Stand Up for Me An Asian Woman Talks About Funnier Asian women
Foreword | 1
What THe Heck Is This? This is a zine exploring three Asian-American female stand-up comedians and the issues from within the Asian-American community that they have brought to the table. Comedy is one of most engaging ways to discuss social issues because it begins with a laugh instead of an argument. The importance of understanding the history of these jokes is to make sure that the conversation does not stop after the comedy special ends. There are so few female Asian-American comedians, which unfortunately means that they are burdened at times to voice the experiences of an entire group of people. Despite this, Margaret Cho, Ali Wong, and Atsuko Okatsuka take on this role with immense talent. This is a zine so it does not follow a lot of conventions in terms of writing style or even format. The way that this should be read is starting with the quote that is highlighted on the spread. That quote is directly made from each comic’s stand-up special. On that spread will be informative and historical background of the joke. The following spread will be my personal experiences and thoughts on the topic. You may ask, “why not just write an unbiased and less anecdotal piece?” Over time, I have learned that even textbooks and historical “facts” can have their biases. Bias can exist in where we look for, find, and present information. Instead of presenting my research as pure facts, I want to give you (the audience) my entire experience with a particular subject. It is then that you can decide my bias and whether you want to acknowledge my claims. This is a personal exploration that started with the question, “why did I laugh at that joke?” What it developed into was a very long conversation with sprinkles of images that I have created myself. This zine is a product of a lot of internal reflection as well as hours staring at Photoshop at 3 AM during finals season. If there are some odd mistakes here and there, take it as something made with heart from a very tired college student just trying to get the ball rolling. - Kristie
Fresh Off the Boat | 2
“Fresh Off
The term “Fresh Off the Boat” carries an undeniable weight for Asian people in America. When ABC announced that they would be making an Asian-American family sitcom with that very name, it was no surprise that controversy followed. As the creator of All-American Girl, the only other attempt at an American show featuring an Asian American family, Margaret Cho understood the magnitude of creating a show that spoke to a generation. Her verdict: the term is something to be proud of, not shied away from. Fresh Off the Boat has a history dating back to the 19th century. English-speaking countries used the term to refer to new immigrants. According to reappropriate.co, in the turn of the 20th century, the term was used in American port cities to describe a massive influx of non-White Irish and Asian immigrants. It resurged in the 1960’s with the passage of 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act that reopened America’s doors to immigration, particularly to Asians and Latinos. The 1960’s immigrant generation gave rise to today’s American-Born-Asians (ABA) who are considerably conflicted with the term Fresh Off the Boat. While the term is undoubtedly derogatory considering its historical origins, it has been reappropriated internally within Asian communities.
“i think white people want to tell Asian people how they should feel about race because they’re too scared to tell black people.”
“They didn’t want to call were, like ’That’s racist. W of Orlando.’ I think
Margaret Cho | 3
t h e B o at ”
Asian youth culture occasionally uses the term to distance themselves from unaccustomed new immigrants that display broken English, old habits, and differing social awareness. However, even others argue that being a “FOB” can be a source of pride since they are uniquely attached to their culture and not White-washed. Eddie Huang, whose book Fresh off the Boat provided a basis for the ABC show, is proud of the term. In an interview with Buzzfeed, he expressed, “I’m a Taiwanese-Chinese-American. My parents came here in the late ‘70s and had me about three years after they’d lived in this country. So I consider myself fresh. You can’t tell me to not consider myself something.” Tanya Chen, a Chinese-American-Canadian, expressed that it was a term that was used heavily in her Asian community growing up and it was something she identified with. Even still she made it clear, “as much as it’s used — and I’ve used it — very casually in conversation or jest, for me and my friends, the term rouses realities and lived experiences and ideas that are very real and that I take very seriously.” As Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning FilipinoAmerican journalist and director of Documented simply puts, “It depends who’s saying it.”
“I think it’s good to be Fresh Off the Boat. You should be proud to it. Yeah the network they had such a problem with the name Fresh off the
Boat.”
it Fresh Off the Boat. They We want to call it Far East k that’s more racist.”
Fresh Off the Boat | 4
Where does that leave how I feel about the term and Margaret Cho’s stand up joke about it? Unlike many of the people that are quoted before, I did not grow up in an Asian community. I grew up in a small predominantly White and Hispanic town in Texas. I did not see another Asian person in my school until I was in the 8th grade and my parents were nail technicians. The term Fresh Off the Boat was an extremely sensitive term to me for a very long time. Oddly enough, deep in heart of Texas, “fob” and “fobby” were terms that made their way to me. People would complain to me that they hated going to nail salons because they didn’t understand the Asian workers. They wished they weren’t so “fobby” and would just learn English. Granted, my mother tried really hard to learn English. After working 9 AM to 7 PM at the nail salon she would go to the public library to take GED courses, not even to take the GED, but to get better at English. I was a defensive child when it came to the term Fresh Off the Boat. I was tired of being that “Asian” kid. I was tired of having bastardized “ching-chongs” shouted at me and I was tired of having people ask me if I could see because my eyes were so small. For a very long time, hearing Fresh Off the Boat caused an immediate reaction from me because I felt that people were belittling me or making fun of my parents despite how hard they worked. My experience is not universal, but it is a valid expression of how the term can be used in a negative light. When the controversy of Fresh Off the Boat as a show and title arose, I was surprised that I felt like it was the perfect name. As a college student in film school, I had wished my entire childhood to see more people like me on TV. As a kid that shied away from the term, I was relieved that it was being used by Asian people to described themselves and their experiences. It was not an insult for once. It felt like grabbing a knife that had been pricking me for years and turning it into something so dull that it could never hurt me again.
Margaret Cho | 5
That feeling was something I experienced internally as an Asian-American. Margaret Cho touched on something very real to me because she highlighted that the tension over this term was not just between AsianAmericans. She mentions how White people and presumably non-Asian network executives interacted with the term Fresh Off the Boat as an exclusively racist thing. There are elements of incongruity theory in this odd occurrence. John Morreale defines incongruity as “something that violates our mental patterns and expectations.” Historically, the term Fresh Off the Boat was rooted in White xenophobia toward non-White immigrants. America has a long-standing racial tension between White Americans and people of color that still feel marginalized. It is surprising and humorous to know that White-Americans can feel more offended than the actual minorities in question. Their good intention, however, is laced with the ignorance of the fact that WhiteAmericans do not realize that they are telling Asian people how to feel. Additionally, it is funny to hear that “Far East of Orlando” or “Far East Orlando” is less racist in the eyes of those trying to avoid racism. The term Fresh Off the Boat is still one that is riddled with complexities. However, it is relieving to see Margaret Cho find humor in a topic that is controversial and point out how some White-Americans have a need to control conversations on race. Humor is a tool that allows her to make a statement that people can feel proud of being Fresh Off the Boat and that racial terms should be discussed by those that are affected by it. Margaret Cho’s stand up is a light-hearted, yet meaningful, arena for discourse over a term that can be such a heavy weight for those carrying it. For me, she made me feel comfortable engaging my personal experiences with the term Fresh Off the Boat and validating my right to attached meaning to its use.
Fancy & Jungle Asian | 6
Intra-Asian racism is difficult to unpack to the uninitiated. As there are so few Asian-Americans in comedy, entertainment, or public positions, the outward American narrative seems to paint Asian-Americans as a united front against racism. The reality is that racism or “ethnic othering” exists between Asian people from different countries. A general search for previous writings on intra-Asian racism yields far less than one would have imagined. However, perhaps that is because exploring this topic requires the understanding that there are complicated factors that contribute to intra-Asian racism. Decades of colonialism, conquests, and proxy wars has shaped historical relationships between Asian countries. In a Funny or Die sketch called Asians Don’t Like Asian, the people representing the “top three Asian countries” (China, South Korea, and Japan) explain to an American what this intra-racism looks like. When China and South Korea are explaining why they hate Japan, they sum it up to World War II. South Korean and Japanese relations have been strained by the oppression by the Japanese during WWII and their use of South Korean “comfort women.” China and Japan also have a complicated history together. In the Nanking Massacre that began in December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, it is estimated that the Japanese killed up to 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers. These events are just some anecdotes that are used to illustrate how history still impacts, even inadvertently, the perception of other Asian people. There is also the inherent problem with these “top three Asian countries” or as Ali Wong would call them, “fancy Asians.” Southeast Asians are largely left out of their conversations. The area considered Southeast Asia was largely controlled by France beginning in the late 1800’s and lasted until the mid-1950’s after WWII and the First Indochina War. Afterward, the area dealt with its fair share of civil wars and dictatorship. These Southeast Asian countries are still in some ways redefining their identities after hundreds of years of being colonized and being victims of European and East Asian agendas. That is the historical baggage that “jungle Asians” have carried underneath the simple assertion that they have not modernized or become as wealthy as other Asian countries. In addition to referring to history to unravel intra-Asian racism, colorism also plays a role in the divide between “fancy Asians” and “jungle Asians.” Some argue that European and traditional “White” features became the standard of beauty after years of colonialism and western cultural exportation. However, referring to historic references to class systems in Asia will point to the idea that skin tone is a reflection of socioeconomic status. In the UC Irvine Law Review, Trina Jones recounts an experience saying, “In Vietnam, lighter skin indicated privileged status in the same way that lighter skin once served as a sign of upper-class status in various parts of Europe and the United States, at least before leisure travel became more accessible and common among elites in the West.” In the mid-nineteenth century, upper-class Japanese men and women used white-lead powder makeup to appear whiter and richer. Researchers, Joanne Rondilla and Paul Spickard, also asserts “[t]he yearning to be light is a desire to look like rich Asians, not like Whites.” Human evolution has inevitably made it that those that are exposed to more sun and live closer to the equator tend to be more melanin infused. It is not much of a surprise that Southeast Asians tend to be tanner than their East Asian counterparts. While each country is different, it is a standard in every Asian country to believe that lighter skin equates beauty and wealth. Even if the idea of doing hard labor in the fields as a sign of poverty is outdated, it still persists today. This is why there is a rampant use of “lighting/bleaching” cosmetic creams in Asia as well as the reason why entertainment is dominated by light-skin individuals. For Southeast Asians that are lighter, they are revered for being passably rich Asian. For East Asians that happen to be tan or encounter the sun, they are ridiculed and called Southeast Asian as an insult.
Ali Wong | 7
“I Think my husband and I have a huge unspoken understanding, between each other, because he’s half-Filipino and halfJapanese, and I’m half-Chinese and half-Vietnamese. So, we’re both half-fancy Asian, and halfjungle Asian. You guys know the difference. The fancy Asians are the Chinese, the Japanese. They get to do fancy things like host Olympics. Jungle Asians host diseases. it’s different.”
Fancy & Jungle Asian | 8
Ali Wong | 9
After diving into the historical and colorist divide between “fancy Asians” and “jungle Asians,” I want to dive into my personal experience and Ali Wong’s part in this conversation. I am Vietnamese-American and my parents are refugees from Vietnam. I am a “jungle Asian” that has witnessed my fair share of intra-Asian racism. In the same way my White friends have an old racist uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner, my parents can be a bit racist toward other Asians. When my parents were traveling, they would casually mention the terrible Chinese tourists that they encountered. They described the tourists as disrespectful, ugly, and unaware of how to be “civil” people. My parents, to this day, are still very much believers that Vietnam’s communist government is just a puppet of the Chinese. Outwardly, my parents are extremely respectful toward other Asian immigrants as they understand the plight. However, there are these small instances that my parents buy into stereotypes. As a kid, my mother was extremely adamant that I didn’t stay outside for too long. When my cousins or I would play outside we easily tanned. The adults of our family would relentlessly make fun of the kids for being dark. This translated into an encounter with intra-Asian racism that I witnessed after getting into East Asian music. I was watching a Korean variety show that featured a singer I liked and the entire time the rest of cast bullied him for his skin tone. At one point, they drew him as a black dot and asked him if he was from Southeast Asia. Unfortunately due to that experience, I still somewhat fear being judged in a negative way during my study abroad in South Korea this summer. For Ali Wong’s part, I absolutely adore her. When she mentioned the idea of “fancy Asian” versus “jungle Asian,” I immediately understood what she meant. In fact, I was surprised to google the terms and realize they weren’t already intensely used inside of Asian-American communities. She voiced something I had been waiting to hear someone else put into words. There is power in calling yourself “jungle Asian” and acknowledging how others may perceive you. Ali Wong’s stand up comedy displays a type of charged humor that takes on intra-Asian racism and highlights a real problem. Rebecca Krefting in the book All Jokes Aside explains that charged humor is a type of comedy that draws from the tensions of the negative realities of the world. Being called a “jungle Asian” isn’t necessarily glamorous. However being able to put the tensions within the Asian community into words is a powerful way to create discussion, even if it’s through the medium of comedy. When Ali Wong and her husband went to Japan for their honeymoon, she recounted her Japanese friends commenting on her eating a bowl of pigs feet. “They’ll be like, ‘Oh my god, you jungle Asian.’ It’s like, ‘We’re the same! I’m not supposed to feel bad about what I’m eating in front of you guys, but I do!’ Because it’s different, you know?” Most would agree that being ridiculed because of an essential part of your cultural and genetic makeup is ridiculous. Yet, this fear of being seen as ‘lesser than’ is one that is heavily relatable. To me, Ali Wong spoke as someone that has the license to make a joke about the differences in intra-Asian treatment realities and perceptions. She has stood in both worlds and now she stands on a platform high enough to shed light on the problem. It can be a hilarious thing to joke about, but it uncovers a deeper rooted problem in not only how Asian people treat each other, but also how treatment shapes every individual’s self-identity.
White Male Asian Female | 10
The White Male Asian Female (WMAF) dynamic is one that can trigger an immensely strong response within the Asian community. It is the one topic addressed by every comedian in this zine. One of the inspirations for this zine is comedian and writer Natalie Tran who created the documentary Youtube Creators for Change: Natalie Tran | White Male Asian Female. After receiving a massive amount of hate comments from people on the internet due to her interracial relationship, Natalie attempted to unpack the baggage that WMAF relationships carry in the Asian community. The results appeared much like the other topics in this zine, complicated and rooted in a pain.
“I have a white boyfriend. The Asian community responds like you guys did. With silence.”
Natalie mentioned that many of the hurtful comments were often directed at her from Asian males. In an interview with JT Tran (Jerry Tran), Founder of “ABCs of Attraction,” he informed audiences that the pain was rooted in the “the sins of my mother.” He explained in an interview with Heather Johnson Yu, “imagine an entire generation of Asian men, as we grew up, being told by our mothers, aunts, sisters, and other Asian females around us that we’ll never stand up the White men, that we’ll never be good enough.” The pain of being constantly told that they could not compare to the White male standard may be exacerbated when Asian men see WMAF couples. Even if Asian women may not realize it, their sheer actions translate into a seemingly direct favoritism and preference for White men. Compounding these internal factors, historical framing and the American media also paints Asian men as less than desirable. Beginning with the xenophobic fears of Asian immigrants and through the WWII anti-Japanese and antiAsian propaganda, Asian men were painted as being sneaky, small, and unappealing. So much so that the propaganda emasculated Asian men as well as dehumanized them. This degradation of the Asian male image continues in the media today. In BuzzFeed’s Why Aren’t Asian Men Sexy video, the panelist pointed out that Asian men in American media are told that they can only be either nerdy asexual beings or extremely attractive. These negative depictions and stereotypes permeate into the way that some Asian females view Asian men. Katie Chen from Catch Matchmaking explains that Asian women at times specify that they do not want to date Asian men due to their beliefs that Asian men are short, not engaging, and nerdy/geeky.
These hurtful assertions seem to trigger the anger that Asian men have towards Asian women in WMAF relationships. Most commentators understand that each person has the right to date who they want. However, the problem they see originates with Asian women that hold these false ideas or Asian women that have rules of never dating Asian men or only dating White men. Philip Wang of Wong Fu Productions agreed that “the anger is more focused on self-hating Asian girls that say that they don’t date Asian guys.” These girls generally seem to distance themselves from their “Asianness” and want to define themselves through dating outside of their race. The inherent problem comes from these women not just having a preference, but the fact that they ultimately treat another race as inferior to another.
Atsuko Okatsuka | 11
That leaves another set of Asian women that are in WMAF relationships, but assert that they are against racial bias in dating and that decry female Asian fetishism. Women like Natalie Tran and Atsuko Okatsuka are examples of Asian-American women seeking to navigate holding their beliefs while being judged for their relationships. These women face an immense amount of backlash from the Asian community at times for being vocal about Asian fetishism because they are in WMAF relationships. Those that oppose them, feel that they do not have the license to be angry because they are seen as the product of Asian fetishism.
“Every time an Asian girl dates a White guy a bamboo tree silently falls.” “dammit another one!”
Historically, if Asian males were emasculated through propaganda and media portrayals, Asian females were hypersexualized. They were painted as sexual, yet docile objects of conquest. This is further deepened by colonialism and war occupations of Asian countries. Western colonizers or soldiers commonly used Asian women for their sexual fulfillment. In addition to that, modern “mail order” brides from Asia are seen as direct realizations of the fetishism. These views can affect Asian women in the ways they understand their self-image and their romantic encounters. In a similar magnitude, but differing direction, negative stereotypes can hurt Asian women just as they affect Asian men. In PBS’s What is ‘Yellow Fever’?, Elaine Kim explains that “Asian-American women get angry at Asian fixation because they hate the sort of implication of a colonial relationship which they are supposed to be inferior and the other person is supposed to be superior, but they also don’t like Asian-American men to claim them as their property.” Natalie Tran recently addressed critics on Twitter in saying, “what is most concerning is that you seem oblivious to how much ownership and expectation you bestow upon women… The real enemy is racism. Do not misconstrue that into the narrative that women who date outside their own race enable racism and let you down.” The WMAF dynamic has seemed to make all Asian women who date outside their race worried about how the Asian community perceive them. In some way, many Asian women feel that they have to justify their relationships as if their behavior is reflective of an entire race.
WMAF relationships may not necessarily be different than any other relationship that exists between two consenting adults. Data from dating apps such as Are You Interested? and OkCupid suggests that racial bias exists all over the world of online dating. Black male and females face obstacles and stereotypes that are just as impactful as the ones that affect Asian people. However, the controversy over an Asian female dating a White male is rooted in historical and social problems that have damaged the dialogue between Asian females and Asian males.
White Male Asian Female | 12
Through comedy, Atsuko Okatsuka found humor in an issue that she probably faces regularly as a public AsianAmerican figure in a relationship with a White man. I will admit, as an Asian-American female I was really affected by the amount that Asian-American comics talked about WMAF relationships. My first real relationship was with a White male. I live in Austin, TX and I have a college major that falls into what most others universities would just call film school. I occasionally wear glasses, I shop at Whole Foods, and I have certain liberal opinions. I would probably be a product of what Ali Wong calls the “Yoko Ono Factory.” When I took my boyfriend to the Asian market, he pointed out that there were so many Asian women shopping with their White husbands and that he really felt like we fit in. I remember laughing, but also thinking “oh dear.” Elaine Kim explained that people generally fall in love when they are attracted to someone. However, it is important to acknowledge that attraction is also encouraged by external factors in society. Again, I grew up in an environment that made my “ideal” man going to college a dark and muscular man. However, I quickly broaden what I found attractive. Before meeting my boyfriend, I had gone on dates and had extended casual relationships with every race under the sun. My relationship with my partner began with an immediate connection and strong chemistry that drew us together even though our paths weren’t quite aligned. There was nothing about race in that attraction, I just felt particularly drawn to him as a person. Just as I grew up in my unique environment, he grew up in an affluent area that was almost exclusively White and Asian. In consequence, he had a longer dating record and attraction toward Asian women. However, I never felt that he fetishized me. Instead, he asked me questions about how I approached my Asian identity. Recently, he even asked me how I felt about non-Asian people wearing traditional Asian gowns after a Twitter war exploded over a teen’s prom dress. However, there were also moments of extreme tension between us because of race. Most, notably, we fought multiple times over the implications of the American adaptation of “Ghost in the Shell.”
Atsuko Okatsuka | 13
In an interracial relationship, I definitely felt like there were more things that need explaining and careful conversations. Many people who are critical of my relationship and of other WMAF couples never get to see these intricate and deep internal discussions on race. However, it is also fair to say that it cannot be assumed that every interracial relationship has this kind of open communication. This is an acknowledgment that people do not just exist as a lump sum, but unique individuals and relationships. One of the larger problems in discussing race is that when targeted groups are tired and angry from constantly being put down, they start viewing entire categories of people as the enemy. Afterward, the communication inevitably breaks down and little can be done to mend the hurt that people feel. On one hand, I identify with an Asian-American female character in Wong Fu Productions Yellow Fever 2, when she says, “I am a 3rd generation Asian girl who does not belong to or owe anything to your perception of racial boundaries and expectations.” On the other hand, I definitely know Asian households and American society tend to put down Asian-American men. I also know how hurtful it can be to not feel attractive because of my features or how it feels to think that I am somehow less than White women. The hurtful comments come from a real pain, however, I still don’t think being nasty to someone on the account of race (regardless of the side) is warranted. So where does that leave us with Atsuko Okatsuka’s joke of a bamboo falling every time an Asian girl gets with a White guy? Lawrence E. Mintz discussed the role of stand up comedians as mediators, as “articulator” of our culture, and as our contemporary anthropologist. Atsuko Okatsuka embodies that role for the AsianAmerican community, toward the Asian-American community. She takes on a sore spot for the Asian-American community and turns it into a quick jab of humor. As a potentially long and sensitive conversation, her blunt observation of the silence that follows her reveal that she is dating a White man is enough to highlight the discomfort that Asian-Americans feel towards the topic of WMAF. Atsuko Okatsuka extends this role as a mediator by telling the joke as someone that knows what it feels like to be attacked for being in her relationship. This tension, which draws a nervous laughter, is in line with Freud’s relief theory of humor as well. Freud believed that when people laugh “the psychic energy released is the energy that would have repressed the emotions that are being expressed as the person laughs.” This is to say that as Atsuko Okatsuka tells her joke, we laugh through a perhaps subconscious or underlying uneasiness that comes with attacking one another over a topic that has valid experiences on both sides.
Frequently Asked Questions | 14
FAQ
that Nobody Actually Asked Where are the South Asians and the non-binary Asians!? References I thought long and hard about whether I should include South Asians and Asians Fresh off the Boat that don’t fall under the narrow Asian-American female category. My verdict • https://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/childrenwas based off of the constraint of time, but also lack personal experience. I am a of-immigration-share-their-relationships-withcollege student and making this zine alone as a final project, during finals season, the-t?utm_term=.ielvDEBY0k#.nxxP0p6RW2 • https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/ was a massive undertaking. When I began writing, I had no idea of the complexity television/fresh-off-the-boat-facing-backlashfrom-the-man-who-inspired-the-show/ article23881696/ of each topic that I wanted to discuss. There was just too little time. Also, I use a • http://reappropriate.co/2014/05/fob-orlot of personal experience in this zine because it is the way that I have experienced freshofftheboat-how-aapi-are-reclaiming-a-slur/ • https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/freshthe world and these issues. I look a particular way and I come with a cultural off-the-boat-author-responds?utm_term=. lt4KbldaEk#.ae6aq379e8 background that is very specifically Vietnamese-American. I do not necessarily • https://www.vox.com/2014/5/15/5717046/ think that it is my place to talk for a group that potentially has a very different what-fresh-off-the-boat-means-to-asianamericans experience than me. I believe that other groups deserve to represent themselves. • https://blog.oxforddictionaries. com/2015/02/05/fresh-off-boat-asian-american-
What is with all the food and Flowers?
language/
I have a massive love for food and I think that it is my personal design connection to these pieces. After all, this zine is as much for me as it is for you! I also think that food fancy & Jungle Asian • http://www.scpr.org/programs/madeleineis the most definitive marker of culture. Although the bananas on Atsuko’s page do brand/2012/06/19/27029/new-pew-studyrepresent a certain stereotype about being yellow on the outside and white on the inside. highlights-the-rise-and-attitudes-of/ • https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/05/04/ As for the flowers, I personally liked the combination of nature with all the other retro/ asians-racist-against-asians_a_23427174/ Asian/half-tone/muted color elements I had going on. Flowers are bold and beautiful, just • https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/howasian-americans-can-stop-contributing-to-antilike these comedians. I also think there’s a great juxaposition in placing a beautiful fragil blackness_us_599f0757e4b0cb7715bfd3d4 • https://www.aprilmag.com/2016/08/22/whything next to a beautiful strong woman.
Are you one of those Self-Hating Asians?
ali-wongs-baby-cobra-was-so-explosive/ • https://www.npr.org/2016/08/02/484163577/ marriage-and-motherhood-are-a-source-ofpower-says-comic-ali-wong • https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ffa8/ ec2bc97f8bde01957781bc883a89194463e7.pdf • https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/cgi/
Only when I accidentally overeat or decide to make a zine for my final project. Seriously though, I don’t think I am. I love my culture and I am infinitely proud viewcontent.cgi?article=1108&context=ucilr of my parents for all that they have done. Growing up I did distance myself from my “Asianness,” because I was incredibly hurt everytime someone made fun of WMAF me. It was painful that people bullied me for something I could never change • https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=chFKDaZns6w about myself. I have my doubts, but wouldn’t even the strongest person feel the • https://nextshark.com/natalie-tran-madedocumentary-asian-women-dating-white-mensame way if they have grown up being told that they were less than and that any absolute-must-see/ accomplishment they ever had was simply because of their race and not their • https://www.bustle.com/p/ white-male-asian-female-youtubeperson? The idea of calling someone a “self-hating” Asian is so strange to me documentary-explores-the-judgment-asianbecause it turns a person struggling with their idenitity into an enemy or a traitor women-face-for-dating-white-men-it-tells-us-aton-about-interracial-relationships-7598999 to their race. I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of what is actually needed. So yeah, • https://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/ this-video-shows-that-racial-bias-is-aliveI love myself most of the time. But, even when I don’t, that’s okay. and-well-in-the-w?utm_term=.qlyjGlzdKR#.
I have more questions/I want to Fight you. Instagram: @five2.5 Email: fivetwopointfive@gmail.com
nmw78Db3We • http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ videos/do-asian-women-have-white-fever/ • https://www.npr.org/sections/ codeswitch/2013/11/30/247530095/are-youinterested-dating-odds-favor-white-men-asianwomen
Thank You.