Alpha Asian

Because lolz.

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...

Most of you have heard by now the racist and xenophobic political ad by Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra. Once again, villification of Asian people seems to be a conservative demagogue's tactic---let's start up the yellow peril hysteria once again. But Lawrence O'donnell, the political commentator on MSNBC expressed a lot of what I was thinking when he questioned the actress's participation in this racist ad. My first thought was, "Why would you even accept a part in this commercial which perpetuates a stereotype?" But O'donnell explains a lot more and articulates my sentiments. Is it worth it? Did the actress know what she was getting into and how this was going to come off? I'm not slamming her, but I just wonder how she now feels after doing something that perpetuates the stereotype of Asians being sneaky, under handed, and some sort of "yellow peril". What's your take on all of this? Watch O'donnell's comments and let us kno...

Richard Park, number 12, celebrating score with team mate Chris Kunitz So I'm watching the hockey game last night between my Washington Capitals and their rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. My man Richard Park came back from playing in Europe and signed on with the Penguins. He's not a standout player, but a 3rd or 4th line kind of guy. If you're not familiar with hockey, each team has 4 lines and they rotate them in and out of the game on shifts. Usually your top two lines have your main stars and scorers. Anyway, at last night's game, the play by play announcer, Doc Emerick makes a comment about Richard Park as being "from Seoul, Korea". Huh? You know, that kind of stuff just promotes North American Asians as somehow being this "other" group, still foreign and "not one of us". For those in the hockey world who know, yes, Park was born in Seoul, but as a kid his family emigrated to North America. He grew up in Canada and the US. Maybe i...

There was an article in last week's Washington Post about the upcoming Harold and Kumar Christmas movie. The reporter decided to focus on the media stereotypes of Asians in the movies and how the H&K movies go against the grain and reflect the humanity of the characters, and gets past the fact they are Asian Americans. An excerpt: “The feature market has gotten tougher in general, there are less features being made, and the kind that get made are big pictures, superhero movies,” says Cho, who was also a series regular in last year’s “Flash Forward.” “They need to be more conservative, take fewer chances. I think TV is willing to take more chances. Perhaps it has to do with the fragmenting of the market; there are so many more channels than there used to be, and to distinguish themselves they have to make more interesting choices...." The bottom line? Cho believes that the success of the H&K films shows the studios that “it’s not the public that doesn’t want to see Asi...

Dr. Frances Shen, assistant professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Springfield researches the impact of stereotypes on Asian Americans.

Interesting. So the NFL cancels the Vikings-Eagles game due to the snowstorm that hit the east coast. And Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) went on to express his tough guy stance about how Americans have become "wusses" and then throws in a comparison with the Chinese. Ohhh-kay. "I think it's a joke," Rendell told the local Fox affiliate. "We cancel the game and there's less than 3 inches of snow … I think the fans can make their own decisions about their own safety." "This is football! Good lord, Vince Lombardi would be spinning in his grave that we canceled the football game for the snow." Fox 29’s weatherman John Bolaris offered a correction to Rendell's snow totals but the governor wasn't having it. "There's really already seven inches of snow on the ground," Bolaris said. Speaking to 97.5 FM Monday afternoon, Rendell noted that the Chinese wouldn't have canceled the game: " If this was in...