This is what a feminist looks like

I just finished reading Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti, and I fully recommend it. She has gotten some flak for it for perpetuating feminism as a white women's movement. I disagree, I think that she makes a great effort to be inclusive and to discuss issues facing minority women (I learned some really interesting things--see below). She even devotes a full chapter to intersectionality--the recognition of th einterrelatedness of oppression in all its forms: ageism, sexism, classism, racism, ableism, heterosexism, and many more isms. She's also been criticized for the cover: A bare (thin and flat) belly of a woman. I would point out that usually authors don't have much say in what's on the cover of their books (though I have no idea if that was true in this case). I think that one could interpret her cover is reappropriating the objectification of women's bodies and taking back the female body for something that is womyn-positive. I would much rather see this image on the cover of Jessica's book than on the cover of, for example, Tucker Max's I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell.

Now here's what I learned from Full Frontal Feminism:

• The Los Angeles Times reported in 2005 that Asian American women are increasingly seeking out skin-bleaching creams and medical procedures (pg. 206)
• When Jessica discusses feminist phobia by men, she talks about some of the backlash that her blog (feministing!) recieved. A group of idiots created a parody site to try to undermine it. They put a lot of effort into writing sexist bullshit everyday and mocking Feministing! in anyway possible. On their website they wrote about how feminism ruined American women (presumably by giving them rights and even--heaven forbid--opinions). They wrote that Asian women were "real" women because they were submissive. (pg 190-191)

That made me sick to my stomach to read, but I am so glad that Jessica wrote it in her book. First of all, Asian women are not submissive (duh). If I see another Asian American girl held to some imaginary fucked up idea of the exotic, demure, non English speaking (and therefore just a fuckdoll that doesn't talk) import, I will scream. Fuck that, if I see any other Asian womyn--no matter who she is or where she's from--conceptualized like that I will fucking scream.

This idea is perpetuated by, and began with (way back in the 50s) the pornography industry. Which now is about as mainstream as you can get. A 60 minutes show revealed that huge, American corporations--like Ford and Hilton Hotels--are deeply invested and tied to the porn industry. But of course they would never admit to that and have done an excellent job keeping that a secret. I'm not against sex work. I think that it could be a valid, regulated profession if only it were decriminalized both legally and socially. But right now, sex work in all forms--escourt services, sex phone lines, prostitution, exotic dancing, magazines, and pornography--is controlled by men who are getting rich by exploiting women and by spreading and perpetuating stereotypes like disease through our society. Look at escourt ads in magazines (this was also pointed out by Jessica in her book). They are all nothing but stereotypes: big-booty blackwomen; "spicy" Latinas; exotic and skinny Asians; demure housewife types; or all American blonde college gals.

We already know that pornography gives people (not just guys, all people who watch porn--meaning the most commonly consumed porn directed at heterosexual guys) the wrong ideas about what sex is like. A blowjob follwed by jack hammer penetration while the woman screams and makes faces that actually look painful. Porn also gives the wrong idea about what pussy's look like-tiny and bare with small clits and symmetrical lips. Neither of these is true, by the way.

Porn also gives people the worng idea about womyn, especially womyn of color. I could go through all the times boys have asked me, "So, ah, is it true, you know, what they like, say about Asian Chicks?" But then I'd get depressed. But I will share one truly horrifying moment. Once, at a party, a boy had the actual stupidity (I would never call it nerve) to ask me if it's true that Asian chick's pussys were so tight because they were sideways....

Do you think I could make that up even if I wanted to? I swear it actually happened.

Besides, the fact that it is physiologically impossible, shit for brains,...What the fuck? I'll leave you guys to think about this racist, sexist, disgusting, degredating question of his. In fact, now that I think about it I remember that it wasn't even a question. He said it as a definitive statement. And turned to me for verification.

Yes friends, it happens. And I know I'm not alone here.

Thought about that? ok...now go to Good Vibes and get yourself some decent porn.

So I've already written without thinking..

In my last post (YouTube and Raging Asain Women, below)...I didn't mean to make it seem like there are absolutely no Asian or Hapa women in mainstream media/culture. They are disproportionately few in number, sure, and have some stereotypical roles, sure. But not acknowledging the Asian/Hapa American actressess that have found success discredits their hard work and in effect discounts their existence and perpetuates exactly what I was complaining about.

I can still remember how I felt when I saw Tia Carrerre rockin out as Cassandra in Wayne's World, Kristin Kruek as Lois on Smallville, and the first time watching Margaret Cho on Comedy Central made me almost pee my pants laughing. And I think that Sandra Oh's character in Sideways was badass and inspirational. Especially when she rips that guy a new one for being an asshole (in fact that's the only worthwhile scene in the whole movie). Sandra Oh is a natural, beautiful, strong Korean American woman, and those are the characters she plays. She does not allow herself to be exoticized or marginalized in any of her roles, unlike some other actresses, and that's something to celebrate.

But I'm also not saying at all that women can't be sexual, or can't pose nude or anything like that. There is a difference between owning your sexuality and exuding sexual confidence and deliberately being essentially naked in every single scene in a movie (as envisioned by a male director) who's target audiences are young, straight, men.

I just wanted to add this onto yesterdays rant.

YouTube and Raging Asian Women

When blogging, does one start with the good news or the bad news first? Maybe I better rant now and make up for it by sharing something very cool later.

Begin rant:
So I realize that YouTube is not exactly the mecca of high culture. And is in fact pretty much just a site where college students go to laugh at videos of babies getting kicked into the air by break dancers or watch the L Word illegally, etc....but when I typed "Asian Women" into the search engine today for kicks, I got a lot more than I expected.
Here are just a few captions, because they say much for than I ever could:

• "Asian women on the beach, my perfect asian brides. Start Asian dating with these single women."
• "Asian women make great wives start with penpals then meet the mail order brides in these video clips."
• " Tower of Power drives this photo montage of smiling Asian women. It's my second try at this type of thing. I would appreciate comments. Thanks."
• "Dear Asian women lover, The new 2007 Asian Angels calendar is here! Featuring 6 of the most beautiful Asian models of the world, sinfully dressed in scantily clad lingerie!"
• "asian woman wants a discount" (ok, so that stereotype is true)
  
• "Come and venture out with me to view the webcams of some very gorgeous Asian Ladies hoping to meet Mr. Right (You) from accross the Pond (Pacific Ocean). These Ladies are courtesy of Asian Date Doctor who can share with you important doos and donts when courting Asian women (18 years and older) overseas."
• "crazy asian woman:
  01:11
  the description says it all. dont be offended or anything." (my personal favorite)

Ok, sorry that went long...the thing is, 95% of what you find is semi-nude sexploitation (videos of beautiful asian women not created by themselves), foot fetish videos (I have nothing against foot fetishes, I just don't understand why a foot has to have a race), and mail order brides. It's disturbing really. "Don't be offended or anything"? Are you serious? The webcam ad has to win for ridiculousness, with it's clarifiers (You=Mr. Right, Pacific Ocean=Pond, 18+=Asian women to "date") . I'm sure a similar list would result with any search that was: (insert racial/ethnic origin)-women. This exoticization and subsequent exploitation of all racial/ethnic minority women's bodies is infuriating. Not only does one have to deal with objectification as a woman, but you ad on the stereotypes and discrimination that comes from being a visible minority. I guess you could say the same thing about blondes. But the problem here is where the hell is a young Asian American girl supposed to look for positive role models. Where is a HAPA girl supposed to look for positive role models? She might not identify with Mia Hamm and she might not identify with Dr. Yang on Grey's Anatomy. I would also say that having the main positive role model on TV for Asian American girls be a doctor/in med school perpetuates the model minority myth. (Disclaimer: I don't watch Grey's)

Now, I didn't find all negative stuff on my search. I found a video of a group of amazing East-and Southeast-Asian womyn, who call themselves Raging Asian Women (RAW). They are performers of Taiko Drumming. They are also activists, non-profit, and promote social justice through their performances. Check out their website, and here is a compilation video of performances and little bit about RAW.

They fuckin rock. That's all I have to say.

Living in the Margins

According to the largest national study ever conducted of LGBTQ API/AA people, 89% of respondents have experienced some kind of homophobia or transphobia from the broader API community, and 78% experienced racism from the LGBTQ community. Overall, 98% had experienced some form of discrimination/harrassment in their lives. Thanks to the The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for this.

First of all, I'm so glad that a study like this finally exists, because having taken a Gender and Health class that was taught from the feminist philosophy of analyzing the intersections of race, gender, and class on any issue...it was frustrating to see extremely little information out there about the health status of AA/API's. They make up such a small proportion of many study participants that their data hardly appear on the results, they can't be used for comparative analysis. This cannot be for a lack of available Asians, as according the the Task Force's executive summary, as of 2005 there were 14 million Asian Americans living in the states. The report consisted of 860 Asian/Pacific Islander Americans representing many different ethnicities from 38 different states. The largest ethnic group represented was Chinese (40%). The study found that 77% of the respondents had experienced verbal harassment for being Asian American/Pacific Islander. That is too many. And it's not just a yellow/white issue. Interracial racism is a huge problem in our society. Even within the broader Asian community racism prejudices and hate between ethnicities is a problem. Homophobia and transphobia are rampant in our society. I read a study that suggested that traditional male gender roles that are strictly enforced in Asian cultures (as men being the head of the household) leads to many Asian families rejecting trans identifying biological sons. A significant proportion of transgender prostitutes are Asian/Pacific Islander, according to a study conducted in the San Francisco Tenderloin area that I read.

Somewhat related, there was a study recently published that said that Asian-American girls aged 15-24 were more likely to committ suicide than any other racial minority or age group of womyn. Keep in mind the mind blowing statistics about racial discrimination experienced by LGBT AA/API's based on their race/ethnicity. The reasons for higher rates of suicide listed, according to the article, are depression from pressure faced from the model minority myth, parents, strict gender roles and expectations, and lack of communication or ability to vent anger to their parents. From personal experience, Asian parents have difficulty recognizing and validating their daughter's feelings of depression (and that is strictly from my limited personal experience, that was not meant to be a generalizing statement at all). This is a generalizing statement: I believe Asian womyn have inherited a culture of bearing the burden of sadness and pressure; pressure to keep their families together, to succeed in life if they are younger generations, and many more of life's pressures. It's as though it is the Asian womyn's lot in life to bear this burden and bear her sadness on the inside, but never complain, never show weakness. She must be strong to survive. I think anyone who's ever read an Amy Tan novel would agree. :) I have read an interesting article about a similar culture in black women, the researcher made the argument that the internalization of stress and depression led to health risk activities--smoking, drinking, or binge eating. The author suggested that the myth of the "strong black woman" was linked to the fact that African-American women have the highest rates of obesity in our country.

Just thought that that was interesting to think about...

I suppose this is the introduction

Do you ever find yourself just hanging out with people, friends, acquaintances, whatever...and someone makes an Asian joke and then everyone looks at you. And you can't figure out why...until it dawns on you that you are Asian. or if you're like me you're only half but you're representative of the entire continent anyway. The power of assimilation, into any culture that you're in is so great. I can very easily forget what sets me apart from others, but other people seem to find the need to remind me all the time.

I'm not going to ignore the injustices that Asians face from the outside and that occurs within communities anymore. I've been laughing along too long and I realize now that the joke's on me.
It started earlier this year, with the body image project I did for my FemSex workshop at Harvard (check out FemSex at Berkeley). I remembered growing up confused about the way I looked. My father was tall, with blonde hair, and blue eyes. I remember being so upset, and confused, and regretful that I could not be more like him. Then, I thought that I would be beautiful. Although my parents raised me to be knowledgeable of and proud of both of my heritages; there was constantly a struggle with valueing one culture over the other. I didn't understand this to be a concept of race until much later, I was just a girl unhappy with the way she looked.

In FemSex, the womyn in my section got on the topic of Asian fetishes. Before that conversation, I had not taken seriously the existence of such a perversion. I thought that it was a bit ridiculous, but also almost flattering for someone who felt completely undesirable her entire life. This thing that is called yellow fever/Asian fetish is nothing but racism, exoticism, colonialism, sexism, degradation. This is a big fuck you to all of that. How dare you make me ashamed and uncomfortable because of my race? How dare you stereotype and sexualize me against my will?
So that's where I'm coming from, welcome to my angry, hapa, feminist blog.
There are very simple goals for this blog...this will be a personal space to hopefully add to the existing discourse in the feminist online blog community. From a half-asian perspective, but obviously it will be my half-asian perspective, I do not want to speak for anyone else. From my searching, I couldn't find many blogs out there by feminist, half-asian, womyn. (If you have one please comment or email me at stefanielorraine@gmail.com w/the link) I also wanted to start this blog because I'm worried about a lack of feminism, and lack of awareness of gender issues in many young womyn that I see. Also, where there are so many young womyn leaders in women's and gender conscious organizations, there's not enough exposure and public applause for them.