Comments on: Model Minorities: Cbruh’s Two Cents

By: Justin Woo

Justin Woo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:19:21 +0000

Really interesting thoughts here. You’re walking in a minefield here, and one I would’ve avoided. You’re brave as hell, and I salute you for that. I think re-examining who we pick, how we pick them, and what we say about them is important. Nice stuff.

By: yuey

yuey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:06:17 +0000

Hey thanks for the update. I guess it’s perceived differently here as Perth is a very small city and everyone knows everyone one way or the other, especially if they’re famous (Shaun Tan, Heath Ledger, Gemma Ward etc) and if Perth people were asked to name a model from Perth, regardless of race, Gomes would have been named in the top five.

You’ve got a wide target audience and she may not be as well known internationally.

On the bright side, at least you didn’t name Megan Gale (half poly) given that Americans use the AAPI banner a lot.

Look forward to seeing your other model minorities and hopefully some unknowns too.

By: sherdizzle

sherdizzle — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:52:20 +0000

whereas i understand the context of flipping the script on the “model minority” phrase to be used to uplift api women in a positive light, i must agree that the use of a mixed race female was probably not the most strategic choice. while tryin to address the issue of the lack of visibility of our folks in industries such as modeling, fashion, media, etc., the use of a mixed race female reinforced the mythical idea that mixed folks are better looking than non mixed folks. we all too often see the lighter skinned, mixed race person on television, just turn on cnn and see for yourself (i’m talkin about you betty nguyen and tj holmes!). if you’re tryin bring visibility to our folks by countering a term that has negatively impacted api’s, then do it justice by using it to embrace our truly invisible models…. the darker skinned api folks. perhaps, therein lies the challenge. do they even exist in google land?

additionally, just because api women are often sexualized and equated to food, doesn’t mean it’s something that needs to be embraced in a space like BcB. as politicized bloggers, it’s important to send a message of social responsibility and understand that whatever gets put up in this blogosphere is read by people from all political views and values. it’s one thing for us to have conversations internally about these hot item issues amongst like minded folks who understand the underlying message and tone that is meant through these conversations, but it’s another thing to put it out there in an open space where it can be misinterpreted and taken very inappropriately.

By: bigWOWO

bigWOWO — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:11:47 +0000

I liked azn’s choice, although I see what you’re saying about picking a “full” model for the kickoff.

I think at certain stages, we need to roll with certain portrayals. Equating Asian or mixed race women with food is something that is done very often. I know what you’re saying. However…it’s hard to be too intellectual when doing something around modeling. Sex and food kinda…just come into the picture. Maybe it makes sense to make allowances for this?

The upside is that by focusing on models, we do get the representation that you guys seem to be shooting for with respect to the model minority series.

Here’s an example: Today, I blogged about Miss Saigon:

http://www.bigwowo.com/2010/03/miss-saigon-bigwowo-review

I thought the musical was hella racist against Asian men–they even put two White dudes in yellow face to underscore the point! However, I can’t deny that it did wonders for Lea Salonga, nor can I deny that there is a real human portrayal in the Asian female lead’s character. So this is why I gave it a pretty high rating. I also said that it might be useful to use Miss Saigon as a means of moving ideas among Asian Americans. If we can roll with certain portrayals, maybe we can find what we appreciate and discard what we don’t?