Why Won't Hollywood Cast An Asian Male Lead - Part 2?

This is Part 2 of a two part series. Part 1 here.   

Summary And Conclusions.

Whilst there is a compelling argument for a lack of "bankable" Asian leads, the argument fails to explain why Asian actors are absent from film in prominent secondary co-starring or supporting roles which may be less detrimental to the bottom line. Furthermore, as I illustrated in part 1, Asian leads (male leads) can turn a profit for a studio, if not mega-profits, at least moderate to good profits. This makes the absence of Asian leads even in the lower echelon of the industry - that is, in lower-budget/lower profit expectation echelon of the industry where only moderate profits are the expectation - even more troubling than the lack of leads in big-budget film. Asian leads can clearly thrive in movies where the lower profit margin is expected, yet, they remain more or less absent as leads at this level of the industry also.

If we take these considerations into account and then add to it the regular production of depictions that are demeaning, dehumanizing, and xenophobic, it is difficult not to believe that there is a vein of anti-Asian attitudes running through the film and television industry. Consider this; whenever we see a representation of Asians, either as a bestial villain, or in a brief appearance in which their only purpose seems to be as the object of racial mockery, someone had to think up or collate racist ideas about Asians and fashion those ideas into a representation that is apparently accepted without much question by others in the industry. Ignorance of Asians cannot explain this - the two main hubs of film and television production are in New York and LA which have substantial Asian populations.

Given all of this, it is still impossible to state categorically that film and television are racist such that it discriminates against Asian actors. Doubtless, the regular demeaning and xenophobic depictions of Asians in film and television are racist in scope - often overtly and unapologetic - and do raise questions of whether these types of productions reflect attitudes that also manifest as discrimination against Asian actors. In short, there is sufficient reason to doubt the claim that Hollywood does not discriminate against Asians. If the issue was simply one of Asians not being given lead roles because of the vague notion of "bankability", then that might be more believable. Yet the problem is clearly far more extensive than that..

There is another aspect to this issue that is more difficult to address because it requires activism on the part of Asian actors themselves. No amount of community protesting is going to be successful if there are still Asian actors who are willing to accept roles that demean or mock Asian people, it is as simple as that. But this is a challenge; how do we persuade Asian actors to be more discerning or even assertive about the roles they are given?

Just like in every job it is the duty and responsibility of individuals to self-advocate in order to earn the best possible deal for themselves. Whether you are negotiating for a raise, pushing for a promotion, or pushing an idea, you have to self-advocate and push the reasons for why you deserve the raise, the promotion, or the new account. Those who do this come out with the goodies, and this is an important point for Asian actors; is it good self-advocacy to accept racially demeaning roles, given that there is scant evidence that doing so leads to more prominent roles? The issue becomes not one of activism through social or political consciousness, but activism through self-advocacy. In this case, personal advocacy aligns perfectly with the needs of the community.

There have been many Asian actors who have accepted demeaning roles but there are no real "A-list" male Asian actors - which suggests that accepting derogatory roles is unlikely to lead to meatier opportunities. The reality may turn out to be that by accepting racially demeaning roles, Asian actors are in fact, helping to legitimize and contribute to the demand for such roles, further limiting the types of roles that they are offered.

It is often suggested that the way those with aspirations should respond to these dilemmas, is to produce their own works of film, in the hope of getting recognized by mainstream studios. The thinking is that Asians should produce independent works of such brilliance that the industry cannot help but sit up and take notice, and once Asian actors have somehow "proven" themselves in innocuous independent films, then the ever fair mainstream studios will relent and finally cast an Asian-American male as a lead. Of course, hoping that a low-budget independent movie will perform freakishly well in the box-office and persuade mainstream studios to cast an Asian lead, is actually tantamount to saying that you have to win the lottery in order to be considered bankable. That aside, Asians making their own films is a good thing for reasons that go beyond the unreasonable expectation that they might be a winning lottery ticket.

As a part of developing an Asian-American cultural voice, producing works where Asians have complete creative control seems like a great idea. In this way, Asian-Americans can explore the history of their experience (historical experience is the basis of culture) and forge that into a cultural voice that is independent of the need to acquiesce to mainstream sensibilities. And readers might know what I am talking about here when I say "acquiesce to mainstream sensibilities" - often, Asian-American artistic output seems to require the presence of prominent white characters for some kind of credibility and any Asian voice seems to assume an almost parasitic relationship to the dominant white culture. The result is that Asian arts don't seem to push the envelope of ideas and cultural perspectives that may derive uniquely from the Asian experience.

When you apply this idea to Asian-American film aspirations, it seems contradictory to suggest that Asians can produce culturally significant works that - if we are to be true to the Asian-American experience - derive some considerable inspiration from our often negative relationship with the mainstream but also make this somehow appeal to that very same mainstream. No, that too seems like a dead-end - for Asian made films to appeal to a wider audience they must almost by definition, ignore their specific experiences of race, but in order for such films to become one of the building blocks of an autonomous Asian cultural voice, they have to avoid the trap of catering to mainstream tastes.

That does not mean that independent Asian films are not a worthy endeavour. But, I think that it would be better to produce work for its own sake, and work that stays true to the sensibilities, observations, and experiences, of the work's creator, rather than aspire to produce work that tries to meet some kind of mainstream criteria which is vague, poorly defined, and to the cynical may seem like little more than an ad-hoc rationalization of discriminatory practices. The irony is that whilst white film-makers struggle against compromise in their work, Asians contemplate embracing compromise as an essential aspect of their aspirations to be recognized. To me, this defeats the purpose of producing independent films where full creative control offers greater freedom of expression.

But where does this leave Asian-American leads? Ironically, by focusing on the lack of Asian male leads, we are missing what may be an even more significant gauge of possible Hollywood discrimination against Asian actors - the dearth of Asians in prominent supporting roles. Of course, no-one wants to play second-fiddle, but if we are to be realistic, we have to admit that we are likely to be far more successful in terms of advocacy, if we push for more Asians in prominent supporting roles, or even secondary and tertiary co-starring roles. Realistically, I don't really believe that making independent movies in and of itself is likely to produce the "break-out" Asian star of tomorrow, unless the groundwork is laid for this to happen by first having audiences become accustomed to Asians on the big screen via prominent support roles.

Mainstream movies that show Asians interacting normally and without a context of racialization (via prominent support roles) in the everyday life of America as depicted by the movies, is probably just as important to normalizing Asian faces on the big screen as would a lead, and perhaps even more so. So perhaps the goal of activism - both from those outside the industry and those within it - should be to advocate for more Asians in prominent support roles, and perhaps as the result of this, when an Asian male lead does emerge, it won't seem so alien to viewers, and will, in fact, seem like the natural progression.

If we look beyond "home-made film" as stepping stone to mainstream acceptance,  independent movies could play a role in raising the Asian voice if we think in terms of them forming the basis for an independent Asian-American cinema industry that is self-reliant and strong enough to provide meaningful careers to deserving Asian performers. Asian-Americans number around 17 million, and in the next ten years or so, our numbers should exceed 20 million. That is a significant number of people and certainly enough of a population to support an independent film industry. After all, Hong Kong has a population of around 8 million and has a robust domestic film industry, so why not Asian-America? The point here is that in the present day and age, it is not necessarily true that one need acquiesce to mainstream sensibilities as an actor or filmmaker, in order to be able to support a career in film. Those days are gone, but perhaps we just have not realized it yet. Besides, the almost parasitic attachment to white mainstream sensibilities is nauseating and quite frankly, embarrassing. There are over 40 million Hispanics, and over 40 million African-Americans - why is there no equivalent aspiration to try to appeal to these sizable groups who are, effectively, mainstream populations in their own right.

In this light, the apparently predominant aim of appealing to the white mainstream for what is essentially credibility, may well be setting too low a bar for achievement and possibility. That is to say that Asian-Americans could be aspiring to produce independent films that have an appeal beyond simply the white American market, and far beyond the cultural and national boundaries of the United States, possibly in markets where America's racial assumptions and prejudices have not yet taken hold.  So, whilst we should encourage Asian-American independent film, the scope of that concept could expand into a self-sustaining industry with an appeal and a reputation that goes beyond the tastes of white America, and which derives credibility and acclaim from its own substance, and not from the accolades of the white mainstream.

If we can envision an Asian-American film industry as part of a wider cultural genesis of Asian-American life, then this may create the space for Asians in the US to explore their full creative potential, informed by the racial bias that necessitates it, but not limited by it. Thus, we could see an Asian-American culture emerge - much in the same way as the black culture of rock and roll emerged out of the enforced self-sustaining "independence" of segregation - that might have the force to become integral to the zeitgeist of American culture. 

So to summarize, I think that, as commentators, we need to shift our focus away from the lack of male leads and onto the general lack of Asian faces in American film - particularly the lack of Asians in prominent supporting roles, which may be a greater gauge of possible discrimination in Hollywood. Highlighting the lack of visibility of Asians in even no-risk-to-the-bottom-line support roles carries with it a greater chance to bring about change - depicting Asians in the everyday life of America via the medium of film, must help to normalize the idea of Asians as integral to American culture and society. Once viewers become accustomed to seeing Asians normalized in film, then it becomes inevitable that an Asian male lead would naturally emerge, and be more readily accepted by the public. Hand-in-hand with this shift of focus, I carry the hope that some Asian actors would approach their choices with a more discerning eye.

Producing independent films may help this process, but the cross-over gamble is something that can be equated to winning the lottery. So, while I would love to see an independent Asian-American film industry emerge - for the reasons outlined above - I think that such an industry would be insipid if its primary consideration limited it scope to some kind of practice of mainstream sensibilities. An independent industry that isn't restricted by concerns of compromise, may well serve as a means to explore the potential of the Asian-American voice, and perhaps contribute to the increased visibility of Asian-Americans by becoming integral to America's cultural zeitgeist. That is to say that if an Asian-American film "industry" could become so influential in its own right that they might themselves come to represent mainstream sensibilities by superseding the archaic attitudes and prejudiced thinking of that mainstream.

Why Won't Hollywood Cast An Asian Male Lead - Part 1?

The Issues.....

The whitewashing of Asian characters out of story lines in many American movie productions is a phenomena that no-one - Asian or otherwise - denies occurs on a routine basis in the movie industry. In brief, whitewashing simply means that white actors are used to replace characters that are commonly expected to be Asian. For example, movies adaptations of novels have routinely used white actors to replace characters who were Asian in the book, or even movies that portray historical events have used white actors to play the role of someone who was Asian in real life. This is achieved in various ways; by changing the race of a character,  from Asian to white, by "Asianizing" white (but recently black) actors by using prosthetics to change eye shape, or by using ethnically ambiguous white actors who may have a "part-Asian" look. 

This has, naturally, led to accusations that Hollywood is racist and is discriminating against Asian actors. On the one side of the argument are those who point to whitewashing, in addition to the absence of Asian (particularly male) leads, and the sporadic appearance of racially demeaning depictions in Hollywood productions, as the self-evident manifestation of racism. On the other side, are those who suggest that Hollywood is merely driven by the "bottom line" and that Asians are relatively absent in front of camera simply because they are not "bankable", and won't, don't, or cannot, guarantee sufficient box-office returns. Thus, on this latter view, there is no "racism" in the sense that Asians are not discriminated against because of their race, but have limited opportunities because they have limited appeal to the cinema-going public.

What is interesting is that there are Asian-Americans on both side of this argument - some who believe that Hollywood is systematically excluding Asians, and others on the opposite side of the argument who say that it is entirely a business decision that limits the opportunities of Asian actors. I am agnostic on the issue - I cannot say that I am anywhere near certain that Hollywood is racist, but I think that the issues I outlined provide sufficient reason to not dismiss accusations of racism out of hand. In this post I will outline the main points on both sides of the argument and post my conclusions in the summary.

Whitewashing and the bottom line.

Whitewashing means that white actors are cast in roles that replace a fictional Asian character or even a historically Asian character with a Caucasian one. Going hand-in-hand with this is the practice of "Yellowface" - that is, using makeup, prosthetics, and often a feigned, caricatured, East Asian accent, to transform a white actor into an Asiatic character or caricature. The result is that even in historical films where the protagonist is Asian, the casting of an Asian actor need not be guaranteed.The industry response to this is that Asian leads don't have the box-office appeal to warrant being given such substantial roles. Filmmakers, we are told, are unwilling to take a risk on an Asian lead because they won't make money for the studio.

It is this argument that is possibly the most often cited by those who deny that Hollywood is racist. But what is the the belief based on? I have never seen any actual numbers presented that show beyond a doubt that Asian leads lose money for studios, and since the argument is based on an empirical premise - that is, the profit/loss margin - surely there are some studies showing that Asian leads always fail? Of course, it is extremely difficult to gauge the profitability of Asian leads because there have been so few attempts at it, so right up front, the premise is questionable. But the ultimate question is; is it true that movies with an Asian lead are definitively destined to lose money for studios? The answer is definitely no.

Three movies come to mind that challenge this assertion; Romeo Must Die, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, and Ninja Assassin. All three of these movies featured an Asian male lead and they all turned a profit. Here's a summary;

Romeo Must Die                     Starring Jet Li                             
                                                        Budget:          $25 million
  Takings                                          Domestic        $55,973,336    61.5%
                                                        Foreign          $35,063,424    38.5%

                                                        Profit              $66036578                                        

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story   Starring Jason Scott Lee    
                                                        Budget;        $14 million

   Takings                                         Domestic      $35,113,743   55.3%

                                                        Foreign         $28,400,000   44.7%
                                                        Profit            $49,513,745

Ninja Assassin                          Starring Rain                        
                                                        Budget         $40 Million
   Takings                                         Domestic      $38,122,883    61.9%
                                                        Foreign        $23,478,397    38.1%
                                                        Profit            $21,601,280

All of the above movies made a profit for the studios and they all featured Asian males in the lead roles. Granted that is only three movies (although, Jet Li also starred in a movie "The One" that also turned a profit, and there is an obscure French movie called "The Lover", that made a decent worldwide profit, and good profits in the US on limited release, but which also was nominated for an Oscar), but given that three movies possibly represent a lion share of movies that have starred Asian males, it has to be said that this is a reasonably good rate of success for movies that have actually featured an Asian male lead.

At this point it has to be noted that the "bottom line" argument is misleading in that it is remarkably vague, and this vagueness itself seems like a disingenuous approach to engaging with the Asian community on this issue, and often seems like little more than hand-waving away Asian-American concerns. The reason is that such a vague argument allows for goalposts to be shifted dramatically within its nebulous boundaries. For example, when presented with solid figures that plainly show that Asian leads can make money for studios, the goalposts suddenly shift, and the argument narrows to something like "movies with Asian leads show only moderate profits", or they "didn't do as well domestically, so they weren't 'truly' successful". And this is important to note because it highlights the fact that the dearth of Asians in front of the camera goes well beyond the problem of Asian male leads in the blockbuster.

If Asians were absent only as leads in blockbusters, then the bottom-line argument would hold more water. The problem is that Asians are absent in front of the camera at every level of the industry. Asians are rarely seen in any kind of secondary or tertiary co-starring role, or even in prominent supporting roles. The bottom line argument cannot explain this because - particularly in the case of prominent supporting roles - they have negligible affect on the bottom line. There are few critics saying a movie failed because the tertiary co-star or supporting cast were terrible  Furthermore, even if it were true that Asians cannot yet carry a lead in a big-budget blockbuster, the three examples listed above, suggest that Asians can, at least, be able to carry lead roles in the echelon of the industry where only moderate profits are the expectation. And that is another huge hole in the bottom line argument.

Low and medium-budget movies made with the express intention of limited theater release, and then quickly on to DVD, are not expected to make huge profits. In fact, moderate profits are the expectation at this level of production, and Asian leads have shown that they can carry a movie even though the profits may be moderate - although the above figures show that in the case of Romeo Must Die and Dragon, profits were well beyond moderate. But the question arises; why are Asian actors also absent from leads in films at this level of the industry, when they very clearly have been able to make the kinds of profits that this echelon of the industry expects? The bottom line at this level of the industry is different and Asians have shown without a doubt that they can turn a profit. But even worse, is the dearth, even, of co-stars and support roles for Asian actors at this - what we could call - base-level of the industry. 

If the industry were truly egalitarian, then Asians would surely feature more prominently than they do at the very least as supporting cast, in the lower-budget echelon of the industry. But, they don't. Regardless of the lower bottom-line expectations, and the fact that Asians have demonstrated that they can be the lead in profitable movies at the medium/low-budget level, Asians are still almost invisible. The bottom line argument does not explain this. In fact, in light of this, the bottom-line argument seems more like a flimsy hand-waving excuse to not engage genuinely with Asian-Americans about their concerns regarding the limited opportunities for Asian actors.

Demeaning Depictions of Asians in the media

Perhaps even more of an issue for Asian-Americans in its uneasy relationship with Hollywood, is the problem of derogatory depictions and lazy stereotypes of Asians that are produced in the film and television industry from time to time. These demeaning depictions are often simple caricatures that disparage among other things, Asian racial characteristics, manners of speech, and cultural particulars. At other times, these depictions are xenophobic and inflammatory and hatefully shows Asians as almost literal monsters with no humane qualities. Often, the depictions are accompanied by acts of random and sadistic violence, which make light of, and justify casual violence against the Asian people being depicted. So the spectrum runs from disparaging to xenophobic and sadistically violent. Often these demeaning and dehumanizing ideas are expressed without even the vehicle of an actual character who has any meaningful lines and in a manner which has little or no significance to any plot or storyline - that is, their presence serves no apparent purpose in the context of the production and would not be fatal to the plot or characterizations if the depictions didn't exist.

Naturally, racism is denied as the motivation behind these one-sided, dehumanizing, racially insensitive, and xenophobic depictions, and it is almost impossible to state categorically that racism does drive these depictions. Yet, the fact remains that even if racism isn't the driving force, the depictions themselves rely on racial stereotypes and dehumanizing caricatures.

So there are two sides to this aspect of Asian representation in film and television; those depictions that are brief but are merely a collection of all or some of the most derogatory representations that have been associated with Asian people but are irrelevant to the plot, and those depictions of depictions via characters that are integral to a plot, but are also loaded with derogatory qualities associated with Asians which demonize them via inflammatory characterizations. The former depictions normalizes racist behaviour towards Asians, whilst the latter models and normalizes racial suspicion, distrust, and hostility.

This concludes the first part of this post. In part 2 I will summarize the issues and present conclusions.

The Western World And Asian Racism

 A Strained Advocacy.

I came across an interesting article written in 2012, by a Caucasian woman (Julia Bass) who had lived in Korea, in which she draws attention to South Korean racial attitudes towards foreigners, and all non-Koreans, and to be perfectly honest I had to laugh. Don't get me wrong, racism is a bad thing regardless of who is perpetrating it, but a fair amount of the racism that she describes seemed to be actually identical to the kind complaints about racism that Asian (and perhaps other minorities) speak out about, and for which we are told to stop being so sensitive, or "it's just a joke", or even "stop complaining, blacks have it worse". After further reading on this subject from the point of view of white ex-pats, I could not help but notice how eager these guys were to play the race card in describing their experiences.

First of all, to put the Julia bass piece in context; at the end of her piece, it is noted that she spent one year (yes, one whole year) living and teaching in South Korea. Now as an ex-pat myself, and someone who knows a lot of ex-pats, I can say with some fair degree of certainty that it is impossible to truly gauge the character and attitudes of a foreign people or culture. This is especially true when you move to a country that has a radically different cultural and historical experience to the one you came from and the language is alien or unfamiliar. Most of the ex-pats I know (many of whom have foreign service careers and move to a different country every three to five years) will tell you that it takes between six months and a full year to actually settle in and even hope to begin becoming familiar with the local culture and character of the people. So, right up front, I question the impressions of someone who most likely didn't stay long enough to even settle in properly. In reality, these observations actually sound superficial and little more than the usual litany of (ironically) racial and cultural stereotypes that get thrown around about Asia and its people.

In response to a news piece widely condemned as racist by race-sensitive ex-pats that was aired on Korean television (a video I referred to here) Bass has this to say......

"the issue has everything to do with every foreigner. Each time I walk down the street and people take a second look at me, I wonder ... I've seen the video, maybe they've seen it too ... do they think something is wrong with me? Am I actually unwanted in my quaint, peaceful town of Yeoju that I've come to call home for the last 10 months? I'm not a western man with a Korean lady attached to my arm, but that isn't the point. I'm an outsider to them, and now I'm an outsider who is associated with messages like this one. Moreover, messages that my students will see and will affect the way they see me."

I can relate. Perhaps it is true what Asian-American have been saying for years - and according to Bass, the ex-pat community of Korea agreed - that racism in the media and cultural stereotyping have the potential to shape racist attitudes and racist behaviours towards those targeted by it.

Bass also voices concern for the plight of Korean women...

"Another upsetting component in this video is the way Korean women are dealt with. Phrases like "our women" are not only objectifying, possessive, and archaic, they also paint a picture of women who lack self-respect or intelligence—a picture I can whole-heartedly argue is untrue. Women here—although a little too obsessed with skin whitening cream and hand mirrors for my taste—are decisive, altruistic, and highly intelligent."

Actually if you watch the video in question (here) you might actually think that some of those Korean women were, in fact, lacking self-respect, but also note the sly dig at Korean women in that last sentence. On the other hand, I might be a little more empathetic with the plight of white dudes if I did not already know that there is a culture of gendered racism directed at Korean men by ex-pats whose apparent aim is to control the choices of "their" western women with scary, xenophobic, racist, contradictory stories about the asexual/ sexual predatory Korean men. As I noted here, there seems to be a mode of thinking that excuses white racial attitudes towards Koreans (especially Korean men) by using sexism to justify racism.

But there are some observers trying to address the subject objectively. Here is another article in the online magazine "The Diplomat", that addresses the subject of racism in Korea, and - to its credit - the article does attempt to add perspective by noting that ex-pat complaints of racism might perhaps be attributed to mere miscommunication (and my guess is that exaggeration is a problem too) and that their complaints pale in comparison to those of the workers and immigrants from South and SouthEast Asia who bear the brunt of racism there. I also understand that Asian-Americans of Korean descent have sometimes been considered suspect by Korean society, but white culture has a history of appropriating the experiences of other groups and re-making it in their own image.

Perhaps the best and most eloquent analysis of white-ex-pat claims of racism in Korea has been outlined in a post written by an African-American woman who spent some time in the country. She writes...

What I've found is that essentially white teachers really exaggerate how bad racism in Korea. At least from the black perspective it’s exaggerated because in our home countries we have to deal with it, so when we come here, for better or for worse, we're used to it. We’re used to people gawking. We’re used to people assuming negative things about us. Of course, we’re used to discrimination based on the color of our skin.

An interesting, although not altogether unsurprising, perspective. Those who are familiar with my blog might recognize this idea of exaggerating things about Asia and Asian people as a characteristic of the way that American (and perhaps all English-speaking) cultures condition their societies with negative bias towards Asians. But it is not just Korea where the ex-pats seem race-conscious.

Japan also, receives its fair share of ex-pat complaints of racism. In a recent incident that received a fair amount of mainstream press in the US, an American teacher in Japan came under fire from so-called nationalists for trying to teach his students about Japan's history of discrimination. The first thing about this story is that the backlash came mostly over the internet after the teacher had posted a YouTube video, and that the teacher in question (an American of Japanese dissent) was given the support of his school, and - as far as I know - continues to teach this subject at the school. From my point of view the fact that the school vice-principal agreed that the lesson was a good thing, and that he received no complaints, tells a far different story than the one inferred in the article. The vice-principal says this...

The vice principal of the school said he wished more Japanese students could hear the lesson. Dezaki didn't get a single complaint. No one accused him of being an enemy of Japan.

That sounds very encouraging to me, yet, it is anonymous internet complaints that receive the attention. But, as I mentioned before, exaggeration of negative qualities in Asian people and cultures is a hallmark of how American culture conditions its people to conceive negatively  of, and behave towards, Asians, whilst overlooking positives. Compare, for instance, this story out of Seattle, in which a teacher was transferred from his post to another school after receiving a complaint for teaching American students about racism. Does America, or its people, really have anything to offer Japan about teaching racism in the school curriculum?

In a recent post, I reviewed a book called "Driven Out", which documented the hundreds of cases of pogroms perpetrated by mainly white mobs against the early Chinese immigrants to the US. During these riots and attacks, Chinese men were rounded up, beaten, murdered, and had their livelihoods destroyed by mobs driven by racial hatred, all under the watchful eye of law-enforcement officials, and with the explicit support of politicians going all the way up to the level of Congress. Yet, this period of history that lasted almost one-hundred years and ultimately paved the way for the internment of the Japanese in WWII, is absent in its entirety from American school books and the cultural consciousness, so much so, that Asian-Americans themselves are surprised to learn about it.

This is not to say that there is no racism in Japan, nor am I making the simplistic argument that "America does it too!". What I am saying is that we need to be aware that western ex-pat complaints of racism in Japan may carry with it westerners' own racial assumptions and intolerance for Asians that seem to be the standard cultural attitude in, at least, the English-speaking world. Plus, there is the ever present possibility of gross exaggeration that seems to typify western attitudes in general, and complaints in particular, about Asians and Asian racism. This is especially apparent when white ex-pats express horror at Japanese (and other Asian) attitudes towards black people, as complaints about racism towards blacks in China will illustrate.

Given that American culture seems to be geared towards suspicion of Asians in general, and recently, the Chinese in particular, it seems natural that China would receive its share of self-righteous western condemnation for being racist. What is interesting in this process is that we are able to witness the creation of racial and racist stereotypes as it happens. Apart from the generally understood meaning of "stereotype", there is another aspect of the process that goes unheralded but which we can see happening in the labeling of China as a country that is horribly racist towards blacks.

In America, (at least according to the often delusional stories the media tells about America) American quasi-values maintain that being racist towards blacks is morally reprehensible, and Americans are extremely uncomfortable accepting that anti-black racism is still an implicit aspect of American society. So, just like in every other instance of stereotyping, the worst aspects and qualities that Americans hate to see being pointed out about themselves (their prejudice against blacks), are projected onto another group, giving America the opportunity to assuage its own discomfort. In other words, in the case of American attitudes towards Asians, racism is used to justify racial stereotyping.

An article from July of this year, touches upon the experience of an African-American who lived and worked in China. He writes...

I taught English to Chinese people from all socio-economic backgrounds......By all accounts, my supervisors and other teachers respected my skills and knowledge in the classroom. Around 2003, however, I noticed a shift in the market and it became increasingly difficult for me to hold on to assigned classes. There were a number of complaints from students.......She told me I was an excellent teacher and could find little fault in my methods and teaching of the prescribed curriculum. Students just wanted a "different" teacher.....While on break, I overheard students speaking in Chinese about how they were paying so much money and wanted a white instructor. One student went so far as to say, "I don't want to look at his black face all night."

Another report from CNN, touches upon the same issues of discrimination and the uncomfortable relationship between black migrants to China and the local population. Clearly, some black people experience prejudice and discriminatory attitudes in China. Both articles go to great pains to highlight the historical background of China's attitudes towards dark skin, which they suggest may account for some of the negative experiences of blacks, reporting that white skin was considered beautiful and darker skin, not so much. While both articles - and others like it - highlight a significant issue, the focus on negative attitudes towards blacks in China indicates a simplistic, one-sided, aspect to China's ethnic story and reflects the inflexible perspectives in which America's attitudes towards race are structured.

The fact is, that even Americans of Asian descent are discriminated against in China, notably in school hiring procedures. This article from NBC News, reports on this very phenomenon, even quoting from a popular ex-pat forum on the apparent hierarchy of preferences for teachers in Chinese schools. In order of preference....

1. White Americans/Canadians  2. White British  3. White Australians/New Zealanders and South Africans  4. European Nonnatives/Black Americans/Black British  5. American Asians/Black Aussies (Australians) and Kiwis (New Zealanders)/Filipinos/Africans”

Notice that the perception amongst some ex-pats is that African-Americans are preferred over Asian-Americans. This phenomenon of discrimination towards Americans of Asian descent is documented here also. Clearly, Chinese attitudes towards blacks and race in general are far more complicated than the pejorative insinuations that China is "racist against blacks" would suggest. To be fair, the last word of the CNN article goes to another black ex-pat, who had lived in China for eight years, who has this to say....

"Yes, I've sometimes had people stare or touch my skin, as if to see whether it's going to rub off,". "But I think this comes from curiosity not negativity. Here I don't feel the racial tension I feel back home. I've done things, such as setting up my own geophysics company, which as I black woman I might not have been able to do in the States....."Yes, I'm treated differently from Chinese people. But here I'm different first, black second."

Now that is fair and it reflects the fundamental dishonesty, and perhaps ignorance, in trying to paint Chinese attitudes towards race as analogous to America's. As I pointed out in a previous post, racism and racial thinking are integral to the very identity of the concept of white, and it is contrasts of racial characteristics and supposed racial qualities, by which Europe has defined itself since the time of Classical Greece. Race is fundamental to the European (and hence "white) concept of themselves and it is racial physical and character traits that gave Europeans a sense of who they are, and their place in the world. Over the centuries, these archaic ideas of race were refined by subsequent intellectuals and race-thinkers, and gave us the modern world we have today. This is a far cry from the China's beauty standards that elevate light skin - a notion that derives more from a class chauvinism than racial prejudice - darker skin reflected poverty, not racial inferiority.

It may well be a measure of America's resistance to engaging with Asians in a genuine way that China's (as well as Korea's and Japan's) supposed racial prejudices are illustrated through its ambivalent attitudes towards blacks. America seems to be simply reluctant to acknowledge the depth of prejudice that it has had and continues to have towards Asian people. Even though it could be argued that in all of these countries, it is South and SouthEast Asians (and even Americans of Asian descent) who may well bear the brunt of racial discrimination, America's dehumanization of Asians, and its cultural proclivity to depict Asians on the margins of consideration at best, and beyond hope of commonality, may well prevent America's media from addressing Asia's race issues in a meaningful way. How can you genuinely show the plight of Asian victims of discrimination and expect empathy from your own culture when everything about your culture conditions people to actually conceive of Asians as monsters and beyond empathy? In this light, focusing on supposed anti-black racism gives America the chance to maintain its suspicion of hostility towards Asians, whilst presenting itself as the model for racial tolerance.

It is this last point that I find to be of interest; can America be a model for racial tolerance for Asian countries to emulate, particularly in the case of anti-black prejudice? Ostensibly, this is a no-brainer - after all civil rights, MLK and all that. Yet, blacks in America remain the poorest (due in part to prejudice in hiring), amongst the least educated, the most incarcerated, the most likely to be on death-row, make less money, and have shorter life-spans than whites. Plus, many police forces routinely target blacks - especially males - for harassment and random stops, and dozens of blacks die in police custody every year. Hispanics are not far behind either. In this light, I think that it is in the interests of African-Americans to beg China - and other Asian countries - not to look to America as the model for how to treat minorities.

It is for these reasons that I tend to think that the white media and the white voice has no place in the issue of racism in Asia. Firstly, what may be the most severe cases - against South and SouthEast Asians - are all but ignored, secondly, western criticisms often bear the characteristics, and are presented in a similar manner as inflammatory racial stereotyping, that is, one-sided, simplistic, and superficial, and thirdly, white Americans don't seem to have a realistic grasp of the depth and damage that white racism wreaks on ethnic minorities, so how can they advocate for something that they may not even seem to comprehend? That's not to say that all white people are like that - thankfully, there are voices of reason out there - but for the most part I would suggest that white America is out of touch with the experiences of its ethnic minorities.

Whilst I don't deny that racism may be a problem in Asian countries, I simply don't see how the west, and particularly America and Americans, can seriously present itself as a model for aspiration. In most western countries it is the dark-skinned and ethnic minorities who occupy the lowest rungs of the social ladder, and police harassment characterizes the experience of these communities. No, let's all hope that the economic powerhouses of North East Asia, look elsewhere for their model of race relations, the west has nothing to offer in that regard.

Learning Masculinity.

Becoming A Man

Emasculation of Asian men in American/Western culture is a subject of some - naturally - considerable interest for Asian-American commentators, activists, and writers. Although it is likely that racism and chauvinism form a significant foundation for this phenomenon, no discussion on the subject would be complete without its proper context of general ideas of masculinity and emasculation that exist in society as whole, and which affects the worldview and self-perception of all men, regardless of race.

As I alluded to in a very early post - here - the racial component of cultural depictions of masculinity has evolved over the decades. Present-day stereotypes hold that of the "three main races", Asian men are the least masculine of all the races - less athletic ability, lesser sexual potency, physically weaker, and lacking in other vaguely defined "masculine" attributes. Thus, widely held stereotypes, propagated and reinforced by demeaning media depictions, hold Asian masculinity with contempt. Many Asian-American men complain of a sense of emasculation (understandable under the circumstances), as well as a sense of disconnectedness from America's cultural masculinity. Yet, these ideas of race and masculinity have evolved over the decades - prior to the 1970's Asian men were stereotyped as lustful sex-beasts who used an almost demonic sexual power to seduce white women (the anti-miscegenation nightmare) and so possessed some considerable degree of potency.

It was during the 1970's that this began to change and it isn't unreasonable to surmise that our modern-day cultural emasculation in mainstream culture is a reaction to women and minority empowerment movements of the 1960's. Hence, Asian emasculation - perceived or otherwise - can be seen to be merely one aspect of this cultural sense of emasculation, complicated, perhaps, by race issues and xenophobia, and could even be said to exist as part of mainstream America's (in this case, specifically white America) need to redefine its own masculinity. Because race has always been present in white America's definitions of itself, it is expected that white America's attempts to redefine itself would also follow the dictates of a racial hierarchy.

Cultural emasculation of Asian men seems to exist as a kind of reaction to white masculine confusion resulting from civil rights, black (male) empowerment, women's empowerment. Because black hyper-sexuality emerged alongside black empowerment, emasculating stereotypes of Asian men became a way to regain a sense of relative masculinity, and in more recent years mainstream American culture has appropriated black male sexuality and attributed its qualities to white men (as outlined here). So, even though Asian men have borne the brunt of the backlash against emasculation in late 20th century America, it would behoove us to remember that this is little more than a white male media dominated attempt at damage control of their own emasculation. This is important mainly for the perspective it can offer Asian men - media attacks on our masculinity are part of a context of a general sense of emasculation in the West due to women's and minority empowerment.

In this post I will outline some ideas on how a sense of masculinity can be nurtured through cultivating a culture of personal masculinity. I believe that masculinity is an innate set of behaviours, beliefs, attitudes, forms of expression, that (because they are innate) should emerge largely as a by-product of the biological process of maturing. Additionally, this natural process should find expression, reinforcement, and support, through culture.The latter point is especially pertinent since, as Americans of Asian descent, we live in a culture that does the exact opposite of fostering our natural maturity into masculinity. More accurately, we live in a culture that seeks to retard our masculinity and separate us from our innate masculine qualities, both through demoralizing sexual stereotypes, and a general culture of dehumanization.

Yet, (strange as it sounds) I don't believe that we should even try to compete with the media to present positive alternatives to the demeaning stereotypes about our masculinity young Asian boys are exposed to on a regular basis. The simple reason for this is that our masculinity is innate and the qualities of masculinity can be nurtured without the need to see it happening on the television screen, even though, paradoxically, the media plays a significant role in creating the problem in the first place. So, although there are some who strive to change Asian male self-perceptions through countering negative media stereotypes with more balanced ones - although a noble and worthy pursuit - by itself will not create the kind of shift in the demoralized Asian-American male mentality. Much more is required, because I don't believe that it is even desirable for young Asian boys to learn about masculinity (or there own humanity because emasculation is another form of dehumanization) via the television or film. The Asian-American masculine identity has to exist separate and impervious to a hostile culture.

Why? Because masculinity is an innate biological quality that can only emerge through a process of growth achieved through experience, accomplishment, self-knowledge, education, and courage. Thus, the first step in this process is to disavow Asian men of a (apparently widely held) belief that they need to see positive stereotypes in order to regain a sense of masculinity. We will know that a true shift has taken place when mainstream America sees a movie that demeans Asian men and they are confused because it doesn't resemble any Asian men that they know. This is the power of the individual to affect a shift on a culture-wide level - thousands of individual Asian men changing social attitudes by their personal impact on their immediate environment.

So, how does one find one's masculinity? Again, I think it is a process with no specific goal (except the end result that Asian men define their own cultural identity), and no direct or definite path. Assigning definitive qualities that outline masculinity is thus a pointless exercise - there are as many "masculinities" as there are men. Sure, because masculinity is largely biological, there will be some qualities men will have in common, but what is important is the process by which we realize these qualities and as parents, brothers, uncles, or friends (but especially as fathers), what we can do to help young Asian boys to find their masculine nature is to provide the tools that will enable them to follow this process and learn the things that they need to learn about themselves that will foster a strong sense of their own masculine humanity. This process has three main components; physical, emotional, and intellectual and this process is what I might encourage any sons of mine to undergo.

First of all, boys need to develop strong minds and intellectual prowess, and hence willpower. Secondly, boys need to be able have a full emotional life without allowing themselves to be ruled by their emotions. Thirdly, boys need to feel a sense of physical strength because this gives them a sense of control over their immediate environment or space. Finally, accomplishment and the sense of achievement that goes with it are important measures of progress.

Physical.

Pursue physical strength and activity. Boys need to be constantly physically active - that way they become accustomed to their own physicality and learn to be comfortable with physical competition. Boys learn the potential of their physical prowess and simultaneously learn the connection between strength of mind and physicality. I believe that many Asian men are out of touch with their physicality for various reasons. Culture and upbringing may play a role in this, but the main reason may lie in the fact that Asian boys growing up in the US are discouraged due to exposure to the single-themed message from our host culture that Asian bodies are weak. That is why getting in touch with physicality is vital for Asian boys. Three possible ways that this can be accomplished;

Martial Arts
Asian boys need to learn martial arts. Aside from the obvious advantage of conferring confidence in the practitioner, martial arts are a great way to learn discipline (physical and mental) and the all-important quality of self-esteem. It is an uncomfortable fact of human life that being able to successfully physically defend yourself (or even simply trying) is one of the most empowering feelings one can have. It is why humans are so addicted to violence, and it may partially explain why violent crime is common in high-poverty areas - with few other means for self-esteem to develope, violence becomes the easiest and most readily available method. Being able to fight people off of you (which as an Asian man you will probably have to do) reinforces the sense of control of personal space that is yours and yours alone. Lastly, and almost counter-intuitively, if you know that you have the means to physically defend yourself, then you are better able to stand up for yourself without a violent outcome because your mindset will give you a physical presence that deters physical aggression.

Weights.
Develope a strong and muscular physique. It gives you a great self-image, increases your sense of physicality, and promotes confidence. You don't have to be the strongest guy in the gym - you just have to be strong enough.

Sports.
Goal based physical activity is a great way to become familiar with the feeling of accomplishment and sports participation is one of the ways to do this. It doesn't matter if you are 5 feet nothing, there is still a sport for you where you can expend physical energy in constructive ways. I played rugby and soccer in school, and I learned how my physique could be used advantageously in competition with guys who were taller - very often I came out on top and was always selected for the teams.

Structured physical activity promotes a key mind-body connection, the most important lesson of which is that through physical endurance, mental and physical discipline, an individual can learn self-confidence, determination, and an acquaintance with the competitive spirit that teaches the value of not giving in, letting failures become learning opportunities, and a sense that limitations and obstacles can be overcome or by-passed. It also teaches lessons that enable an individual to lose without losing the sense of self. One of the most positive effects of physicality, is that has such a profound effect on our emotional health. If you feel physically strong, and are comfortable with your body's capacities, then you can only become emotionally stronger. On a deeper level, implicit in competitive physical activity is the necessity of pushing through pain to achieve a goal. Because life is characterized by pain (physical, mental, or emotional) learning how or when to endure it and move past it is possibly one of the most valuable life lessons one can learn.

Emotional/Spiritual.

By nature, this aspect of the human experience is intangible and not easily defined, yet, when people are centered in their spirit or emotions, the results can be as tangible as steel. Because spirituality is most often profoundly intertwined with religious belief (atheism, however, doesn't necessarily dispel the need for transcendent spirituality) it is beyond the scope of this post to expound on specific practices. Common to many (most or even all, perhaps) spiritual practices is the sense of purpose that these practices impart. The idea that an individual has a place in the universe, is valuable to existence, and has a role to play in the unfolding story of humanity, are all spiritual/philosophical propositions and beliefs that are largely attained through transcendental thinking.

For the Asian men of the Americas,this sense of transcendent purpose is a key quality in overcoming inner damage caused by racism. Because American culture actively excludes Asian men from participation in its cultural myths and stories that give America its sense of identity and purpose, developing this inner sense of purpose and value is hugely important. Developing an "inner core" of self-value that cannot be touched by hostile conditioning is the most potent quality any individual can attain.

As important as development of the spirit, is the development of the emotions. It is almost impossible not to notice how much the Asian minority of America is strangled by its own emotionalism. A simple glance at how we respond to racial prejudice from the mainstream is a great illustration of this. Fundamentally, we are always offended by media slights and insensitivities - our emotions are often wounded by America's cultural racism. The problem is that our emotions are our business - if we're upset by something, the only solution is to get over it, that is, check your emotions. The problem with this, is that America's culture of anti-Asian racism has significantly more serious effects on our lives than simply hurting our feelings. So our emotional responses to this kind prejudice cannot be adequately expressing the significance of anti-Asian racism, and this emotionalism can thus be seen to be harmful to our advocacy.

Beyond this, much of our Asian-American culture and Asian commentators displays this same sense of emotionalism. Whether it be a poorly adjusted Asian woman currying mainstream sympathy by emotively demonizing their upbringing and the Asians responsible for it, or a wannabe boheme feeling under-appreciated by the proles, or speaking about hurt feelings, Asian-Americans seem prone to self-advocate via the emotions. As I've already mentioned emotions are not the ideal vehicle upon which to carry forward personal or group advocacy because ultimately your emotions are your own personal business. As men, what is important is that we learn how to not be slaves to emotions and hence emotional thinking. This doesn't mean controlling our emotions (like Spock), it simply means not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our emotions. Adults - that is, those with maturity - have learned that too much emoting is  not conducive to living a meaningful life. For a heavily stereotyped ethnic minority the results of emotionalism - particularly in response to racism - are likely to be quite damaging.

I will only offer one specific piece of advice on how to manage our emotions, and that is to learn how to cultivate a positive emotional frame of mind. Here in Internetland (and in the real world), I see too many Asian guys admitting defeat  before they have even tried. I don't like to hear Asian men whining about how they are at a disadvantage because of stereotypes - for example, the Asian guy who thinks he can't get a date (and won't try) because he "knows" that white/black/Latina women "won't date Asians", and "all the Asian women want white dudes". Please stop. It may sound like a cliche, but the biggest barrier is often the one in your mind. That doesn't mean that there aren't challenges specifically derived from anti-Asian racism, but becoming negative is an implicit acknowledgement of defeat, and a clear indication that we have allowed our emotions to have too much control over our mindset.

I think that developing a positive attitude, starts with a choice, and can subsequently be cultivated. A positive mindset leads to self-belief, a determined attitude and, most significantly, a sense of defiance in the face of mainstream hostility. Too many Asian guys seem to talk themselves into being "losers" by focusing on negatives even when they have so much going for them. Yes, your parents were strict but all of that parental control can also teach you how much you can accomplish with discipline and application - it is up to you to apply that ability to other aspects of your life - start by choosing to be positive. Learning discipline is one of the most important lessons (and in my opinion, one of the most important goals) in life and it is something that is implicitly taught through many Asian cultural and spiritual practices.

Ultimately, cultivating a positive attitude and learning to not be controlled by our emotions, allows for the emotional/psychological state of courage to come to the fore because people are often more afraid of feeling negative feelings than they are of any particular frightening situation.

Intellectual.

This is another set of qualities that are difficult to define and assess. Intellectual empowerment can be thought of as one of the keys that unlocks the doors of prejudice. Anti-Asian racism is supported and propagated by an uncompromising cultural "blitz" of negative reinforcement that includes dehumanizing stereotypes, limited descriptive language (and imagery) that is demeaning in nature, all of which serves to normalize racist behaviour towards Asians in society. Most significantly, for Asians growing up in the US, such a campaign of racial hostility also serves as a means of turning the mind of any young Asian person against itself. Thus, America's cultural hostility teaches some Asians to align their thinking about themselves and their communities with the negative attitudes of the mainstream, creating the phenomenon commonly vaguely referred to as internalized racism.

The challenge, of course, is outlining a path by which we can say that people are "intellectually empowered" and I think the best way to illustrate it is to identify some of the qualities and characteristics that I believe characterize intellectual empowerment.

In my observations of intellectually empowered people, the first thing I notice is that they have a skeptical outlook. To me this means that they don't react to information without first considering the subject from various points of view. For Asian men, cultivating skepticism is vital - most of what is written or said about Asian men is untrue hostility or negatively exaggerated, so being skeptical about what we see and hear mainstream America saying about us is key as it  prevents internalizing negative attitudes about ourselves.

The second thing I notice about intellectually empowered people is that they are independent thinkers. The nature of America's hostility to Asian men means that we have no choice but to be independent thinkers because our skepticism requires that we hold attitudes and opinions that are oppositional to the mainstream - if we are not, or do not, then we have internalized racism. Skepticism should lead to independent thinking, which, in concrete terms for Asian men, means that we stand in opposition to most of what our culture (i.e. American culture)  says about us and, perhaps more importantly, what it says about itself in relation to us. Thus, Asian men are by definition a potential counter-cultural force - our empowerment stands in direct opposition to the beliefs of mainstream America, which requires that we be timid and marginalized.

This segues neatly into the next characteristic of the intellectually empowered; holding unpopular opinions. For an Asian man to feel confident about himself, and to display qualities of leadership, and strength, he must, by definition, hold opinions about himself that are unpopular in the culture of America. Thus, being unafraid to hold, voice, and live by, unpopular opinions is an unavoidable manifestation of intellectual empowerment for Asian men. Furthermore, independent thinking and its love-child, unpopular, against the current, opinions (when done intelligently, and which, almost by, definition Asians must hold if they seek empowerment and racial integrity) are an implicit assertion of individuality - the very thing that mainstream America denies us.

A fundamental requirement for intellectual empowerment is an understanding of your own personal and group histories. All culture is fundamentally an expression of the historical experience - both of groups and the individual. Thus, historical experience is the basis of identity via the vehicle of the culture it informs. This is why societies and cultures - particularly authoritarian ones - do everything to control the historical record; history helps to forge a national identity and social cohesion. Significantly for Asians, the way that news and world events are spun in the media (including cultural portrayals) can be seen as an offshoot of this strategy - reporting on world events and our actions within them are spun to reinforce the national narrative that a society wants to believe about itself, allowing present-day events to fit seamlessly into the manufactured historical narrative.

I could write several posts on this subject, but for the purposes of this post it suffices to say that exclusion of Asian-Americans  is intrinsic to the American national identity narrative, which is a historical narrative that is fundamentally biased against Asia. Thus, for those Asian-Americans seeking intellectual empowerment, overcoming the conditioning of this narrative is an essential step.

Finally, one of the most important aspects of intellectual empowerment is to be able to state your case powerfully and eloquently, and for that the weapon of choice is language, and its deadly ammunition, vocabulary. The biggest fear of oppressors and bullies is an eloquently expressed novel idea - this why concepts about Asian men are limited in American culture to a few demeaning images that are recycled throughout the culture and which are expressed with limited language and concepts. One of the antidotes is eloquence.

Accomplishment.

Pursuing the types of disciplines and practices that I have outlined in the previous paragraphs carries with it an implicit notion of accomplishment and achievement. In pursuit of physical empowerment setting goals and knowing when you achieved them is relatively straight-forward. But when it comes to intellectual and emotional empowerment it is sometimes difficult to realize that you have actually made a shift closer to the place that you want to be.

For me, realization of intellectual and emotional empowerment can be seen if you develop the sense that you can impact your environment even if you are the only person in the world who holds a belief or opinion. What this looks like varies. It could manifest as simply as believing in yourself enough to approach the hottest girl in the room with enough confidence to hold her attention all evening. Or, it could manifest as having the intellectual and emotional self-belief to challenge institutions alone because you discover wrong-doing, even though it could ruin your career. The point is, that emotional empowerment requires that you overcome negative thoughts and feelings that could prevent you from becoming the man you want to be. Intellectual empowerment requires that you approach any idea independently from consensus points of view and find a way of viewing it that we could call being closer to the truth.

And that could be a kind of template for intellectual and emotional accomplishment - having the emotional strength to challenge embedded ideas and offer an alternative way to conceive of them.

Conclusion.

It should be noted that what I have tried to describe here is not "how to be a man", but "tools to help one learn to be a man". The gist of my piece  is that masculinity is learned but - paradoxically - not entirely taught. This means that masculinity emerges through the exercise of the three components of physicality, intellect, and emotion, and thus, it is learned through practice and ultimately self-awareness, which can also be thought of as "personal culture". Masculinity comes as the result of knowing your strengths and pushing the boundaries of your limits in all these areas, and being comfortable with it. This should impart a sense of confidence and self-belief in the strength of our own minds, bodies, and emotions. So in a way, what is happening is that the process of learning about our strengths in all of these areas is itself nurturing masculinity.

On a final note, I make this disclaimer; I am not and do not claim to be a "man-psyche" expert! What I present is a layman's concept of how we might defeat damaging deep-rooted racism and stereotyping through individual endeavour. Neither do I believe that this process need only be possible for our youth - it is never too late. And by no means are the ideas in this essay complete, or even comprehensive, so if readers have ideas to contribute, then feel free to do so.

What Would You Do?

....Marginalizing Asian Men In The Fight Against Racism.

In a previous post wrote about an incident in Korea in which a couple of western ex-pats made a video of themselves harassing and abusing a Korean woman in a nightclub. It has since come to light that the video is most likely staged by actors, but that, in no way, changes the gist or points that I made in the original post, about the way that the incident was reported and how it seemed to deflect  responsibility back onto Koreans themselves. With that in mind, at the end of the Washington Post article was this paragraph.......

It’s not clear that the woman in this video was seeking out Western men — if anything, it looks like she was minding her own business when they set upon her — but it’s difficult to imagine what it must be like for other Korean women who see the video online. First they watch the young woman being harassed by two Western men, pushing her around like a disobedient animal, then they see her scolded on Korean social media and Web discussion boards, told by Korean men that she deserved what she got. The moment when she stands up and brushes off her assailants — with no help from anyone in the bar, it’s difficult to miss — is the closest this story gets to having a hero.

It is the final sentence that piques my interest;

"the woman brushed off her assailants, without help from anyone in the bar."

Thinking about what I would have done - that is, questioning whether I would have "helped" -  if I had witnessed this situation made me realize the depth of the divide between Asian men and women in America. I will be honest and say that I second-guessed myself about a situation which if it had involved any other demographic, I would likely have been far more certain about what I would have thought of as the "right" thing to do.

In light of previous posts that I have written, that deal with the dating choices of Asian women, specifically with regards to the degree to which some seem willing to overlook racialization or trivialize anti-Asian racism, this question of "would I have helped", requires a complicated answer. The two posts linked to above, in addition to other commentaries by Asian women seem to make it clear that some Asian women (with access to publications that can mainstream their bizarre ideas) view white racism and the struggle against it drastically differently than Asian men view it.

It has been plainly stated by some Asian women in mainstream and non-mainstream publications alike, that racism and demeaning racist behaviour are not necessarily grounds to reject romantic advances which, effectively, leaves anyone hoping to make a stand against it on shaky ground. Some Asian women seem to actually welcome anti-Asian racism as an opportunity to further territorialize the fight against it and expound on their views of Asian men as disruptors of the dating choice. For others, as in the case of the Jen An piece, the implication is that Asian women can overlook racism by adopting racist attitudes themselves and finding dating joy.

Here is the dilemma; for any Asian-American to "help" in a situation like the one portrayed in the video (where the Korean girl is being abused), one would have to consider this aspect of the situation. To me, this illustrates how making light of anti-Asian racism, or even racial slurs has damaged the credibility of Asian-American claims of prejudice - if Asians themselves present an ambivalent attitude to racism, and are even willing to forgive (or participate in) racism for the sake of a date or financial reward, then mainstream America cannot in all fairness be faulted for any ambivalence towards anti-Asian racism.

On a deeper level, these types of accounts and the resulting ambivalence, and casual dismissal of anti-Asian racism, that it creates, is simply another aspect of the process of feminization of the Asian-American voice. By creating this ambivalence, the masculine aspect of Asian resistance to racism is confounded and pacified - that is it becomes feminized in the worst possible way; the passive and co-dependent "I can change these men" way. So what would have been the "right" thing to do? I still don't really know because the way that some Asians themselves mainstream their ideas about racism, renders any notions of what is "right" into a far more ambivalent place than it might be reasonable. Seemingly there are some Asian women who accept a racist partner in the same way that they might accept a messy one - as little more than an annoyance.

At the end of the day, I think that we, as Asian men, are required to address this kind of racism - even when (perhaps, especially when) it might be unwelcomed as interfering in someone else's dating opportunities. The reason is that non-one - not even Asians themselves - has the right to tell us that there is "acceptable" racism. Most importantly, we are attacking this racism not on behalf of Asian women but for ourselves. Asian women are free to overlook or participate in anti-Asian racism if they want, but that doesn't mean that we have to accept it when they allow it to become a normalized, mainstream narrative.

"Asian Girlz" Video Is Racist and Sexist.......

....But Asian Men Are Bastards.

I came across an interesting blog post by an Asian feminist blogger, called Esther Choi, at blog called "stabra", which I thought had moments of insight, but which seemed to ultimately and with great irony fall victim to its own white supremacist presumptions. The boldly entitled piece "ending white supremacy does not begin with controlling asian women's decisions", left me with high expectations which were, sadly, dashed moments later in the sub-headings. The article goes on immediately to uphold the tactics of white supremacy by generalizing culpability to an entire group by addressing the piece to "straight Asian men".

A part of me really wanted to believe that this might simply be a rhetorical tool to provoke discussion which would be backed up by an article rich in thought-provoking points. But it was difficult for me to take the article seriously when there was clearly prejudicial thinking implicit in the premise; straight Asian men as a group are culpable of controlling women's choices. It may be true that ending white supremacy does not begin by controlling Asian women's choices, but I'm pretty sure that it also doesn't begin by pointing an accusatory finger at an entire group, strongly implying culpability and guilt. In fact, that is known as bigotry, and in this case it is also racist.

So right off the bat, Choi has used racism as an implicit premise for her points. But even more intellectually problematic, is the fact that Choi never actually specifies or shows why controlling Asian women's decisions is not an important part of the fight against white supremacy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Asian guys should control Asian women's choices, I'm saying that Choi never shows why doing so would hamper the fight against white supremacy. In fact, history is full of examples of self-sacrifice, of people controlling members of their own group in order to attain a commonly accepted goal that serves the greater good of that community.

It may well be that ending white supremacy may, in fact, require submission of Asian women's decisions to Asian men (haha) - just as some black feminists say that they allowed their voice to be put on the back-burner in order to support the greater good of the civil rights movement - I honestly don't know, but I'm not the one claiming to know. Choi doesn't know either, but she does know that "straight Asian men" are to blame, regardless. Choi's confusion becomes even more apparent once we get into the sparse meat of the article. Having pointed the finger at all straight Asian men, it turns out - ironically - that white racism has prompted this latest lashing out against Asian men.

The article begins with a reference to the, now infamous, Day Above Ground song "Asian Girlz". Describing the song and its accompanying video as "violently anti-Asian, sexist and all-around stupid", she goes on to write how the outcry by a feminist group who mobilized protests, led to the.....

"interruption of racist violence was only one example of the powerful vigilance and solidarity of Asian American women against issues of hypersexualization and objectification that damage our lives."

On a side note, I'm not against strong language to condemn racism, but is it accurate to label the song's racism as an act of "violence"? Or is that just crying wolf? The problem is that violence against women is a real issue, that is, real violence is a real problem which, to me, makes this characterization of the song seem like an overly-dramatic exaggeration that trivializes the concept of violence against women. But that isn't all. According to Choi.........

"It was the transnational feminist organization, AF3IRM, who initiated a swift response and mobilized protest on various fronts, which led to the band losing gigs and sponsorship. "

That may be true - or not, I have no way of confirming this - but the bandmembers posted the following statement on their YouTube channel part of which read....

This video is intended to be a satirical, provocative, absurd, & even silly work of art. The lyrics, story, and visuals are so completely over-the-top and ridiculous that we thought it'd be impossible to miss the point........But some very vocal groups, especially the blog, "Angry Asian Men [sic.]," attacked it right out of the gate very aggressively. Their fury was soon amplified by the blog/news cycle. Shortly after, the views and craziness began climbing by the second.........Angry Asian Men, to you we say - all's fair so well done! We salute you. Seriously. No satire intended this time.

Aside from the band's smarmy deference to the aggrieved groups, one thing stands out; the only Asian voice they mention is that of an Asian man - specifically the blog of Angry Asian Man, who, as far as I know, is straight. How awkward. The only Asian voice of dissent against the sexism and racism of the song singled out by the band belonged to a straight Asian man - bastard! Is the very straight AngryAsianMan also trying to control Asian women's choices too? After all, he is straight, male, and Asian.

While Asian men should speak out when it comes to racist and sexist incidents like the Asian Girlz video because their identities are affected as well, the way straight Asian men have most vocally chosen to approach the fetishization of Asian women has been in a manner that further marginalizes and oppresses Asian women..........Straight Asian males often respond to racism affecting Asian women’s bodies and sexualities as proxies for their own issues.

This is an interesting point because it shows the gulf that exists in how some Asian men and women conceive of what drives the other. First of all, there she goes again with that "straight Asian male" accusation, but more importantly, what exactly is meant by "proxy for their own issues" is key here. She seems to be saying - and criticizing - that internalizing racism that is experienced by others of the same group is somehow unnatural or incorrect. The problem is that this seems to be the most natural thing in the world and its called empathy and happens to be a very human and humane quality. It's why white civil rights activists in the 1960's were willing to risk their lives for black rights - perhaps they viewed the absence of rights for blacks as a proxy for their own issues, and felt empathy and compassion? Choi seems to be critical of this

That aside, it is ungenerous in the extreme - but to be expected in an article that accuses all straight Asian men - to suggest that Asian men are reacting to racism against Asian women basically out of self-interest. I believe that Asian men are capable of higher thinking and even have complex emotional inner lives, which means that Asian men may be responding to racism against Asian women for any myriad number of reasons. Some of it may be self-interest, some of it could be empathy and a sense of a common experience, some of it could be an ideological aversion to bigotry, some of it could be a sense of moral outrage, some of it could be opposition to any kind of bullying or injustice. The list of possible motives that drive Asian men's reactions to racism are probably large and far more complicated and nuanced than Choi seems to understand - but unfortunately, in America it is easy and normal to "paraphrase" the drives and motivations of Asian men into a simplistic and often negative caricature (as modeled by the culture of white supremacy), and this is the approach that Choi has taken.

But, perhaps most problematic of all for Choi's contention that "the way straight Asian men have most vocally chosen to approach the fetishization of Asian women has been in a manner that further marginalizes and oppresses Asian women", is that her article never establishes this as a fact. Do most Asian male commentaries on the fetishization of Asian women further "oppress" them? I don't truly know, but I've read enough commentaries to know that there are many straight Asian men who approach that issue without rancour towards Asian women, so much so that I question the accuracy of the claim. If there is a majority of Asian men doing this, then fair enough, but my observation is that those who attack Asian women because of "their choices" aren't actually taken that seriously by the rest of community, male or female.

Choi continues.....

In response to the emasculation of Asian men implied by the fetishization of Asian women, the solution appears to be to reclaim what seems to have been taken from them—power over women, especially Asian women—and this usually involves attacking Asian women for their decisions regarding their sex lives.....But the oppression of Asian men is not created by the decisions of Asian women. It is created by a white supremacist system that is very much designed to make them feel impotent. 

This is a classic bait and switch, and horribly un-nuanced. Choi is segueing Asian-America's favourite subject - interracial dating(!) - into the discussion. Uh-oh.

In response to the Asian Girlz video, popular Korean American comedian David So explicitly states that he is more concerned with Levy Tran’s choice to be in the video than the actions of white dudes, whose racist behavior he can expect. In his efforts to respond to anti-Asian racism, he launches into an extremely misogynistic attack against Levy Tran that further demeans and sexualizes her, and goes so far as to criticize her for participating in sexism while calling her a bitch in the same breath.

This is where the article becomes all muddled. What are we talking about here, Asian women's sex-lives (which some Asian women seem happy to make the subject of public debate, so it lacks credibility to cry foul when people do actually chime in with an opinion), or the response to the Asian Girlz video - which, incidentally, received a single sentence condemnation, compared to the entire article faulting Asisn men? The two are clearly separate issues. Whilst I agree that Asian women's dating choices are irrelevant to Asian male empowerment, I also think that we are obliged to speak out when Asian-American men or women make free choices to participate in any production or activity that is racially demeaning. This is one choice that all Asian-Americans should try to control in others.

The Asian Girlz song and video is completely unambiguous; that is, it is a stretch to claim that the lyrics and imagery are not utilizing racial stereotypes and racial language in a demeaning way. Unless  the girl involved in the video did not see or hear the lyrics, then she knowingly participated in a production that demeaned Asians and Asian women. That doesn't make her a victim of racism - as Choi wants to believe - that makes her a willing participant in its expression. It is unrealistic to suggest that there was coercion or a lack of choice, and that she participated because there was simply no other avenue available.Granted, the David So video does use off-colour language. Choi describes it thus.....

In his efforts to respond to anti-Asian racism, he launches into an extremely misogynistic attack against Levy Tran that further demeans and sexualizes her, and goes so far as to criticize her for participating in sexism while calling her a bitch in the same breath.

While it is true that So sexualizes the girl, there is a context to the video that goes unacknowledged. David So also refers to the white band members as bitches, and the Asian band member as a bitch, and is scathing about his role also. In fact, a little research would show that So uses vulgarity in many of his videos, and uses the term "be-atch" in many of his videos. While it is true that the Asian-American gender dynamic sometimes does devolve into vulgar online insult fests, I think it ungenerous to ignore the context of So's video work. Objectively, So's work seems to have adopted hip-hop culture that uses vulgar delivery in a way that isn't particular to his dialogue on Asian women. What can be said about David So, is that he uses a form of comic expression derived from a cultural art form which some may consider immature and unsophisticated. In short, Choi is making a mountain out of a molehill - at worst perhaps his video is annoying, and terribly unsophisticated but that's it.

Furthermore, Asian actors and artists of both sexes come under fire when they participate in productions that Asian-Americans may deem to be demeaning - it's not just Asian women who come under, sometimes vulgar, verbal assault for doing this. Gedde Watanabe and Ken Jeong spring to mind as male performers who have been sometimes viciously verbally attacked by Asian-Americans for taking roles deemed to be racially derogatory, so I don't believe that there is any special vitriol reserved particularly for female Asian performers. Is it right or fair? Not necessarily, but it is understandable, and surely it is more true to say that these kinds of responses are themselves a result of the frustrations stemming from the marginalization of Asian people, as opposed to attempts to coerce, abuse, or control others for its own sake? Choi continues.....

A related issue of great concern in the Asian blogosphere is that of Asian women dating white men. Both Asian American men and women have approached this issue by bemoaning the high level of “out-marriage” of Asian American women. However, considering Asians make up about 5% of the US population, this simply means that these women happened to find their partner from a pool of 95% of the population rather than 5%. When you put it that way, is it at all reasonable to conclude that Asian American women are doing something wrong?

The bait-and-switch is complete! In Asian-America, all roads lead to the interracial dating disparity and Asian women's dating choices - that is what Choi truly wants to talk about! But, okay, let's go there. I've made my views on the IR disparity clear - I personally couldn't care less about Asian women's dating choices, I think that notions of the degree of Asian male antagonism towards IR are exaggerated, and for those Asian guys who are vocal in opposition to it, I say move passed it. The only problem I have with IR is that it is often held up as evidence that anti-Asian racism doesn't exist, or that IR is responsible for its abatement, and there is a general tendency to exaggerate its social, historical and cultural significance.

Despite this, the fact remains that so many Asian women wanting to date specifically white men - and occasionally spouting racist and sexist stereotypes about Asian men in the process as a justification - is an unusual phenomenon. My guess is that from an anthropological perspective, this is a very unique state of affairs - that the women from one demographic see more in common with men from a completely different demographic than with the men from their own. Saying that there is nothing unusual about this seems unrealistic. It is unusual! Is it wrong? Of course not, but it certainly is unusual.

That is why it is highly dishonest to not recognize this fact, and any discussion on Asian men's responses to the IR disparity is pointless without an acknowledgement that it seems grossly unfair to heap judgement over a situation that is so unusual that it has no historical precedent. For young Asian-American men growing up in a culture where there are no cultural role-models - save demeaning ones - and where the culture seems to have closed ranks against them (with Asian women seemingly on the inside), and where acculturation and socialization are hampered by stereotypes, it seems ungenerous, to say the least, to stigmatize Asian men for not having a better disposition about the phenomena of high out-dating/marriage rates, but even worst to suggest that there is something wrong with Asian men for struggling to deal with it. It is, after all, extremely unusual and without historical precedent.

Should Asian men attack Asian women who do this? NO! Should we be surprised and wonder about it? Of course - that is the only natural response to a phenomenon that is unique historically, anthropologically, sociologically, and culturally. Denying the uniqueness of the phenomenon is simply dishonest. Thinking about the issue in terms of right or wrong is unfair to the individuals who do make these choices - both Asian women and the (few) Asian men who may have a hard time coming to terms with it.

Here's Choi....

Whatever the case, it is never right, especially in a social justice context, to condemn people’s personal decisions simply by categorizing them in a “problematic” trend. Love and relationships are one of the most complicated and uncontrollable things about our lives, and no one would ever want this significant part of their existence to be vilified by a larger social phenomenon.

That's irony. All feelings are complicated, and sometimes (not always) uncontrollable - even those of the dreaded "straight Asian man" - yet, "straight Asian men" have definitely been categorized (in Choi's article, and elsewhere) as "problematic", even though it is feelings that most probably drive the choices of the few who are vulgar in their criticisms of Asian women. But thanks to the gross generalizations made of straight Asian men that American culture normalizes - and which Choi is happily oblivious to having utilized - the human side of the Asian male voice is denied, and replaced with unsympathetic intolerance. More Choi....

Due to this obsessive focus on Asian women’s relationships, we not only have to look out for the countless ways in which we are exploited, but we also have to defend against constant judgment about being the passive victims of Asian fetish or internalized racists whenever we simply interact with a white male, and alter our behavior accordingly.  

Choi likes exaggeration. Where and how does this "obsession" manifest? It certainly isn't amongst straight Asian male bloggers, most Asian male bloggers don't make Asian women's sacred dating choices the central focus of their observations. This obsession certainly doesn't seem to manifest in Asian male works of literature, film, art, or any other creative endeavour, and it doesn't manifest in politics. In fact, most straight Asian men who have something to say, seem to almost ignore Asian women's dating choices. A few ornery internet commenters (who also happen to be anonymous, which leaves open the possibility that some may not actually be Asian at all) don't really constitute an "obsession".

By contrast, it is Asian women themselves who, often via mainstream outlets, seem obsessively focused on their own dating choices. If you look at Asian-American women's cultural output, in fact, much of it seems driven by this one theme; Asian women and the white men who complete them. It is almost as though Asian women don't have much else to talk about, so they keep returning to the one subject that they know people will respond to. The only people "obsessed" with Asian women's dating choices and who always seem to be raising the subject are Asian women themselves - just as Choi does in her article, in fact.

But this brings me to another significant issue with Choi's piece that is missing. The only ugly aspect of Asian women's dating choices, and one which many Asian men respond to with ugliness, is that some Asian women actually justify their choices by racially stereotyping Asian men, often in an extremely ugly way. Even worse, this aspect of the issue is often played out through culture; for instance, it is not uncommon for the dating-choice-obsessed-Asian-female-cultural-output to caricature the Asian male characters in their work in the same manner demonstrated by white supremacy, funnily enough. This is another reason I avoid castigating and judging Asian men who do focus on the IR disparity - it is quite possible that some of them have had really ugly personal experiences with the kind of Asian girl that we all know plays a significant role in generating the ugliness in the issue, but about whom we never talk about; the nasty piece of work who makes it her business to attack Asian men (often with ugly racial stereotypes). So, I try to be little more empathetic, and non-judgemental.

As Choi says....

You won’t liberate yourselves as Asian men or reclaim your power by supporting American constructs of masculinity, or being the exception to the rule. The racist stereotypes that try to emasculate you never had anything to do with your actual behavior or your value as a man, and the stereotypes will hold no matter how often you defy them. Liberation begins by questioning and destroying the system that so violently excludes and dehumanizes you.

That is a strange thing to say in light of my previous few paragraphs. Some Asian women's obsession with dating white men - as evidenced by the vast cultural output of Asian women with this as a significant theme - itself largely excludes Asian men or only includes them as secondary caricatures of real human beings. These dating-choice-obsessed creative works by Asian women themselves support American constructs of masculinity and the culture that nırmalizes it. In fact, the Asian Girlz video upholds American constructs of masculinity - but Choi doesn't actually have much to say about the actual white supremacy of the Asian Girlz video, unfortunately, except to call it some names.

The main problem with Choi's piece is that she could not quite decide if she wanted it to be a screed, an advisory, a rant, or an opening for a meaningful dialogue, and because of this, it fails on all counts. This is a pity because she does make a few insightful points at various times of the piece, but it gets lost in the muddle. What is apparent, however, is that Choi, by failing to fairly consider every point of view in this issue, and her blanket presumption of straight Asian male culpability, has actually written a piece that diverts attention away from white supremacy and the behaviours that help to uphold it that exist even within the community.

Despite Choi's accusations of Asian male obsessiveness, the Asian feminine-driven culture that has developed around the dynamic of Asian women and white men, provides a strong indication that it is actually Asian women themselves who are obsessed with their own dating choices. Furthermore, Choi fails to recognize that this culture produced by some Asian-American women whose work seems preoccupied with white dudes, quite possibly does more to uphold the white supremacy that suppresses all Asians, than a few Asian guys on the internet who may be struggling to understand the significant historically and anthropologically unusual and unprecedented phenomenon of a demographic rejecting wholesale, men from their own community.

Most problematic for Choi's piece is that she utilizes similar strategies to those that uphold white supremacy - her blanket address to straight Asian men, amounts to little more than an accusation which implicitly renders all Asian men culpable for the actions of a very few. For a piece that ostensibly decries white supremacy, Choi has not been shy in applying white supremacist tactics in her article. Furthermore, in a remarkable twist of irony, Choi has used the oppression of white racism to justify her own racist presumptions. In much the same way that some expats have used feminism to justify anti-Asian racism, Choi seems to have used the language of oppression to justify a way of conceiving of Asian men that can only be described as ungenerously one-dimensional, and ultimately prejudiced.

These issues can be best illustrated through Choi's own words; she very kindly provides a list of suggestions (although the word "commandments" did come to mind), for how Asian men can support the struggle for dating empowerment. Here's number one....

Raise women’s voices. The conversation on the issues affecting Asian American women are being led by Asian American women in insightful, challenging ways. Here here and here are some more examples. We are neither helpless nor in need of male supervision. Our struggle against our own oppression as Asian women helps break down white supremacy and weakens its hold on every part of our lives, including our relationships, more than lectures from Asian men ever will. Supporting women’s voices on these issues breaks down the racist, sexist, homophobic stereotypes that oppress us all.

Choi has not provided any reason for me to believe that Asian men do not, or have not, supported Asian women's voices on these issues. In fact, I would say that there is every reason to believe that Asian men do support women's voices, both in cultural endeavours, and in social media. For every outspoken "angry Asian man", there has, in my experience, been many more Asian male voices that do not tolerate that type of approach. Choi simply has a skewed notion of Asian men that doesn't allow her to think of them in any way other than as an annoying mass of anonymous Asian faces out to disrupt her dating choices.

On a final note, it is interesting - and an entire post could be devoted to this - to notice that implied in Choi's piece, is the notion that Asian men have nothing to offer in the dialogue on sexist based anti-Asian racism, and that only Asian women can be in possession of the insights necessary to combat it. This both silly and dangerous. It is silly because all too often in life it is the person who is not directly involved in a given situation who is more able to see the bigger picture in ways not easily apparent to those "in the trenches". It may well be that the counter-foil of Asian men does hold the key to Asian female empowerment, or not, I'm just not prepared to dismiss Asian men's perspectives out of hand on any issue just because they are inconvenient. It is dangerous because by refusing the Asian male voice (and perhaps occasionally a dissenting or leading voice) in the dialogue, Choi is effectively removing the basis of community.