Comic strip explores being a “Single Asian Female” at Racialicious

Comic strip explores being a “Single Asian Female”

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

I just read about this new comic strip called Single Asian Female on Angry Asian Man.

It’s actually written by a man named Ethan Lee, but the protagonist is a 21 year-old fourth-generation Chinese American who goes to UC Berkeley. Check out this AsianWeek article about Lee and check out the comic strip’s web site.

I’m kind of disappointed that it’s not actually written by a woman. I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with writing a comic from a perspective that’s not your own, but as we know there are a lot of really dicey gender issues in the Asian-American community, and I guess I just hope that this comic will try to be as realistic and balanced as possible.

Update: Check out Jenn’s take on it at Reappropriate. I’m willing to give this comic benefit of the doubt since it’s just starting out, but I agree with this statement from Jenn: “With Asian American feminism in its nascency, we must be careful about the voices that are perceived to define our identity and voice our narrative.”
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS!

…
single asian female comic ethan lee

Trackbacks & Pings

reappropriate » Blog Archive » “Single Asian Female” Comic Strip on 16 Nov 2006 at 1:27 pm

[…] (Hat-tip: Racialicious) […]
2006 November 17 Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 17 Nov 2006 at 12:49 pm

[…] Jenn: … Rob, I agree that there are other perspectives that shou… […]

Comments

Lyonside wrote:

Don’t know about the strip, but some male writers DO get women - I’m thinking Terry Moore’s Strangers In Paradise. So long as they’re realistic (whatever that means in a comic), maybe it’s OK…

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 4:31 pm ¶
jazmin wrote:

this reminds me of the terribly bad show tyra banks did on interracial dating. a young asian female guest voiced how she never dated an asian men because they were too nerdy (non sense) and how she didnt find them attractive so tyra set her up on her first date with an asian guy. chick really had some issues

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 5:23 pm ¶
hapa peminist wrote:

This reminds me of a quote I’ve heard:

“You’re not fighting the power if you’re dissin’ the sistas.”

And I’ve noticed a lot of bitter Asian males internalize their anger and direct it toward Asian women instead of fighting the forces of oppression and heterosexist patriarchal male privilege.

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 9:29 pm ¶
Jenn wrote:

I find this strip offensive — it’s not only written by someone who is not an Asian American female, but more disappointingly, it perpetuates horribly ugly stereotypes of Asian American women. According to some Asian American men, our worst issues are dating issues, and this strip voices the kind of outlooks that are used by Asian American men to call us “sellouts” or worse.

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 10:13 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Jenn - I’ve read through most of the comics available on the site, and I think the above strip was supposed to be ironic (as in, the AAF has as much stereotype baggage as the men she’s describing).

But I find the overall tone of the comics a bit… I dunno, unrealistic. The ironic tone doesn’t carry through other strips, and the lead character could be considered as close-minded as her friend, but in the opposite direction. You really can have a character say something outrageous, but only if the reader and writer are both in on the same joke, or at least aware of the same things.

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 10:23 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Ok, and of course the one character who married a white guy has a family who won’t acknowledge the daughter and is a divorcee whose white husband cheated on her! Said divorcee is of course now happily dating a Chinese guy… *gag*

The author really isn’t trying to be subtle here…

Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 10:27 pm ¶
Madletters wrote:

From the AsianWeek article: “He originally wanted to base his comic on an Asian male, but found it difficult and limiting.”

I call bullshit on the “limiting” part. How self-loathing (or non-critical) of an Asian male do you have to be to reach that conclusion?

Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 3:11 am ¶
Jay wrote:

I’m sorry, this comic sucks. It’s like forum drama in pictorial form.

There are lots of good Asian-American comic artists. This is not one of them.

Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 3:13 am ¶
Minter wrote:

Race shouldn’t playing any factor when in a relationship, especially if it’s the first thing that comes to mind.

I’ve been rejected several (alright, four) times by british chinese women who actually believe in these stereotypes.Each time it hurt - not only was it an insult to who I was, but also because there was never the chance to prove them wrong. Amazingly, one was still a friend, and actually had the nerve to ring me up sobbing and moaning about her lost love when her boyriend (yes, white) dumped her after he had his way with her a few times.

To be fair though, the world is dominated by media with western roots, and as a result asian men have never been portrayed in a strong, positive light, only to promote certain stereotypes when they see fit.

Caucasian men have always been the hero, main character, the one with emotions and values in a film, tv programme etc - people see this and whether they realise it or not, the image is burned into their subconcious mind.

Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 8:07 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:

So is now a good time to pimp out Jump Start as a comic that brings up racial issues w/out bashing you over the head?

Given, it follows a black family and their friends/relatives, and it’s not always about race. But check out the strip starting 11-01 through 11-11 of this year…
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/jumpstart/archive/jumpstart-20061101.html

Full disclosure: the author is a Philly native…

Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 12:46 pm ¶
julie wrote:

hmm, i thought i posted up last night?
anyway, i think these are the best lines: “I’m 38, average-looking, overeducated with a hapa kid. how many asian men would want me?”
such inanity.

Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 7:53 pm ¶
Kenny wrote:

Note from Admin: This comment has been deleted. See here for explanation:

http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2006/06/18/please-dont-post-under-different-identities/

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 4:39 pm ¶
Josh wrote:

Note from Admin: This comment has been deleted. See here for explanation:

http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2006/06/18/please-dont-post-under-different-identities/

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 4:45 pm ¶
Jessica wrote:

I think the comic is pretty decent. He’s just starting out so give him some time.

Also, in the article on AsianWeek he says he runs all his ideas by his female friends to see if it represents the reality they face.

> …it perpetuates horribly ugly
> stereotypes of Asian American women.

I don’t see how it does. The characters are all strong, normally adjusted Asian American women.

> Ok, and of course the one character
> who married a white guy has a family
> who won’t acknowledge the daughter
> and is a divorcee whose white husband
> cheated on her! Said divorcee is of
> course now happily dating a Chinese
> guy… *gag*

And… it’s bad because she’s dating a Chinese guy?

>I call bullshit on the “limiting” part.
> How self-loathing (or non-critical)
> of an Asian male do you have
> to be to reach that conclusion?

He probably meant “limiting” as in there are less publishers willing to publish a comic featuring an Asian male compared to an Asian female.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 6:12 pm ¶
Rob wrote:

> Ok, and of course the one character
> who married a white guy has a family
> who won’t acknowledge the daughter
> and is a divorcee whose white husband
> cheated on her! Said divorcee is of
> course now happily dating a Chinese
> guy… *gag*

>And… it’s bad because she’s dating a >Chinese guy?

He must be angry that the white male was portrayed as “bad.”

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 6:16 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Rob: I’m a she.

Jessica:
>And… it’s bad because she’s dating a Chinese guy?

No, but if your “heroine” is vehemently looking only to date within her “race,” and the first older adult woman you see in the strip (other than her mom) is the sterotypical “minority woman treated badly by white man” thing, then I object. The author seems to have an agenda presenting one side: “Asians should only date Asians.” That’s just not something I want to read.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 6:51 pm ¶
Rob wrote:

How do you know he’s trying to portray the ideal Asian couple of being between Asian women and men?

He’s only drawn a few strips. Maybe in the future, we’ll all give the white man a fair portrayal (since we never see those in mainstream media) in future strips?

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 7:28 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Know what, Rob? Why do you assume I’m supporting white men all of a sudden?

Maybe I think IR relationships can be more than white/other. Maybe I don’t like “stick to your own” dating with no clear rationale any more than I like “ooh, let me date someone other cause they’re so exotic!” as a dating stratagem.

Maybe I don’t think white/other as the only IR for good or evil, and I’m not so happy about where this strip is RIGHT NOW. Especially when it SEEMS to be promoting a potentially self-serving (on the part of the author) “stick to your own” agenda. I say seems because you’re right, the guy is just starting. But if I don’t know exactly where he’s going w/ the strip in the future, then neither do you - and I have the right to say that I’m not a fan of the CURRENT message. I’m glad you are.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 7:35 pm ¶
Rob wrote:

I never assumed anything about what you support nor do I care.

I’m not a fan of this comic either but I felt the need to point out that it may change my opinon as it might change yours. Why do I think that you support white men all of a sudden? The reason is because of your vicious rejection of the:

>

Perhaps I misunderstood but aren’t you fighting against the stereotype that white men mistreat minority women? I’m not even sure it IS a stereotype for minority women to be mistreated by white men. If anything, it’s a stereotype for minority women to flee into the arms of white men because their own men mistreated them.

If anything, I see the comic making Asian men look better at the expense of white men which I find refreshing because it runs counter to everything we see in daily media.

How the hell was I supposed to know you didn’t like the strip in it’s current state? You never even mentioned that until now.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 8:25 pm ¶
Rob wrote:

hapa peminist,

That quote also works in reverse.

“You’re not fighting the power if you’re dissin’ the brothas.”

I’ve faced more racism and stereotyping from holier-than-thou Asian women men than White men. Instead of dismissing Asian male concerns and playing them off as bitter as soon as they voice them, Asian men wouldn’t be directing some of that “anger” towards Asian women.

The door swings both ways.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 8:29 pm ¶
J wrote:

I do see and understand a lot of points made here and agree with quite a few - but for me personally I really do appreciate the cartoonist’s depiction of a confused, self-loathing Asian female. Those ‘creatures’ are infamous inside the Asian-Americna community and are a source of consternation and shame for everyone around. They make the community look disjointed, weak, and simply… bad.

I suppose the self-hating character in that strip would seem doubly true/realistic to those Asian women (this strip is largely intended for an Asian female audience, isn’t it?) who prefer to stick to Asian men, but I can see how it might offend those Asian women in relationships with white men. But here’s the rub - how do you know which Asian women (with white men as partners) are normal well-adjusted people with no race-fetish/self-hate agenda, and which ones are the corrosive self-haters? I suppose that does manifest itself through the behavior of the individual (for example a self-loathing Asian woman will take EVERY OPPURTUNITY to slag on anything Asian, but *especially Asian men*), but some people are good at hiding their true feelings.

Posted 15 Nov 2006 at 10:19 pm ¶
C wrote:

I think we’ve missed the point here. This comic strip was developed to make commentary on Asian American issues within the community,

YES, pretty bold, but let’s not sugar coat anything.

YES by a male, but I assure you, by a male who has his Asian American Studies females to back him up.

This character Jennie is opening her eyes to the world of dating in a campus FULL of Asian men, yet why is she not getting a date with any of them?

She’s studying Asian American studies and every question that arises for her, really does arise for people in this world.

What are we going to do with our degrees?
Do we really want to date a dorky guy? (yes, some do)
Why won’t mom & dad agree with my future?
Why do I have to prove myself to ANYONE?
Why can’t I date a _(fill in ethnicity here)____ guy/girl?
What is your business asking me questions when I DONT KNOW YOU!?
I think it would be really hard for anyone to say that these questions don’t arise.

Anyhow, sterotype, stereotpye..let’s look around.. is anyone trying to break these stereotypes? I’ve met happy AF and WM couples, but that doesn’t make it a stereotype.. it makes it reality.

Maybe Jennie should end up dating a Mexican or Black guy and then her parents get all angry and who knows?

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 12:57 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Rob: you assumed I was defending the “white man,” Read ALL my posts on the thread - I’m objecting to the idea that Asians should only date Asians as just as potentially racist as the idea that they should only date whites.

And yeah, I said that I read all the available strips. That would imply that I was talking about the comic in its current state (um, right?)

As C indicated, are there only white people and asian people in the world? There are no other kind of IR couples? The white/other couple is still the main way anyone discusses IRs in the US, and it gets old real fast.

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 1:19 am ¶
mr guy wrote:

I think the comic is ok so far.Shows a different side like others have said above.Hopefully it will show the other side as well to be balanced.I guess since it’s a complicated issue (asian men/women politics) people jump to conclusion on both sides.And I thought male/female politics for us black people were complicated

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 3:36 am ¶
Rob wrote:

Lyonside:

I’m sure you could have interrupted that but I think it’s stereotypical for you to assume that just because an Asian male wrote the strip, it has some ulterior motive behind it by bashing AF/WM couples and intended to promote the idea that Asians should only date each other. I’m pretty sure you factored in the stereotype of Asian men being bitter about the interracial dating disparity as one of the main reasons why you’re suspicious and set off your “racism” radar. If the comic was written by a white male, I doubt it would be scrutinized as much.

As a matter of fact, I think the comic is actually bashing Asian men because there are *many* Asian men that do indeed fit her description of how Asian men don’t want “unpure” Asian women (older, has a kid that’s not his especially if he’s half white) and how the stereotype was broken because she found an Asian man that didn’t fit this stereotype. Did anyone here know that it’s problem that Asian men dislike raising children that aren’t theirs? No? Maybe it’s because this website, under a guise of being racially tolerant of everyone, barely explores the Asian male’s point of view. It’s sad, really. The podcast of the “gender wars” between black females/males and Asian males/females barely asked questions from the Asian male point of view. It made it sound like it’s all our fault and I find it extremely disconcerting.

Rather than say “stop being bitter,” perhaps it’s more prudent to ask how it started, why it continues, and how Asian females can help Asian men along. Asian women aren’t the only ones that have problems in society.

Also, you said you would read all “available” strips which indicates that you read strips that were already created. I said for you to wait and read future strips that haven’t come out yet.

Another thing that gets old is the constant reminder that we must include blacks in every single discussion. Should they be left out intentionally? No, of course not but we don’t need blacks involved with everything we do in order to tell a story. It’s almost like tokenism and it falls into the exact same trap as mainstrem media. The truth is that there are more whites involved with Asians when it comes to interracial dating so it makes sense for him to draw about that first. Just because Asian women refuse to confront the situation objectively (as opposed to just saying “get over it”) doesn’t mean the topic is old. It’s not old for everyone.

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 7:12 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

>I’m sure you could have interrupted
Interrupted what?

>I think it’s stereotypical for you to assume that just because an Asian male wrote the strip, it has some ulterior motive

Wrong - I’m not assuming anything based on the author, but rather the content of what the characters (all of them) are saying. Much as I read Boondocks or Doonesbury.

>I’m pretty sure you factored in the stereotype of Asian men

No, you’re either reading into my comments or conflating me with another poster.

>If the comic was written by a white male, I
doubt it would be scrutinized as much.
Actually, a white male author would get MORE scrutiny doing a race-based comic - as in, could he really portray Asian characters that resonate without coming across as priveleged and patronizing. Stop assuming.

>Did anyone here know that it’s problem that Asian men dislike raising children that aren’t theirs?

I don’t know about specifically Asian men. Welcome to patriarchy, especially if someone is operating under a traditional framework where the men pass on inheritance rights, property, a last name (NOT calling out any one culture here, as it’s global)!!

Many men have had (in some cultures, more recently than others) issues raising a child that isn’t there. Some women too, but many women are acculturated to being substitute mother figures at some point in their lives, so it may not be as traumatic.

And, um, you know that “Asian” isn’t one big ol’ monolithic group, right?

>barely explores the Asian male’s point of view.

Really? Guess all those trackbacks to AngryAsianMan are just for show?

>The podcast of the “gender wars” between black females/males and Asian males/females barely asked questions from the Asian male point of view.

Didn’t hear it, but maybe consider that if it was a call-in or email, ATR has to deal with what they GET as far as audience imput.

>Rather than say “stop being bitter,”

OK, right here, I know you’re not talking to me. Whatever…

>Another thing that gets old is the constant reminder that we must include blacks in every single discussion.

Did I? Other than mentioning another comic w/ racial issues, I mean? All I’m saying is that THIS COMIC looks at Asian-White vs. Asian-Asian. It’s limiting. That doesnt’ mean I’m advocating Asian-Black. Whatever, man.

>we don’t need blacks involved with everything we do in order to tell a story.

Oh, sorry, so everyone of African heritage should just mind their own beeswaz and only post on threads with “THEIR” issues on it? Racial issues affect everyone, regardless of ethnicity.

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 9:26 pm ¶
A wrote:

I was in the same class w/ the author and am not suprised by this comic strip. it’s amazing to me how relationships are placed in such binary categories.

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 11:00 pm ¶
Rob wrote:

If you’re going to argue with “tit-for tat” posts, I would appreciate if you took the time to include the whole sentence rather than just chopping up the pieces that you find easy to argue against. You pretty much just chopped them up to make it sound like something I didn’t say.

And regarding whether or not a white male would get extra scrutiny had he created the comic, you said he would actually get more criticism because he wouldn’t be able to identify with Asian women. That’s not what I said and it’s not about whether or not he knows about Asian female issues. What I said was if a white male had created the comic and made the Asian female/White male union look bad, it wouldn’t have been as closely scrutinized as opposed to an Asian male since Asian men are stereotypically bitter about this particular union.

No, I’m not reading into your comments. It’s open to interpretation and rightly so. The whole “bitter Asian male” has been so ingrained into the mindset of Asian women that the race of the individual “criticizing” AF/WM unions automatically becomes suspect and is usually a target for scrutiny.

No, I didn’t know that Asians weren’t some big monolithic group. Thanks for clearing that up. Another thing I wanted to clear up, just because I didn’t mention a particular detail doesn’t mean I don’t know something. Thanks for the courtesy. Sure, many men, regardless of race, have this problem but it seems extremely common with Asian men, both Eastern and Southeastern which is why I brought it up. You might know that it’s common in general but did anyone know that it’s particularly common with Asians? I feel that this specific type of patriarchy needs to be addressed specifically in the Asian male community. It tends to happen less in the white and black communities.

Wow, this site actually has links to Angry Asian Man! Congratulations! That’s exactly like debating issues regarding Asian American men and women! As long as one links to a website where an Asian man is a Webmaster, we’ve proved that we support intellectual discourse with Asian men and their own specific difficulties. Hazzah! Since it has both the word “Asian” and “man” in the title, it’s the same as critical debate!

Give me a break.

AngryAsianMan.com is a great website and I’m a huge fan but he fights for the complete Asian American community. Phil is extremely commendable but I find it insulting that you would insinuate that just because you link to a site gives you capital to say you actually discuss issues on this site.

You know, had you actually read my post rather than glancing at key phrases you didn’t like, I wouldn’t have to repeat it. I never said that blacks should be left out of anything or they how can’t comment on things that don’t affect their community. Everyone has a right to voice his or her opinion. What I did say was that since this particular comic was about Asians and Whites, discuss the topic at hand rather than saying it “gets old real fast,” why can’t we talk about including other IR couples, or how the only way to discuss IR relationships is to include other/white. It ritualistically turns into another attempt to cut off “bitterness” from Asian men.

Posted 16 Nov 2006 at 11:14 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Rob - I read your entire post. You addressed me directly despite adding comments I didn’t say. I replied. End story.

The reason I cut lines was that it seemed repetitious to quote you word for freaking word. It’s also sometimes considered rude online, so as a courtesy to other readers, I assumed they’d be bright enough to know exactly what I was referring to, since I named you directly and showed what lines were yours v. mine. I’m so sorry I offended you by not quoting your entire (long) post verbatim.

And we’re officially talking around each other and it’s getting ad hominum. You dissed this site, among other things, I defended it, you freaked that it wasn’t enough. I’m not going to play the game of “I didn’t say that!” again. So go ahead, get the last word in, I won’t be responsible for hijacking the thread any longer.

BTW: I said that a white author would face criticism, ASKING the question of WHETHER he could identify. I didn’t say that he COULDN’T. Who’s misinterpreting who? Pot meet kettle.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:12 am ¶
kim wrote:

“OK, right here, I know you’re not talking to me. Whatever…”

Alright, now!

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:29 am ¶
kim wrote:

I would definitely be open to more dialogue on this site about the Asian male view as it relates to…well, everything!

I like your statement, Rob, about not assuming that links to a site where the Webmaster is Asian does not give one the capital to assume issues relevant to that ethnic and gender group are being discussed. So, bring it on.

By the by, Blacks are at the center of every argument involving Whites and “The Other.” While the nature of the history of the interaction between ‘W’ and ‘Other’ will always be able to be framed in a language specific to the particular dynamic that has evolved between ‘W’ and ‘Other,’ that dynamic will have evolved from the socioeconomic and political legs gained in relationship to the proximal similitude to Blackness (psychological and all else). Read: the fluidity of Whiteness, and the ways in which certain groups are able to slowly flow into the larger pool is only done in relationship to the conferred distance and separation from Blackness.

That being said, you never have to mention my folks. We are always on your mind.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:42 am ¶
Rob wrote:

Pot meet kettle? Thanks for pointing out my “mistakes” by confirming your own. That quote is always hilarious.

As a common courtesy, I’ve read your comments over twice before I posted and there was no visible interpretation on my part as far as I can see. As I’ve stated before with your comments regarding the artist’s future stripes:

I said: >

You said: >

Let me get this straight; I said for you to wait and see what happens in future stripes but then you counter with you’re not a fan of the current stripes?

I wasn’t talking about current stripes. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t even like the current stripes which is why I said to wait. You then proceed to ramble on about how you like the current stripes.

>

Classy. You don’t want to “repeat” your arguments because I somehow misinterpreted them but choose to point out this specific one? I’ll bite.

Once again, my point wasn’t about *whether* he could or *couldn’t* identify with Asian women. My point was which would receive more or less scrutiny, an Asian man or white man. My question has *nothing* to do with whether men (of either race) understand Asian women.

If you choose not to respond because of some altruistic reason of “not wanting to hijack the thread,” that’s fine with me but I don’t see you refuting anything I’ve just mentioned.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:59 am ¶
Rob wrote:

Please disregard post #32 and refer to this one. The formatting of the post chopped off half of it.

Pot meet kettle? Thanks for pointing out my “mistakes” by confirming your own. That quote is always hilarious.

As a common courtesy, I’ve read your comments over twice before I posted and there was no visible interpretation on my part as far as I can see. As I’ve stated before with your comments regarding the artist’s future stripes:

I said: He’s only drawn a few strips. Maybe in the future, we’ll all give the white man a fair portrayal (since we never see those in mainstream media) in future strips?

You said: But if I don’t know exactly where he’s going w/ the strip in the future, then neither do you - and I have the right to say that I’m not a fan of the CURRENT message. I’m glad you are.

Let me get this straight; I said for you to wait and see what happens in future stripes but then you counter with that you’re not a fan of the current stripes?

I wasn’t talking about current stripes. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t even like the current stripes which is why I said to wait. You then proceed to ramble on about how you like the current stripes.

>

Classy. You don’t want to “repeat” your arguments because I somehow misinterpreted them but choose to point out this specific one? I’ll bite.

Once again, my point wasn’t about *whether* he could or *couldn’t* identify with Asian women. My point was which would receive more or less scrutiny, an Asian man or white man. My question has *nothing* to do with whether men (of either race) understand Asian women.

If you choose not to respond because of some altruistic reason of “not wanting to hijack the thread,” that’s fine with me but I don’t see you refuting anything I’ve just mentioned.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 1:01 am ¶
Rob wrote:

Kim: This is not the correct thread for the type of discussion I’m proposing. I’m just simply pointing out the hypocrisy that a site which seems to promote a “racially open” environment ignores a demographic that has been, surprised, ignored by traditional society.

Links to AngryAsianMan? Laughable. I did a search on “Asian men” in the search engine and it came up with 2-3 results. Black men? Pages and pages.

I’m not trying to take anyone’s spotlight but I find that this site would be no different than the society they’re trying to fight when it comes to equal opportunity debate. When I point it out, I get called out as “dissing” the site. Please.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 1:12 am ¶
kim wrote:

Rob,

Babe. That was understood. Smile with me, dude.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 1:23 am ¶
Jenn wrote:

… Rob, I agree that there are other perspectives that should be addressed on this site, however, on the other hand, the question arises as to how the webmasters could address those questions in a light that would satisfy you and the rest of the Asian male community?

I would argue that the perspectives would arise when people of that perspective comment. Bottom line, this site is run by two people, not a monolithic Googling-on-race-bot, and will obviously have the outlooks and specific issue-biases of the webmasters. There is nothing wrong with that; I think it is to be expected.

If you want to see more Asian male issues on this site, why not email suggestions to the webmasters? Comment on threads that *aren’t* about Asian men and post your thoughts from the perspective of an Asian man? I think it would be difficult to expect Jenn and Carmen to do that for you and for you to come here finding something you can just nod your head to. That would kind of defeat the whole point of this blog — which is to raise discussion, not give us the answers.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:36 pm ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:

Rob, we’re always looking for guest contributors so if you’d like to be one, see here for more info:
http://www.racialicious.com/to-contribute-to-this-blog/

And if there are any stories you think we should be covering, email us anytime. A lot of the material we cover on the site comes directly from readers’ tips!

Also, here are a few past episodes of Addicted to Race that might be of interest:

Interview with Mike Kang, Sung Kang and Chyau from ‘The Motel’:
http://www.addictedtorace.com/?p=48

Interview with Angry Asian Man:
http://www.addictedtorace.com/?p=15

Rant about stereotypes of Asian men and women perpetuated by the media, and interview with Sheridan Prasso, author of ‘The Asian Mystique’:
http://www.addictedtorace.com/?p=26

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 12:55 pm ¶
hapa peminist wrote:

Rob:

Did you miss the entire memo on the whole “male privilege” (i.e. heterosexual male) paradigm or something??

If anything, women have always been robbed of power by MEN. ALWAYS!!!! And when you throw race and class into the mix, it makes things more complex.

It is NOT a swinging door, sorry. I laugh at such pedantic, ill-timed, ignorant statements.

Posted 17 Nov 2006 at 10:48 pm ¶
Minter wrote:

Exactly, hapa! I was a bit confused when Rob keeps bringing up this patriachy issue - youll be hard pressed to find any race, religion or culture where, despite equal opportunity laws and a change of times, that women are treated as TRUE equals.

Actually, I was a bit confused about this comments page. What are we arguing about again? Because it seems like a massive fuss about trivial matters.

Posted 18 Nov 2006 at 8:15 am ¶
smart guy wrote:

Actually, in Asia, women get to keep their last names after marriage. And women have a higher percentage of females in congress in Korea, China, Phillipines, etc… Feminism in Asia has left western feminism far behind in modern day terms. For instance, Girls Gone Wild would never ever ever be able to make it in Asia because the women there would object to being portrayed as sexual objects in such an off color and humiliating manner.

And Genghis Khan did free European women from Sexual slavery in Europe. He was the first person to abolish sexual slavery in Europe it is a little known fact that changed the history of women and the course of modern feminism forever.

Posted 18 Nov 2006 at 3:37 pm ¶
Amy Lee wrote:

These comics are perhaps the most racist thing I have ever seen. Basically, it’s propaganda. If you marry a white guy, your parents will disown you and you’ll have a miserable life. All white men are only interested in you because they are sexual perverts. Oh, and don’t forget to protect yourself against the white rapist. Perhaps the people on this website should push for anti-miscegenation laws like they had in nazi germany. Than when white people start to discriminate against us, they will wonder why. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want to be a racist, anti-integration type….go move to China.

Posted 26 Nov 2006 at 7:56 pm ¶
Amy Lee wrote:

Oh, and #40 smart guy, you have obviously never seen any japanese game shows, where women run around naked competing for cash and prizes.

Posted 26 Nov 2006 at 7:59 pm ¶
karsh wrote:

Reminds me of the anonymous comments in UCSD’s Koala newspaper, half going along the lines of: ‘hey you white frat boy with that bombass asian girl, always walking around library walk; ^%@# YOU MAN!’ or ‘&^@# asians, you smelly mother(*&$#rs won’t stop talking in your stupid, dirty language while I’m trying to study at Gilman’

Conceptually, it seems natural for these kinds of ‘growing pains’ given the high level of contact between whites and asians, especially in the UC system (and arguably on the whole given the socioeconomic similarity between asians/whites in many areas). Not that I know much about it, but something makes me suspect it will take some time for everyone to ‘get use to’ each other.

Posted 05 Dec 2006 at 10:11 pm ¶
Bill wrote:

I think Ethan is very courageous do this comic and I think it is about time the asian community starts tackling the hard issues head on because there won’t be an asian community if things continue like this.

There are some miffed AFs , but what is unrealistic about that comic shown? Does anyone deny there are some AFs the openly hate on AMs seemingly disregarding that they propagate negative asian sterotypes and basically hurt innocent people of their own ethnicity.

On Facebook, there is a group called Concerned Citizens Against Asian Girls Dating Fat Ugly White People. It has over a 1000 members. There are even white men and black men who are speaking out against this disturbing trend of AF self-hate. Unfortunately only asians are burdened with this problem to this scale.

To me any AF that discriminates againsts AMs is a basket case of freudian projection. FP is a defense mechanism in which the individual attributes to other people impulses and traits that she herself has but cannot accept. What are AMs but genepool+ culture. The only thing “wrong” with Asian guys are they remind you that you too are asian , get over it.

Posted 29 Jan 2007 at 12:17 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:

The sad part is, the author wants to use these horribly racist strips in his own classroom someday. These comics do nothing but portray white people as racist geeks, an asian male dating a white chick a “sell-out”. The much put upon single mother only finds happiness with a chinese guy. Just loaded with barely contained racsim.

could you imagine this comic with all the chinese characters being white? How would you respond to it then?

Lanny’s illustrations are great, but the subject matter is atrocious.

Posted 15 Jun 2007 at 12:05 am ¶
Hadad Usoa wrote:

But now you dont get even the simplest of thing. Hadad Usoa.

Posted 04 Jul 2007 at 11:46 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:

well if asian men had the same access to white women as asian women to white men then there would be no complaints. I see this interracial dating the same as the salary disparities between men and women. Men don’t care because they make more money while women complain because the don’t make as much as the men. Same issue here with the dispartity between asian men and women when it comes to dating white people

Posted 22 Dec 2007 at 12:19 am ¶