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Utada: Plays the Race Card; Breaks My Heart
I have been a fan of Utada Hikaru since her debut album First Love was released what seems like ages ago. I loved that she was bilingual, hailed from New York and was able to succeed immensely as an artist in Japan despite the “foreign-izing” of her name by spelling it in katakana.*
And even [...]
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Are We ‘Third Culture Kids’?
This article from the Daily Beast goes in-depth in to what it means to be a TCK (Third Culture Kid.)
As the name implies, it describes those who grew up with exposure to multiple cultures:
According to a body of sociological literature devoted to children who spend a portion of their developmental years outside their “passport country,” [...]
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Asian Fetishists…Gay?
Shot By Kern–Kana
Above link to video–Warning: Explicit/Nude imagery–Not Work Safe.
Recently, I was on VBS.TV –a independent documentary website that covers topics such as fashion, culture, music and news. I was looking at some of the newest entries from their series Shot By Kern which explores Richard Kern a nude voyeur and fetish photographer and his [...]
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OMG Azn: Playing the Race Card to Defend Racism
Sometimes people surprise me.
I would think that many people of color understand and have felt the effects of racism. That they understand that racial discrimination is so ingrained into our society that it takes tremendous effort for those not targeted by it (priveleged white heterosexual males) to see what the big deal is about racism [...]
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Laotian Student Told She’s No “Rosa Parks”
In a gross example of power abusal, a Laotian American high school senior is being prompted to take an English assessment exam simply because her first language is Lao – regardless of the fact that she was born in the States and can speak and write perfect English. Understandably, Lori Phanachone is refusing to [...]
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Dealing with Two Halves of a Whole
A post by John Jihoon Chang concerning Korean-American identity at Racialicious rings true in so many ways for us mixed-Asians. Issues of what it means to be ethnically Korean yet culturally American are explored, along with the all-too-familiar “I’m more Asian than you are” sentiment found between siblings.
…I was an all-American type, as it [...]
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OMG Zen: Stress Relieving Dolphin
Another byproduct of Japan’s influence over corporate America before the bubble burst, this little guy shows that you can attach the word “zen” to just about anything. Anything! And it will seem posh, futuristic, other-worldly, philosophical, reflective, calming and so on. You can tell by the stylish sans serif font that it is [...]
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Orientalism Alive and Strong in American Tattoo Culture
Where do I begin? OK, how about the event that prompted me to write this post:
Last Friday I went with a few friends to a tattoo parlor so that they could price out some ink. This particular parlor we went to had an “edgy” look, filled with bright colors, framed pictures of skulls [...]
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Journalist Roxana Saberi Jailed for Buying Wine
This may not be news to some, but for those who don’t know: North Dakota native Roxana Saberi has been jailed in Iran on non-specific charges – reportedly she was caught buying wine illegally, but she has also been in the country two years after her press permit expired. Still, the charges have not [...]
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Asian, Pacific Islander, or Other?
One of the clients that I work with as a freelance web and graphic designer is a political consulting firm. The websites that I make aren’t spectacular and are actually very plain (which sucks when it comes to portfolio fodder, but ANYWAY). They contain political surveys that ask questions about a user’s concerns [...]
