. i've got a lot of righteous and not so righteous, illogical anger brewing up so i might as well spew it all out. i know, complaining about the state of asian americans is sooo 10 years ago. but there have been some things that keep buzzing around my head lately. it's not like we (particularly the female half of the race anyway) haven't made it to high profile celebrity status -- tv, hollywood, politics, sports-- but it seems like it's still the same ol' story. when popular media does deign to see asians as their own unique ethnicity and not like a shady in-between race, a sort of white wanna-be for the older demographic and a black/hip-hop/urban wanna-be for the younger, it does what it does best, keeps people simplistic, one dimensional, and stereotypical.
ok, so we all know the outdated female asian sterotypes. and i try and fulfill them all -- the shy-submissive- exotic-ancient chinese secret-screeching-sing-song-keep your laundry white-love you long time-lotus flower-dragon lady. whew! it's a hard job keeping up appearances. but i think that asian women have been dealing with these issues admirably. there probably is no end to the number of 'zines, blogs, and even academic discussions regarding the sociopolilitical issues regarding asian females. well, we've all heard their voices, now it's time for the men to represent. outside of hong kong action films, and the token asian sidekick, where the heck are they?!
here they are: in details magazine "gay or asian" and the american anti-idol, william hung.
i remember laughing with friends about playing "gay or euro." it was funny at the time because it seemed true. but it also felt ok because we admired the fey looking euros. we liked their style and their grace and their lack of overt machismo. we liked that they didn't seem to feel like they had to prove their masculinity like their american counterparts. so am i saying something so nebulous as that the intent is what's important? i suppose so. but here's where it gets tricky. how in the world do you judge intent? i can't answer that. i can't even say concretely why the details article is so demeaning and embarassing. maybe it's the way it uses every pop culture cliche and pun in a way that depersonalizes both asians and gays. the article seems to state rather crudely that all asian men are gay. the thing that is most depressing is that it's not even a clever thing; it certainly doesn't deserve all the attention it's getting. and at the very least, it's not even really successful at being humorous, it's just crude and mean-spirted.
so what about william hung. on one hand, it's great that someone who is obviously not a hollywood poster boy has become a pop culture phenomenon and how cool that he's asian. he can't sing and he can't dance yet he's a singing dancing sensation. fans proclaim that he's so popular because of his sincerity, his refusal to be anything but himself, and that he is so good at being bad. but where exactly does the sneaky little line fall between laughing with and laughing at? how not cool is it that he is asian. can people feel so comfortable with his performance because of the already preceived image of the emasculated asian man? would people respond differently if he had been a white or a black man? in the media he comes across as some sort of simple boy ingenue. he can be admired and popularized and sensationalized because he is not a sexual threat. the media seems to like to put him into glitzy, sexualized environments because the contrast seems so absurd. like the image of the pure simple country boy put into the big bad city full of dangerous cynicism, wicked women, and all the other western capitalistic evils. he is a safe cultural icon because he is everyman, yet not really seen as a man.
sometimes i feel like a big phony because here i am talking all this shit about the plight of the asian man yet i know so few of them. i grew up in a predominantly white middle class midwestern community where most of the asian kids i knew (all 4 of them) were like me, adopted and americanized. i've never really thought of dating other asians just from pure lack of them in my community. when i was a kid it was really important to fit into the white community so white was the standard of attractiveness. sometimes i find myself wishing i were single so i could deny the whole white male power thing (not that my SO is the epitome of white power [snort]). sometimes i'm tired of being a part of the asian female/white male couple cliche. sometimes it feels like i'm trying to live some sort of jungle fever in reverse thing. sometimes i want to refute the whole idea of "look at how accepted i am! look how i fit in! i can even date white boys now!" maybe i should sign up to get a date with william hung.
last year i was late for my obligatory asian american angst entry in celebration of asian pacific heritage month so i decided to be early this year. i've got a lot of righteous and not so righteous, illogical anger brewing up so i might as well spew it all out. i know, complaining about the state of asian americans is sooo 10 years ago. but there have been some things that keep buzzing around my head lately. it's not like we (particularly the female half of the race anyway) haven't made it to high profile celebrity status -- tv, hollywood, politics, sports-- but it seems like it's still the same ol' story. when popular media does deign to see asians as their own unique ethnicity and not like a shady in-between race, a sort of white wanna-be for the older demographic and a black/hip-hop/urban wanna-be for the younger, it does what it does best, keeps people simplistic, one dimensional, and stereotypical.
ok, so we all know the outdated female asian sterotypes. and i try and fulfill them all -- the shy-submissive- exotic-ancient chinese secret-screeching-sing-song-keep your laundry white-love you long time-lotus flower-dragon lady. whew! it's a hard job keeping up appearances. but i think that asian women have been dealing with these issues admirably. there probably is no end to the number of 'zines, blogs, and even academic discussions regarding the sociopolilitical issues regarding asian females. well, we've all heard their voices, now it's time for the men to represent. outside of hong kong action films, and the token asian sidekick, where the heck are they?!
here they are: in details magazine "gay or asian" and the american anti-idol, william hung.
i remember laughing with friends about playing "gay or euro." it was funny at the time because it seemed true. but it also felt ok because we admired the fey looking euros. we liked their style and their grace and their lack of overt machismo. we liked that they didn't seem to feel like they had to prove their masculinity like their american counterparts. so am i saying something so nebulous as that the intent is what's important? i suppose so. but here's where it gets tricky. how in the world do you judge intent? i can't answer that. i can't even say concretely why the details article is so demeaning and embarassing. maybe it's the way it uses every pop culture cliche and pun in a way that depersonalizes both asians and gays. the article seems to state rather crudely that all asian men are gay. the thing that is most depressing is that it's not even a clever thing; it certainly doesn't deserve all the attention it's getting. and at the very least, it's not even really successful at being humorous, it's just crude and mean-spirted.
so what about william hung. on one hand, it's great that someone who is obviously not a hollywood poster boy has become a pop culture phenomenon and how cool that he's asian. he can't sing and he can't dance yet he's a singing dancing sensation. fans proclaim that he's so popular because of his sincerity, his refusal to be anything but himself, and that he is so good at being bad. but where exactly does the sneaky little line fall between laughing with and laughing at? how not cool is it that he is asian. can people feel so comfortable with his performance because of the already preceived image of the emasculated asian man? would people respond differently if he had been a white or a black man? in the media he comes across as some sort of simple boy ingenue. he can be admired and popularized and sensationalized because he is not a sexual threat. the media seems to like to put him into glitzy, sexualized environments because the contrast seems so absurd. like the image of the pure simple country boy put into the big bad city full of dangerous cynicism, wicked women, and all the other western capitalistic evils. he is a safe cultural icon because he is everyman, yet not really seen as a man.
sometimes i feel like a big phony because here i am talking all this shit about the plight of the asian man yet i know so few of them. i grew up in a predominantly white middle class midwestern community where most of the asian kids i knew (all 4 of them) were like me, adopted and americanized. i've never really thought of dating other asians just from pure lack of them in my community. when i was a kid it was really important to fit into the white community so white was the standard of attractiveness. sometimes i find myself wishing i were single so i could deny the whole white male power thing (not that my SO is the epitome of white power [snort]). sometimes i'm tired of being a part of the asian female/white male couple cliche. sometimes it feels like i'm trying to live some sort of jungle fever in reverse thing. sometimes i want to refute the whole idea of "look at how accepted i am! look how i fit in! i can even date white boys now!" maybe i should sign up to get a date with william hung.
