gbm: Asian sexuality

7:09 meeting called to order.

Western perceptions of Asian sexuality: stereotypical (straight) nerd, ghetto Azn, Asian gangster/triad, metro/pop star Asian, exotic/fetishized Asian.

Asian male: asexual (in comparison to White or Black males), geeks, technicians
Asian female: fetishized as submissive OR dominant “dragon lady”

All these stereotypes are heteronormative → this makes it harder to break out of these stereotypes if you are homosexual

Stigma against homosexuality in Asia; Asian media doesn’t want to portray it

Asian men in movies never get the girl

American/Western pop culture: Black, Latino, White representation, but little Asian representation; the invisibility contributes to Asians as static (East Asia is static, traditional; West is progressive, modernist).

Females: ultra-feminine. Kinky Japanese sex; geisha (incorrect perception of what geisha really is). South Asian women as import models. Manga culture: young girls, Lolita/goth. In Thailand, the third sex—kathoey.

Little Asian girl as accessory—Gwen Stefani’s harajuku girls

Asian Invisibility in cinema—is some visibility better than none? Kickass Asian guy reverses the nerd/geek stereotype—but it follows the same pattern

Using kung fu and martial arts is limiting, but it’s also way to assert authenticity within a culture; way to represent the past in a modern context; it’s not totally bad or totally good

Emasculated male image: when Asians came to work on the railroads, they looked smaller; they also didn’t bring their wives because they couldn’t, so they did all the housework themselves. After the railroad was built, they didn’t have any other jobs, so they turned to things like laundry… Chinese Exclusion Acts prevented them from bringing their wives over. Contributed to their asexuality stereotype. They were allowed to bring Asian prostitutes, which contributed to fetishized/exotic stereotype

Better Luck Tomorrow: main character is in progressive film, but the next film he’s in is a Dell commercial. He talks about how Asian Americans in the film industry have a hard time because those are the only roles handed to them. Where should there be change? Should actors not take the roles?

Saving face is still important in many places, but especially within a Korean context. So it’s hard to present yourself as a “real American badass” when you have traces of this culture.

There isn’t a big enough community within America that is ready to produce more films like “Better Luck Tomorrow”

Jin failed because they only wanted him to be Chinese—nothing else.

8:00 pm meeting adjourned.