BY MEAGAN HU and LINDA HUANG

In print | April 27, 2006

Throughout the semester, we’ve discussed an array of topics that address Asian and Asian American issues. But when we take a step back and look at all that has been covered, we realize that we’ve barely even brushed the surface. So here before you is a culminating list of questions that have been weaving in and out of our thoughts as of late, a random and varied progression of queries that reflects the relative madness of thought that the concluding days of the semester surely must bring to all Swatties.

How did Hello Kitty become the icon of a country, nay, a people? And can she talk even though she doesn’t have a mouth? Why are Korean soap operas so addicting? Why do so many South Korean students come to the US for college, and why don’t we see a similarly rampant phenomenon among students from other East Asian countries? Who says Asian men are not attractive? (Google-image Takeshi Kaneshiro, half-Japanese half-Chinese, and remember to catch your breath upon pressing the “enter” key.) Are Asian babies so cute because they possess an inordinate amount of flub in their cheeks? Why have half-Asians been deemed the “super-race” by popular opinion? When and why did Asians become the champions of manufacturing and selling pirated goods? Isn’t it interesting that many Asian people living in Asia can distinguish and indeed actively seek the brands LV and AF, yet haven’t a clue what Louis Vuitton or Abercrombie and Fitch are? Is this a safe enough space for us to admit that we feel that Chinese opera sounds like a cacophonous storm?

Why do aZnS tYpE LiKe dIs? Ever met a ‘chigga’ before? What does Kelis have that we don’t that allows her to bring all the boys to the yard? I mean besides the milkshake of course. Why does the only Asian on The O.C. appear for like 0.2 milliseconds and work at a Korean restaurant? Why do the names of Chinese restaurants have to always use ‘jade’, ‘panda’, and/or ‘lily’? Who is General Tso and why is it his chicken? Does “chop suey” sound as absurd to you as it does to us? Is it safe to say that you will not find “chop suey” anywhere in Asia? Is the dining services staff aware how difficult it is to eat Pho (which we are quite grateful to have in Sharples) with a fork? How did some Chinese person way back when realize that drinking dried snakeskin dissolved in hot water was an appropriate method of curing a cough?

Why didn’t Meagan storm out of her U.S. History class junior year of high school when her teacher, a Vietnam vet, said that the only reason why the U.S. Government didn’t intervene sooner in Vietnam was because no one cared about a bunch of slanty-eyed brown people? Was Chairman Mao really of sane mind when he screwed over a whole nation? Why did Mickey Rooney have to ruin our most favorite Truman Capote story for us? When will Asian actors stop being thought of solely for the roles of gangster, geek, convenience store owner, prostitute/all-purpose sexpot or warrior monk in English-speaking movies? What was going through that cabbie’s mind when he told us that we must have beautiful feet as soon as he saw us enter his taxi? Should we consider the Adidas “Yellow Series Y1 Huf” shoe, featuring the embroidered characterization of a slanty-eyed, buck-toothed, pig-nosed Asian, racist garbage or ironic art? Does it break stereotypes or reinforce them? Why can’t Hu Jintao and Chen Shui-bian make happy-nice like Meagan’s dad (a Hu from China) and Meagan’s mom (a Chen from Taiwan) did?

Does Pepcid AC really help stave off Asian glow? How many times have we used the word “Asian” so far? What do you think of the juxtaposition created from the music of British post-punk New Order providing the background music to scenes of 18th century French absolutism in the current trailer for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette? (Us: Bloody brilliant!) Have we gone off the deep end yet? Don’t answer that one.

Why are white people so tall? More importantly, why is Yao Ming so tall?

Linda and Meagan are sophomores. You can reach them at lhuang1@swarthmore.edu and mhu1@swarthmore.edu.

« RETURN TO OPINIONS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »