In a poem called I’m a Woman Not a Flava, the girls use sarcasm and humor to display there frustrations with how society and the media view an Asian American women.  They cover things like how we are looked as these erotic mysterious “dragon ladies”.  A line Michelle said was talking about how “imitation is the best form of flattery…” she then goes on to saying something on the lines of cultural appropriation being used as something sexual, and how the use of orientalizing pornography and other forms merchandise frustrates her.  The idea of sex sells, turns into the idea of an Asian women sells.

Catzie also discusses the use of females taking chopsticks and twisting them in their hair because it’s so trendy.  The continue on with this topic on how America has used aspects of the Asian women to sell as a fashion statement forgetting that is other people’s culture.

My feelings going off what this group had to say are very similar.  I feel that in the media, Asian American women are portrayed as these sex kittens.  If they aren’t in a movie playing some kind of fighter, they are shown as these prostitutes to some higher man.  The word geisha does not mean sex, but in movies and television it is used to display a sexual women rather than a culture.

I found also that this poem hits so close to me, because this is something I will never forget for the rest of my life… when I was walking down College Ave. at Rutgers University toward my car, these two white men where standing outside smoking a cigarette and asked me if I was lost.  They then continued on with inviting me to the party they were at and pointed out that I was Asian and went on to saying that they’ve never had that flavor before. I then flipped out on him and told him that this wasn’t Baskin Robins.

It’s just annoying to me how Asians in general are portrayed in the media as things like if you are a male, a nerd or some kung-fu master and a women is portrayed as this sexy dragon lady.  I was at an Asian American conference this semester where I went to an artists panel discussing Asian American artists and their role in the media.  It’s sad how there hasn’t really been any Asian American in the music industry that hasn’t made it in the United States.  When someone had asked the two artists that were there answering questions, one of them (Manny Garcia) had answered on the lines as when it does happen it will most likely be an Asian American women because of the whole “sex sells” influence.

I can’t wait for the day that we Asian American women are looked at in society as something they are.  Smart, talented, and cultured not just one thing… all of this doesn’t just go with us but I’m sure applies to other women in a different race.

fem·i·nism Pronunciation: \ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm\

Function: noun

Date: 1895

the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

After the name change a number of people wrote on the group’s page voicing dislike for the new name, one woman even posted, “Sorry buddy, but I just can’t stay in a group called ‘Feminist Loudmouths’ with a clean conscience.  I liked the ‘Equal Writes’ though.” A clear conscience?  Well, I guess I can’t hide behind a different name with a clear conscience either.  By putting the word feminist in our title we are not holding back.  And read our posts, they are nothing radical.  They are asking for equality, not a call for the exclusion of men from the constitution or anything (but from the sounds of the posts on the Facebook page you would think we were calling for something of that sort).

Through just this little Facebook group, it is apparent that fear and backlash of the word “feminism” runs deep.  The woman who posted went so far as to say it went against her conscience.  Feminists cannot hide behind other words that have more mass appeal.  We are feminists, and we want equal rights.  This does not make us radical or extreme, this makes us brave and bold and shows that we stand up for what we believe in.   I would love to be able to call myself a humanist, but that would mean that men and women are equal in society and that is simply not true.  What we believe in is feminism, total equality for both sexes.

“I already know there are women who are dying whose lives we could have saved with mammography and other detections,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the society.  “This is rationing of health care by offering (screenings) only in the first half of the fiscal year, or by cutting back on those programs.  It’s rationing that is leading to people dying.”