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Showing posts from October, 2012

The Overconfidence Effect

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Q: "I wanted to inquire you on something: do you think the reason Asian males are suppressed (whether in the dating world or the corporate world) is simply because our cultural values does not match those of western values?  Regardless of whether one culture is better than the other." - J. Z. My Answer:   Cultural dissonance  plays a big part in the suppression of the Asian male in the western world.  You as an Asian male may be operating and behaving one way, but it could out of sync or even completely at odds with the way western society expects you to behave as a man.  This is what Wesley Yang articulated (11 PAGES!) in his Paper Tigers  article. The other factor involved in the suppression of the Asian male is, of course, racism and the fear of a Yellow World .  Some people are fearful of Asian men and don't want us to succeed.  The third factor in the suppression of the Asian male is that a lot of Asian men buy into these limiting beliefs about themselves.  T

Where Are You From?

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The Asian American organization Thymos just published  Where Are You From? An Anthology of Asian American Writing .  This anthology includes writings from notable Asian American writers such as Lawson Inada and Darrell Hamamoto.  There are a wide variety of essays, short stories, poems and even artwork on a diverse set of topics.  Here are some of the stories and essays that stood out for me: "Dog Muncher" by Beth Kaufman Do you ever wonder what goes through the mind of an Asian American woman who rejects Asian men?  This funny story reveals the thought process of one such woman, a TV journalist, who  goes on a girls night out with a fellow news editor and a weather girl. On the surface it sounds like the crap-on-Asian-men-Sex-and-the-City-imitation China Dolls, but "Dog Muncher" is a very funny insightful story on the insecurities of a Korean adoptee and how rebelling against societal expectations can limit your choices in romance and prevent you from b

Kurt Suzuki In the Clutch

Your browser does not support iframes. Kurt, the Washington Nationals catcher came through in the clutch the other evening against the defending champions St. Louis Cardinals. With the game tied, the Cardinals walked Danny Espinosa to get to Kurt. And Kurt made them pay. Nice going Kurt! The Washington Post's story about the game described it as thus:   "And in the 10th inning, when St. Louis Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny elected to walk the struggling Danny Espinosa to face Suzuki, he won the Nationals a game. Suzuki’s low liner of a double to left-center scored the winning runs in the Nationals’ 6-4 victory, and was just the latest bit of his handiwork. Since taking over from the worn-down, beleaguered Jesus Flores as the Nationals’ every-day catcher, Suzuki has added to and served to emphasize the depth in Washington’s lineup. He might hit eighth, but in his 40 games with Washington, he now has 25 RBI....   What he has done is complete what is now a surprisingly