This is my first official “vlog” so YAYYY! Hurray me! Hopefully my lazy ass will be able to do these as often as I can since I seem to have brain farts every time I try to write something out. This VLOG is still in a baby phase, so bare with me because I still need to iron out the kinks and figure out my groove. Got it? GOOD!
Enjoy!!! 
“Omg! Isn’t that that Asian blogger guy?!”
If you could please excuse me, I would like to take a moment to speak with my fellow Asian male brothers. We have a few business proposals to discuss. Oh, don’t worry, this won’t take long. Please, enjoy the buffet of healthy salads that we set out for you in the lobby! See you all very soon!
Me: Alright, are they gone?
Handsome/Buff Asian Security Guard: Yes, sir!
“Ma’am, will you please stop stroking my pecs?”
Alright guys, we need to talk! You see, I’ve noticed a lot of you trying to get out into the dating world. That’s fantastic. I’m proud of you — no, really, I am. However, I’ve been looking around and some of you don’t seem to get it. Some of you still feel like you’re trapped in stereotypes and that no non-Asian girl will ever date you. And to some extent, that’s kinda true. But look at your damn self! You, in the back! All you do is play Diablo 3, watch Anime and listen to K-POP – what the HELL makes you think you’ll ever get that Black Princess of your dreams?!
AND YOU!
Yes, you, the Asian guy reading this! You say you want a German girlfriend yet the only thing interesting about you is your high score on XBOX Live? Do you guys get what I’m trying to say? No? Let me spell it out for you:
Daniel Henney: Korean actor, likes to sing Jazz and is also a country boy at heart. Touche, brother, touche…
As an Asian man, you are expected to like and participate in certain activities: attend anime conventions, play MMORPGs, listen to K-POP and drive a Honda Civic. Now, I’m not trying to say that you should quit playing World of Warcraft nor am I suggesting you burn your collection of Big Bang CDs. What I am saying is that in order to be an attractive man – inside and out – you need to be attracted to multiple things. You need to have depth and variety to your interests. Think about it like this:
Which Asian Guy sounds more attractive?
Ben - a Chinese guy who works for Google, enjoys hiking, loves Ramen and is a fan of Naruto? Or…
Josh – a Chinese guy who works for Google, enjoys Boxing at the gym, loves sweet potato pie and goes Salsa dancing every week?
I know the question is subjective but the idea is that often times, your interests and experiences will dictate who you will end up dating. You like all things Asian and hate trying new foods yet you dream of dating a German girl? TOUGH SHIT. Unless that German girl just so happens to like playing Minecraft as much as you, you probably won’t catch her attention. The idea behind all of this is to make yourself worldly. Be the type of man that is unpredictable with his interests. Be the type of man who can listen to Latin Jazz on Sunday with his Mexican coworkers and go fly fishing with his White friends on Tuesday.
When I was single, I had absolutely no idea what type of girl I would end up dating. I didn’t know if she would end up being White, Latina or Black. All I knew was that if the right girl came into my life, I wanted to be ready. I wanted to take her out on dates and show her that I can relate to her in some way. She’s a Jewish Southern girl who likes going to Country music festivals? Great! I just spent a month learning and listening to Garth Brooks! She’s a Black girl from Brooklyn who sings Soul music in an Indie band? Fantastic! Sam Cooke is my new favorite artist!
So go out there! Listen to music from all over the world (from Bossanova in Brazil to Indian folk music), try all the cool restaurants in your city (the Polish deli downtown, the Ethiopian restaurant near school) and take an honest interest in various cultures and the issues and topics of interest within those cultures (Black women and their hair, Indian women and arranged marriages, etc.) You want to build yourself up, make yourself better and create the kind of man that you yourself would want to have sex with if you were a lady.
When it comes to dating, we all have our own checklist of what we want and what we’re attracted to. So what’s going to happen when a girl sees you and decides to check her list? When that time comes, are you going to fit any of her categories? Are you going to appeal to her love of watching independent films? Are you going to appreciate the writings of Langston Hughes like she does? Or are you just going to keep doing what you’re doing, not interested in other cultures, not interested in trying anything new and not interested in learning about the cultures that you so desperately wish to date. You decide.
Asian guy at a shooting range with his girlfriend.
Remember, as an Asian man you already have a lot of stereotypes going against you. People expect you to be shy and quiet. People expect you to be socially awkward and good at playing video games. But when a non-Asian girl expects to see all of that and you, an already cultured Asian man, tell her all about your adventures and interests, she’s gonna think, “Holy shit, this Asian guys is AMAZING! He’s full Asian yet he can cook authentic German food, he owns a ton of French films and he’s part of the Jamaican club at school?! DAMN, BOY! TAKE MY BODY, NOW!”
So go ahead! Go off into the world! Gain depth and experience! Run with he bulls in Spain and dance with the women at Carnaval! You don’t have to stay at home and watch Anime all day. You don’t have to be the Asian guy that everyone expects you to be! You are the goddamn master and creator of your own identity and if you wish to date Black women, go do it! If you wish to date European women, take it! Your experiences will be a bright signal that communicates, “Hey! Date me! I’m open minded!” You must understand that in order to find a worldly and intelligent woman, you need to be an equally intelligent and worldly man. Because if a non-Asian girl sees that you’re not open to other cultures, she probably will think you’re not interested in her. So please, my fellow Asian brothers, PROVE THEM WRONG!
Ahhh, remember the good ole’ days of High School? A time for friendships, getting into trouble and… racial and romantic insecurities?
When I was 15 I was in a long-distance relationship with a half-Japanese half-Filipino girl who I thought I was in love with. Little did I know that while she was in 50 miles away playing on the basketball team, and I was at home cheering her on, she had been seeing another guy behind my back. And not just any guy, he was a douchey white guy.
I was confused. I didn’t even know she was into those kinds of guys. Soon after, I started to notice every other girl in my circle of friends boarding the train to “we love white boys” express. Next thing I knew, Asian girls were saying shit like “sorry, I only date White guys” or “ewww, that is soo Asian.” What the hell?! What is going on?! I have so many questions and I need answers, damnit!
TO THE YOUTUBE!
Uhhhh…. okay? NEXT VIDEO!
Ahh shit! They’re everywhere! Quick, Asian guys, hide at your local Gamestop! When these videos came out six years ago coupled with the white boy virus plaguing every Asian girl in the school, it dawned on me: us Asian guys are fucked. If Asian girls won’t date us, what the hell are we gonna do? We sure as hell don’t stand a chance dating white girls, and we can FORGET about even LOOKING at black girls! BUDDHA, WHYY?!?!!?
But as I look back six years ago and contrast it to now, it’s quite remarkable. Sure, tons of Asian women still date white guys as if there’s a shortage of them, but Asian guys have definitely made some changes and cultivated their dating habits. Nowadays, I see Asian male + non-Asian female couples all over the damn place: in the mall shopping for baby clothes, at the restaurant drinking martinis and on Youtube being TOTES ADORABLE vlogs.
If Asian men were purchasable on the stock market I’d say “BUY! BUY! BUY!” because damn, we are tearin’ it up on the dating game. It’s almost like we sat down one day, scratched our head and realized, “oh snap, I’M AWESOME!” So why the change? What the hell happened within he span of six years? Did we sprout a 3rd testicle that feeds us a constant stream of confidence? Or was it something else?
You see, Asian-American men and Asian-American women are not created equal in this country. Though we share many of the same stereotypes and racial jokes, the expectations that we do not have in common are ultimately the ones that have created this change. In the US, Asian-Americans have roughly three options when it comes to fitting in:
Wanna read the article she wrote that caused a SHITSTORM? Click the picture
1. ) We can act “White” - shop at Abercrombie and Fitch/Urban Outfitters, listen to Kings of Leon/Dubstep and attend Coachella while wearing daisy chains in our hair.
2.) We can act “Black” – shop at Supreme and wear fitted caps, listen to underground hip-hop and join a group of choreographed hip-hop dancers.
3.) We can act “Asian” – shop at Yesstyle.com and wear K-POP inspired outfits, listen to Utada Hikaru and join chatrooms and forums where you talk to other Asians about anime while learning how to make various emoticons (◕‿◕✿)
Now, given that there are an endless supply of Asian Men and Women who fit in category three and act Asian, we can start to break down the two groups and understand things a bit more. More often than not and despite the occasional Asian B-Girl, Asian-American women tend to act white. This is easy for them because for some reason, White girls love hanging out with Asian girls and Allah already knows that White guys would sell their baby on the black market to get a chance to be with an Asian chick. For Asian girls, white is right! White is home and ya know what? That’s alright with me! How are things lookin’ for my Asian brothers?
Asian men on the other hand tend to go the opposite way and they identify with a lot of Black culture. Most break dancers are Asian guys, Asian guys love underground hip-hop, if they sing they love to sing R&B classics and most of all, they consistently feel at odds with white culture. “But Ranier, what the hell does that mean? Not all Black people like hip-hop! YOU RACIST CHINK!”
Okay, hear me out for a second: you see, like a lot of Blacks men, Asian men just don’t feel included in white culture. We aren’t represented in their politics, their television shows or their music, so how can we relate? There are countless Asian men who have lived in predominantly white neighborhoods and have been bullied and teased all their lives for being Asian. So, naturally, as an ethnic minority they look for the closest ethnic minority that they can look up to as a role model. This is why Black men play an important role. Black Men have provided Asian men with a template for how to fit in with the rest of society. If we can learn to dance like them, sing like them and dress like them, we too can fit in. Like Pinocchio trying desperately to be a real boy, we wanted to become a real man.
And so we did. We realized that things needed to change so we learned to dress better, dance slicker and talk smoother.
Looking at it like this makes it seem all the more beautiful. To know that through the oppression of White culture on Asian Men, we have evolved into a hybrid of cultures and identities. Instead of laughing along with all the racist Asian jokes and acting like it was okay, we decided to open our mouths and say “enough.” We rejected the expectations of the nerdy, shy, socially awkward and dickless Asian boy and grew into something so fucking beautiful it makes me wanna cry tears of pure soy sauce.
Now that we’ve grown into something better, we’ve finally realized that we also deserve better. We don’t need to sit around waiting for Asian women to come around and “give us a chance,” we can simply turn to the right and talk to someone else: someone Black, someone Cuban or someone Greek. For once, we finally feel like we have options in our romantic lives and even better, women like you, my loyal readers, are talking back and saying that you want us too – and that helps even more.
Meet Jason and Kristen – An AMBW couple and fans of my blog! WOOHOO! If you have pictures of your own interracial relationship, SEND THEM TO ME!! 
“What am I doing with my life? Why am I not dating an Asian guy yet?!”
Now is the time for Asian Men to rise up and succeed. We are starting to see more and more Asian males join professional sports, the music and entertainment industry and more importantly, Asian men who feel a renewed sense of confidence to be all of the above. You say I’m a nerd? Well guess what? I’m a nerd with a college degree, a high paying job and a smokin’ hot girlfriend! Within the ensuing years we will all witness a huge shift in Asian men broadening their horizons, reaching for different careers, attaining massive wealth and making a name for themselves in the world. And as women who enjoy dating them, you can help us to redefine an entire community of men looking for something greater in this world. We’re trying to become better men, and we would love to stand atop of the world, side-by-side with a woman like you.
So to all my Asian brothers, rise up, grab your balls, say it loud and say it proud:
“For once in my life I have someone who needs me
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once, unafraid, I can go where life leads me
And somehow I know I’ll be strong”
You know what you will never see on TV? Asians on Jerry Springer. Save for that one episode on Jerry Springer where some Filipino dude cheats on his wife, you and your children’s children will never have the privilege of seeing an Asian Man do the “You are NOT the father” dance.
Oooh yes-suh! I am not the Father-suhh!!
And you know why? Unlike the Asians in K-Town, Asian people generally keep their drama to themselves. Shit going down with your Baby Daddy (or in this case, Baby Oppa) and you don’t know what to do? Need some advice? Too damn bad because since Asians don’t flaunt their business you inversely won’t find solutions. But that’s what I’m here for - I’m like the Asian Witch Doctor. You slip me a note under the door and for a hefty price of, FREE DOLLARS, I can help you out (given that I actually get a chance to read the damn thing.) So here are a few questions that I’d like to cast my shining yellow light on for yall.
“Kids! We need to build up our Chi so Mommy can find you an Asian Daddy!”
A: This scenario sounds familiar. Probably because it’s the basic premise of pretty much every damn Lifetime movie in existence (minus the cheating and stabbing.) But in all honesty, I think it just depends on several factors
Racially speaking, this scenario basically plays out the same whether your boy toy is Chinese, Japanese or Filipino: shakey at first but with lots of potential. The reason is that when entering the dragon with your own baggage, depending on how old the Asian guy is, he might be a busy Medical student pursuing a career in Neurosurgery with not enough time to scratch-and-sniff his own balls or he could be a well-off Engineer that has plenty of time after work. It’s all in the timing.
“Good job Billy! Your Japanese Caligraphy skills will definitely win over Mommy’s new boyfriend, Tetsuya!”
In regards to timing, it can be really tricky dating an Asian when he (or she) is caught inside the vicious, time-sucking Vortex we like to call SCHOOL. More so than any other ethnicity, I will hear Asians talk about “nah man, I don’t have time for girls right now. I’m hella busy with law school.” So the question to you my dear is how far into this Vortex are you planning to fall in? And the relevance this has to his parents is parallel in the sense that, for Asian parents, the general mentality is that so long as your School/Career is going well, everything his hunky dory. Hell, your man could be setting World records for most Grammy Awards won but if his grades aren’t top notch, his parents will feel dishonored.
So to answer your question simply: Whether you’re Black, White or Brown, entering a relationship with an Asian guy while having kids is all dependent on where he is in life. If you enter at the wrong time, not only do you run the risk of his parents viewing you as a “distraction” but you can also wind up on the back-burners and even worse, your kids won’t get a great chance to warm up to him – and that’s not fair for anyone. However, there are exceptions and if you can time it right OR if you have your own shit together with your own career and academic life on track, you can pull it off. And if it is done right? Well then shit, not only do you have a future husband but you got yourself a man that’s ready for a LIFE with you. If that’s the situation you’re in, well damn, you better start picking the type of carpet you’ll want for your new house!
“Isn’t this Great Susan?! I got the new Neuroscience Job!” “Oh boy Wang Peng! Goodbye wonderbread, hello Jasmine Rice!
“Okay Ayesha, your Asian prince charming is just across the hall. Just relax and whatever you do, don’t say ‘Ni-Hao’”
A: I always get so confused when people ask me these kinds of questions. I mean, I do know a various amount of Asian cultural information but I’m not the goddamn Farmers Almanac of Asian-ness. These questions are just a bit too specific for my reach. I can teach you a bit about ASIANS as a whole and other general customs to keep in mind when dealing with the yellow kind, but this shit? You’ll have to google it.
My Advice: dont’ be racist, don’t say anything stupid, make sure you eat a handful of breath mints and, uhhh… don’t be afraid to ask him out on a second date. Simple enough?
“Why does this Asian guy keep trying to dance with me every time I grind on him?! Is it something I said?!”
A: Just rape him. Rip off his clothes, take off his Chinese Rice hat, grab his ASIAN penis and RAPE HIM GOOD! That is the only way. If not, you can just spread sesame seed oil on his balls and deep fry his dick and scream out loud “ME RIKEY SOME DIM SUM, BABY!”
Or you can go for the whole rape thing. That works too.
Thanks to me, you will never look at Sesame Balls and Chinese Donuts the same. EVARRRR!!!
As always, my Facebook is always open for questions and comments and if you haven’t already, be sure to LIKE! The Official Facebook Page of The Love Life of an Asian Guy!
As much as I can, I try to refrain from cursing too much in person and on this blog. But few words can explain how I feel at this moment but: what the fuck…
Perhaps it’s my recently heightened interest in social and political matters that has made me notice all this racism, but is it just me or do people seem extra racist nowadays? On a scale from Ghandi to Adolf Hitler the racism three years ago was at a cringing “Michael Richards” whereas now, we’re entering Neo Nazi territory. So my question to you and the rest of the world is, what the hell happened in these last few years? What particles are flowing through the faucets of America to ignite such horrific racism?
You see, it needs to be noted that the racism we’ve been seeing is not just a matter of comedians trying to be funny or individuals who accidentally/unknowingly make a racist remark (ex: “Wait, is it true? Do Asians really eat dogs?!) No. The racism we’ve been seeing is boiling at such a high magnitude that it’s entered the wake of pure hatred. Just as you would differentiate a killer who stabs a man out of self defense and one who knowingly plots a murder scheme, we also need to magnify the fact that none of these racist acts are an “accident” of any sort. They know what the fuck they are doing and they’re trying to communicate a very clear message.
When we look back at our history and examine the moments that have illustrated clear cases of racism, the element that seems to be a consistent friend of racism is fear. Not just any fear, but the fear of something or someone foreign taking over you and your people, i.e. Xenophobia. This is the underlying fear that caused the Chinese Exclusion act, current anti-immigration policies and this is the same fear that I believe to be the root of all this racism we’ve been seeing online.
I also need to note that a high percentage of people who have been making these tweets are remarks all seem to be young White Americans. Now, I could easily (and foolishly) arrive at a conclusion that white people are just racist fucks who are the cause of all this hate. I could, but I won’t. I know this isn’t true because for every racist white person you see, there are probably an infinite number of white people who would gladly punch them in the face. White people aren’t racist, just THESE White people are racist.
So what exactly is going on in society that might incite this Xenophobic fear? I mean, it could easily be anything. From the re-election of Barack Obama and him being accused of his nationality, the growing strength of China and our massive debt towards them, the war in the Middle East, nuclear scares from North Korea, increases in immigration and the list goes on. I think Bill O’Reily said it best during his interview with Fox News:
“The White Establishment is now the Minority.”
Can we read that again? The White Establishment is now the Minority. The “Establishment” part is what really juts at my side. It almost brings rise to a question of whether or not Bill and others like minded view the White “Establishment” as some sort of business with a plan in mind. But in some aspects, it sorta makes sense… With Xenophobia, there are two parties in play: the foreign group and the local group. The foreigners in these cases are Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, etc etc while the local group includes – based on the people who are displaying these racist behaviors – a majority of White Americans.
Ironic, isn’t it? Since White/European nations have imperialized country after country, you would think they would welcome outsiders with open arms. Okay, so maybe these kids aren’t exactly scared of an Asian invasion or a Mexican wave coming in to convert all the Whole Foods Markets into Mi Pueblos. Let’s face it, our generation didn’t go through the wars our parents endured so their sense of nationalism may be different. In that event, I’d like to suggest that it’s plausible that Xenophobia is an effect and the cause of some individuals is actually the fear of White identity slowly eroding.
It doesn’t take a social scientist to notice that some of the most privileged people on this planet are heterosexual, Christian, White Males. That being said, most modern movements challenge every single one of those things: we’re fighting for same-sex marriage, there’s a large rise in Atheism, most ethnic minorities voted for Obama during the election, and Women are gradually chipping away at the glass ceiling above them. These identities are being protested against and the power of the straight white male identity is shrinking smaller by the day.
So then what’s up with all the racist Tweets? Think of it like this: When America wanted to keep its army bases in the Philippines in the late 1890′s, the Filipinos reacted by protesting and engaging in war. When Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese the Americans reacted by dropping an even bigger set of bombs. My guess is that, since much of today’s fears exist on conceptual realm – no one is mass murdering White people, they’re just moving next door and working at their job - the reaction has to be greater or equal. So it doesn’t make sense for waves of White people to go off and kill Asians because Psy performed at the American Music Awards, instead they just yell “CHINK!” on Twitter. To them, this is a logical equivalent. It’s a form of protest that fits the problem they see.
The bare bones reality is that all of their fears really do exist. Asians are the highest paid ethnic group in America. Gays can marry in Maryland and Maine. More Women are being elected into top-tier political positions. Mexican immigrants are establishing homes in the states . Things are changing and although you and I see this as a good thing, others do not. And that’s okay. That’s actually understandable. The straight white male has long dominated this world and our country has benefited from the minds of many of these men. But the new generation needs to understand that Blacks, Gays and other immigrant groups don’t have some agenda to take over. We simply want what they want: a chance to succeed and make something happen in their lives. It just so happens that we’re doing fucking amazing things and we’re giving these men a run for their money.
Racism in America will always exist – I’m sure of it. There will come a day when a new majority is created and perhaps they will behave just as poorly. All we can do is sit back and watch this thing unfold before our eyes. We can change things. We can prevent some of this racist behavior by voicing our opinions. By writing blogs and sharing articles we can highlight that this thing exists. Racism is getting incredibly nasty nowadays and its abundance has been growing quicker than spoiled milk under the sun. So stand the fuck up and post something. If you feel what I feel, even just a little, then do something. Now take that hand of yours, craft a message, and throw that wrench into the cogs. We have work to do.
Whether you want to admit it or not, times have changed. In some states gays can get married, pot is finally legal, and (spoiler alert) our president is Black - again. It feels good, doesn’t it? The ability to step onto the wet cement, take a whiff of the cool air and not even catch a flicker of prejudice dancing in the wind feels relaxing, liberating even. But is that really the case? Oh wait…
The picture above is from a movie that just came out called ‘Cloud Atlas’ and it stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and that dude from the Matrix. But what’s interesting about this movie is the fact that it showcases a blisteringly bad case of yellow face. What is yellow face you ask? Ask Miley Cyrus or Joe Jonas. So when Jim Sturgess (the actor shown above in yellow face) was asked and criticized for being in yellow face, he said in a mind blowingly stupid manner:
You see, it’s so fucking easy for American media to pull off racist shit towards Asian Americans because so much of it is masked and disguised as something else. Oh, a bunch of actors are in yellow face? No worries! It’s all in the name of art! Oh, we made an Asian penis joke on national television? No worries! The Asian actor we made fun of was laughing with us! Oh, the Republican party doesn’t give a shit about ethnic minorities in this country? No worries! They only represent a small percentage of the U.S population!
And in all honesty, Asians and other ethnic minorities do represent a small percentage of the U.S population and, yes, Whites are still the majority. We cannot escape that reality. But we have to still ask ourselves this question: why do we keep seeing racist media after racist media? Why are Asians continually bashed and made fun of? Why do the Asian characters of Glee encapsulate Asian stereotypes and the model minority myth? WHY?!
I‘ll tell you why.
First, we need to accept the reality that a large population of America consists of conservative Whites. Second, we also have to understand that in being a conservative White American, often times (not always) you will encounter people who are very pro-America and very anti-foreigner. Are you still with me?
Third, we have to realize that compared to Caucasians and African Americans – who will almost NEVER be confused as being non-American – Asians are more often mistaken as being from “somewhere else.” Even if an Asian can speak perfect English, they can still be mistaken as a foreigner or some sort. Next, we need to digest the notion that because Asians are so frequently viewed as Aliens from another planet, they will be viewed as non-American and ultimately, NOT WELCOME.
And Last but not least, it is understood that from a marketing point of view, if you are trying to sell a product (in our case, a T.V show or a movie) you need to cater your product to your target market. In other words, if you are creating a new television show for White people (who are your primary audience members) you need to mold and create a television show that will interest Whites and allow them to connect with your story.
So lets wrap this all together:
Uhhh…. sorry guys! Not that type of wrapping!
Due to the primarily White conservative audiences of America that oppose the notion of foreignness, we can begin to understand why we often times see racism against Asian Americans. Glee cannot make Mike Chang be the lead character just as much as American Idol won’t let an Asian win the finale. If an Asian wins at any of those things it almost becomes a symbolic message to America that “THE ASIANS ARE HERE! THEY WILL SOON TAKE OVER!” We may be eons away from Pearl Harbor but the concept of an Asian communist takeover/Red Scare is still very much alive.
That’s why America loves Psy, Long Duk Dong, William Hung and Ken Jeong: they allow us to see Asians in a non-threatening, comedic manner. In the same way that turning on the lights makes the monsters under the bed go away, making Asians look stupid and foolish is also a way to cope with the threat of the Asian Invasion by diluting their image and making it seem like they’re nothing. By stripping away any power that Asians may have, by making them look like wimps and morons who dance around speaking broken English we transform this Red Devil into a meager, defenseless child.
And in regards to the Yellow face bullshit in Cloud Atlas, if you are of the belief that it isn’t racist then please answer this question: would America still find it acceptable if Jim Sturgess went not in yellow face, but in BLACK face? To make things more worse, because the yellow face in Cloud Atlas was done so horrifically, what if we had Jim Sturgess and the Matrix Guy do a BAD version of Black face? Like this:
Could you fucking IMAGINE the kind of shit they would stir?! If that happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if the NAACP marched to the studio and shut the movie down. It would happen and the people of America would be okay with that because to America, that kind of black face is representative of a time when Racism was not okay. It represents a time when White people really fucked up. But now it’s okay! They don’t do that kind of stuff because apparently they know better. So then what makes it okay for actors to go in yellow face and not black face? Is it because Black people are more American and we just don’t do that kind of thing to our people? Hmmm…
Look, all I’m trying to say is that if we can bind together to fight for the equality of Women and the equality of the LGBT community, we need to understand that race related issues are not a thing of the past. We might not be lynching Asians in the street but lynching a mannequin of Barack Obama? That’s fucking racist. Writing “Chink” on the receipt of an Asian customer? That’s fucking racist. Denying Women the right to control their bodies? That’s fucking sexist. There’s a lot of work we need to do and the only way is for us minority groups – ethnic, gender, sexual, etc – to come together and vocalize our concerns and the concerns of others. I may not be a woman but I can fight for them. And you may not be Asian but we would be honored if you come fight for us too.
In 2000 we shook to Sisqo’s Thong Song, we leaned to Soulja Boy’s Crank That in 2008, and now in 2012 we’re horse dancing to Psy’s Gangnam style. And while Americans are still beating this dead horse like an angry child attacking his first piñata with Gangnam style parodies and remixes, myself and many Asian-Americans are asking ourselves: why do Americans love Psy so much?
The alarming realization is that many individuals are starting to perceive Gangnam Style as K-Pop’s coming out party to American citizens; an idea that this is what K-Pop and, more stressfully, what all Asian music is about. Forget about the other talented K-Pop groups producing music, the$93 million dollar industry value, or the nearly impossible to avoid presence of rock hard abs and sex appeal in Korean music videos. No, America wants to reach into the back of the freezer to grab the Weird Al Yankovic of Korea, and position him as Korean music’s new mascot.
While the rest of the Korean music industry struggles to define itself in American markets, Psy has cemented himself with his jester-like antics and non-sexy appearance (by K-Pop standards) and has caused the red white and blue to laugh as they ask him to dance, monkey, dance! The heart of the matter is that Psy’s popularity among U.S markets is largely based on socially constructed filters that dismiss non-stereotypical Asian Americans in one pile (Yul Kwon, Keni Styles), and negative Asian caricatures in another (Long Duk Dong and Psy) thus creating a system that only allows for a specific type of Asian American to shine: foreign, sexually awkward and foolish – like Psy.
In 2004 Asian-Americans felt the quake of William Hung – the personification of Asian stereotypes. His foreign accent and bucktooth appearance was reminiscent of Mr. Yunioshi, and everyone wanted more. So we ask ourselves the same question: why William? Psy and William both present stereotype abiding characters and with America’s rampant history of racist caricatures in media, they resurface reminiscent feelings of racism. Laughing at Psy is America’s free pass to mock Asians again, just as they did in Sixteen Candles.
Additionally, given the 41% Asian population at Hung’s alma mater, UC Berkeley, and 19% in all of the Bay Area, it becomes questionable why Hung was the primary Asian American featured on the show. Taking this into consideration we can draw lines to see similar patterns with America’s love for Psy and not his larger co-label mates, BigBang and 2NE1, or any other Korean artist. Because BigBang and 2PM are sex symbols, American tastebuds see them as unfamiliar, inaccurate, and unpalatable.
However, we must also consider the actual entertainment aspect of Gangnam Style. From a filmmaker’s perspective, the scenes, props and overall production value are quite incredible. Psy’s quirky tune and beat lingers in the corner of your ear like a Justin Bieber track. Like the world famous, Macarena, a catchy dance routine to accompany a music video also helps with the viral appeal.
With American media so reluctant to take risks in highlighting Asian Americans in non-stereotypical roles, an interesting effect comes into play. Asians are now creating their own sets of filters, organized societies and rules. Asian American filmmaker and director of Fast 5, Justin Lin, has created a new Youtube channel which highlights Asian actors in lead roles that defy stereotypes and in some cases, turns their origins slanted (MotherLover, a series about a White son whose Asian best friend is sleeping with his mother, summons the Fu Manchu caricature.) Tyrese Gibson’s K-TOWN is also revered for breaking the stereotypes of Asians being anti-social and emasculate.
This post was originally written for my Asian American Politics class, so please excuse my lack of penis jokes and foul language. I’ll be sure to go back to normal next time 
