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lisalowefanclub · 3 years

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Multiplicity and what identification and representation means to Us

Madeline: I don’t remember there being many cool, attractive, and overall desirable but not fetishized (bye yellow fever) representations of Asian people in mainstream media while I was growing up in the early 2000s. The Asian media I did consume was introduced to me by my dad, so you can imagine the kind of outdated and endearingly weird characters I was exposed to as a kid. Think blind Japanese swordsman Zatoichi or humanoid child robot Astro Boy, both of which originated in Japan around the 60s. As for celebrities, I occasionally heard people talking about Lucy Liu or Jackie Chan, but only as defined by their stereotypical Asian-ness. My point is that this kind of cultural consumption fell into one of two categories: that of obscurity, which suggests that cultural objects are created by Asians for Asians (bringing to mind labels like “Weeb” for Western people who love anime), or that of hypervisibility grounded in stereotypical exoticism. You’d be hard pressed to find a film that passes the Asian Bechdel test.I didn’t discover K-pop until coming to college when I became curious about who my white friends were fawning over all the time. Since then, it’s been really neat to see how K-pop has become popularized as one of the many facets of America’s mainstream music and celebrity culture, especially when artists write and perform songs in Korean despite the majority of their audience lacking Korean language fluency. This suggests that something about the music is able to transcend language barriers and connect people despite their differences. Today it’s not uncommon to see Korean artists topping Billboard’s hot 100 hits, being interviewed on SNL, winning American music awards, gracing the cover of Teen Vogue, or being selected as the next brand ambassador for Western makeup brands like M.A.C. If you were to ask your average high school or college student if they know Blackpink, BTS, or EXO, they would probably be familiar with one of the groups whether or not they identify as Asian.What does this mean, then, for young Asian-Americans to grow up during a time when Asian celebrities are thought to be just as desirable as people like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, or Michael B. Jordan? What does it mean to see an Asian person named “Sexiest International Man Alive”, beating out long-time favorite European celebs? What does it mean for popularity to exist outside of the realm of the racialized minority and for it to build connections across minority cultures? Of course, fame can be toxic and horrible-- it is, at times superficial, materialistic, gendered, fetishized, and absolutely hyper-sexualized-- but I for one think it’s pretty damn cool to see people who look like me featured in mainstream American culture.I’ve found that throughout the semester, my understanding of Asian presence in America (American citizen or otherwise) has been deeply shaped by our discussions of identity politics and marginalization, another class I’m taking on intergenerational trauma, and my own identity as a Laotian-American woman. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between American proxy wars in Korea (The Forgotten War) and Laos (The Secret War), both of which involved US bombing of citizens in the name of halting communism. Taking this class has challenged me to reconceptualize how we make sense of mass atrocity in relation to a pan-Asian identity, especially when contending with how trauma and violence can act as a mechanism for cultural production, and I look forward to exploring this more in my thesis.

Cyndi: K-pop is always just the beginning. Enough in and of itself, any interest in the genre at all reinvigorates the consumer to become more engaged with the world in which it exists. Two years ago, I got into a big, but in hindsight pretty silly, argument with my mom when I started going to a Korean hair salon (because of my K-pop delulus / Jennie prints) instead of seeing Maggie, our Vietnamese hairdresser who I can usually only see twice a year on our bi-annual visits to California to visit extended family. My mom told me the Koreans don’t need our money, they are already richer than we will ever be. Who are ‘the Koreans’? Who is ‘we’?? Is every person of Korean descent doing better than every person of Vietnamese descent in America? And #why is my mom being A Hater? Surely, sharing our identity as ‘perpetual guests’ in America should create some sort of solidarity, or at least, allow for transitory economic collaboration??? I give my money to white people all the time: to McDonald’s (Cookie Totes), to Target, to Swarthmore College.

K-pop cannot be the end. As much as I enjoy the music, the show, and the celebrities, I also know in my heart that the current international interest in K-pop will not last. As an almost perfect and perplexing exemplification of modern global capitalism, the industry will over-expand and thus wear itself out. I always see the subtle disappointment on my language teachers’ faces when they ask me how I came to take interest in Korean, and I have to answer ‘K-pop’, because that is the truth; that is not where I am at now, but it will always be how I began. It has become clear to me that this disappointment is not just a generational difference. Maybe these old people are jealous of pop stars like how I also have to question whether I am secure in myself when I see a 14 year old accomplishing things I as a 21 year old could never accomplish in my long life. I am coming to understand that part of their reaction comes from the fact that there is a fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, that pop culture is ephemeral, but they have lived their lives as entirely theirs. Casual or even consuming interest for the parts of culture that are bright, and clean, and easy cannot ever stand in for true racial empathy, though it is where many of us start. Identity in K-pop is merely another marketing technique, but to the community of fans and lovers, it is something that is real, lived, and embodied. I find that looking at K-pop always brings forth my most salient identities in terms of gender, race, and sexuality. As much as female group members express affection and jokingly portray romantic interest toward one another, would it ever be accepted if these jokes were no longer jokes, but lived realities? Even if the K-pop industry itself did not seek to produce fan communities of this magnitude, these communities that have been founded in response to it are here to stay. Lowe argues that “to the extent that Asian American culture dynamically expands to include both internal critical dialogues about difference and the interrogation of dominant interpellations” it can “be a site in which horizontal affiliations with other groups can be imagined and realized” (71). A recent striking example is Thai fans’ demand to hear from Lisa on the protests -- a primarily youth-led movement against the government monarchy--going on in Thailand. Although she is, of course, censored and silenced on this topic, the expectation is still there; fans are holding their idols to a standard of political responsibility.

Jimmy: I haven’t really paid much attention to K-pop until working on this project. Sure, my cousins would do anything to go see BTS perform in person, but I didn’t care so much. Or maybe, I was just not saturated with the cultural zeitgeist. Whereas they live in the center of a cosmopolitan city which imports and exports, my hometown hums white noise. Increasingly, though, K-pop has entered into my life and the wider American cultural space. Now, K-pop tops the charts and is featured on late-night talk shows. Whether or not you are a devout follower, you have probably encountered K-pop in some form. It was not until I went to Swarthmore that I have “become” Asian American. Back home, my friends are primarily either white or Vietnamese-American. And even though I did recognize that I had an “Asian” racial identity mapped onto me, I did not consider it to be based on any politics. After engaging with and working within Organizing to Redefine “Asian” Activism (ORAA) on campus, as well as taking this course, I have a better grasp of what it means to rally around an Asian American identity. It is a way to organize and resist. Reflecting on my political evolution, I feel comforted and alienated by the cultural weight of K-pop in America. It is amazing to see the gravity of cultural production shift away from the West. And to have global celebrities from Asia is great. Yet, K-pop is limited as a platform for Asian Americans to create identity. What are the consequences when mainstream ideas about contemporary “Asian” culture are still perpetually foreign from America? Is Asian American community just built around transnational cultural objects like K-pop and bubble tea? Does the economic and cultural capital of K-pop held by its idols obscure or erase the heterogeneity and multiplicity of Asian Americans?

Jason: The first time I heard K-Pop was when Gangnam Style came on during a middle school social event when everyone is standing in their social circles doing their best not to be awkward when teacher chaperones are constantly staring at the back of your head seeing if any wrongdoing would occur. At that time, I could never imagine the K-Pop revolution that would occur within the American music industry. Anytime I turn on the radio it is only a matter of time until a BTS song will start being blasted from the speakers. It is crazy to think that K-Pop has become so widespread within American popular culture that mainstream radio stations in Massachusetts are so willing to play K-Pop, even the billboards of 104.1 “Boston’s Best Variety” are plastered with BTS, because they know that is what their audience wants. Eight years ago, during that middle school social Gangnam Style was more about being able to do the dance that accompanied the song rather than the song itself. This has completely changed as more and more people are finding themselves becoming devout supporters of K-Pop. This class and project have continuously been pushing me out of my comfort zone by engaging in literature that I would never have read and discussions that I would never have imagined participating in. I have even listened to more K-Pop over the past couple of weeks than I had ever before in my life. I was impressed by myself when a song by BLACKPINK came on and the radio host said here’s some new music that I knew that the song was from their first album that came out around a month ago. I am grateful that I have been pushed out of my comfort zone and “forced (by having to actually do the homework)” to engage in the material of the class. Who knows how long this K-Pop fascination will last in American popular culture, but I am glad that I could be a part of it rather than letting it pass me by and staying within my comfortable music sphere of country, pop, and British rap.

#multiplicity #cyndi #jason #jimmy #madeline

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culturegopher-blog · 6 years

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Blog Entry #2 - Challenges

After developing the idea for my groundwork project, I instantly thought of all the different challenges that will accompany my goal. Some of those challenges are: my fear of a lack of noticeability, technology problems, and that I’m worried that I’m not the right person to talk about the problem I’m addressing. Even though these concerns are frightening I have analyzed how to overcome them.

For my groundwork project I want to start a digital campaign (The I’m Not a Threat movement) to bring more awareness to the victims of police brutality in the African American community. There are many different pieces to this project, on aspect that involves social media use, but no matter how amazing the project is the first challenge I will encounter is a lack of noticeability. I’ve been using all types of social media for years now and most of my followers are my friends and associates. If I was going to start a new social media page for the digital campaign how would I get followers? At first, I was worried but then I remembered that now you can pay for sponsored posts so that my pictures/statuses can reach a greater audience and if a viewer likes what they see then they can follow me back. I not worried about engagement or lack of interest because I know I’m focusing on a major modern dilemma, and I know that once people know about the project then they will engage and share.

Another aspect to the campaign is a website with interactive components. This is a technological issue for me because I don’t know how to build websites. I only now basic html5 and CSS, and I still don’t know enough to even build the most basic site. One temporary solution to this problem would be to just settle and use one of the major site building sites (Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.) until I find the right team to help me make my dream site. I’m wouldn’t wait till everything was perfect or how I envision it because I think it’s better to have information out there then to wait because I don’t know how long it will be till my website is fully finished,

The last and probably the most pressing challenge I’ve encountered and overcome is the fear that I’m not the right person to speak on police brutality since I myself am not a victim of it. Two years ago, when Freddie Gray died at the hands of the police, I was there marching for change. Even though I myself am not a victim I still feel the pain, fear, and frustration (on a much lower scale, I can only image how horrible those who are personally effected feel) of those effected by police brutality because in the bigger scope of things, police are more prone to kill me because I belong to the community they fear.

I’ve only been pulled over once in my entire life and it was a bad experience. One morning I was running late to work and got little careless and did a “Hollywood stop” at a stop sign. It was early, and no one was on the road, but the officer didn’t care. He was across the street hiding behind some trees. At first when his lights came on I thought he was just going to go by me and go to an emergency, so I decelerated and watched him from my mirrors. After about 10 seconds I then realized that he wanted to pull me over. So, I pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the officer to get out of his car. He took his time. In the near 5 minutes it took for the officer to get out of his car and walk over to mine, it felt like an hour had passed. As he walked closer to my car, my eye caught a glimpse of his gun and in an instant all the news, videos, and articles of young black men being killed by the hands of the police, I’ve seen throughout my entire life flashed before my eyes. I was terrified. I already had my window down (even though it was raining) and I had got my license and registration ready in an instant before he even stepped out of the car. Sadly, being black in America means that you must teach your kids what to say and do if they’re ever pulled over by the police to stay alive.

As he bent over I greeted him with a “good morning” but he was not in a cheerful mood. He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, at the time I had no idea, so I said, “I don’t know” but before I could even finish that short three-word sentence he cut me off saying “I pulled you over because you ran a stop sign.” Confused and reflecting on my morning commute, I tried to explain myself but before I could even say a word I was again interrupted with the infamous “License and Registration.” I handed over my identification and I tried to explain to the officer that I was running late for work, but he didn’t care, he walked away as I was in mid-sentence. He goes back into his car and runs my information. He was very rude and aggressive but that wasn’t the worst part. As I sat there and thought about the lecture I was going to receive when I arrive to work late, not one, but two police cars show up and box me in. There was one police car behind me, one in front of me, and believe it or not the third and last car was to the side of me. I looked over at the officer in the car besides me and our eyes met. I felt a powerful chill throughout my entire body in the miniscule piece of time that my eyes caught his cold gaze. “I was only pulled over for running a stop sign so why were there so many police officers?” I said to myself, but I knew why. I reached for my phone and in a panic, I sent about 20 messages each to my mom and my best friend explaining my current predicament. I sat there for 23 minutes, I remember this specifically because I was late for work and had to be there at ten and by the time I was pulled over it was exactly 10 a.m. Later I learned from coworkers, my parents, and friends that running someone license and registration doesn’t take more than five minutes and that it doesn’t take more than one officer.

Finally, after those long twenty minute the officer came back to my car, gave me a ticket (even though this was my first “offense”), said some more stuff, and then left with his gang. All of this happened on June 10, 2018 and that was when I decided that I wanted to do this project. During that time, I wasn’t even in graduate school yet and this assignment wasn’t even a thought in my brain. Even though I wasn’t a victim of the more extreme cases of police brutality I was still afraid and maybe if I was a little aggressive or rude back to the officer this would be a different story, not one told by me but one you’d see on the news and people would march about. I think I have a right to research and talk about this topic because even though I was unharmed there are many in my community who weren’t so lucky. Even if someone doesn’t think I should speak on it I don’t really care anymore just as long as the conversation is happening, and the ball of change is slowly rolling. I hope by doing this digital campaign it will make officers think twice before they reach for their guns, because now they will be held more accountable for their actions and everyone will know who they are and what they did, and that might invoke bigger ramifications in their personal and professional lives.

Some ethical dilemmas that I need to consider with this project is that I don’t want it to make it seem like I hate the police or that the police are bad. There are good police officers but sometimes a bad apple can make a whole bushel look bad! A lot of officers are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, etc. just like the victims of those who receive the worst from the bad officers. It’s just that since the police are in a position of power, they should hold themselves to a higher standard and be punished for doing wrong. In most of the major police brutality cases the officer usually on gets a few weeks probation and then he/she's back on the force or he’s transferred (a slap on the wrist). I think these are the types of people who have no business being policemen and that they should be fired. I would want to include the Black Lives Matter organization in my network along with the Black Youth Project 100, the NAACP, and Communities United Against Police Brutality.

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