Wednesday, July 29, 2009
What is Beautiful?
I found this short film so compelling and so relevant to how Asian American women perceive themselves that I had to share it. To read more about the film click here.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Who is Miss Asia?
The Friday before last, I went in to the MRBI station do a few radio spots to promote Miss Asia. My half hour conversation with Sunny, one of the "talent" at MRBI, turned into 45 minutes and then into an hour, partially because I don't normally get to have conversations about how to do effective out-reach to the AA community, and partially because I think Sunny wanted me to say something less intellectual and I wasn't doing it.
The spots are centered around what makes a great pageant contestant and what being in a pageant can do for a contestant. We had a great, fun conversation, but Sunny was convinced that people just want to hear what they have heard before, which is something like: beauty pageants are not just about outer beauty but also inner beauty-- giving contestants the chance to showcase and explore their beauty, or about how style can reflect one's personality and being asked to evaluate and discover personal style can do wonders for one's self-esteem.
Not that I don't agree with these statements, but I strongly feel like bringing Miss Asia from Asia to the US has much more interesting implications for contestants than what we've already been fed about beauty pageants in the past.
In many ways, the young women who participate in beauty contests created for specific ethnic communities in the US become part of the glue which holds the community together. This is true especially of the Asian American community since we simply do not have many of the kind of community driven traditions it takes to breed cohesiveness, and beauty pageants by nature have the power to drive it.
That said, there are similar programs within the US already in place today, organizations which are well established, largely successful and serve their communities well, such as Nisei Queen (held in LA) and Miss Chinatown (various cities across the US), but are divided along ethnic cultural lines. As well attended and supported as these ethnically specific contests are, when there is a competition such as Miss Asian America, the power to unite Asians as Americans is tenfold. If you look at the Miss Asian America sponsorship list alone, "the proof of pudding is in the eating." When faced with something of that scale, Asian Americans can not be denied as an integral piece of what makes America, America.
Now take it out of the US and put it on the world stage. It's another way for Asian Americans to represent America proudly, another reason for America to claim Asian Americans as its own, another reason for other Americans view us as their own. The producers at ATV are recognizing Asian Americans as an important population, we should too.
After about an hour of bantering back and forth to come up with ideas we could agree on for the record, Sunny got some sound bites about how Miss Asia is about inner and outer beauty and I got to add one quality that I believe is key to the perfect candidate: Community Savvy-- someone who has a good perception of what it truly can mean to be Miss Asia New York, Miss Asia Los Angeles or Miss Asia San Francisco.
Are you the next Miss Asia? Applications are still open for the west coast regionals: www.sundayusa.us/missasia/.
The spots are centered around what makes a great pageant contestant and what being in a pageant can do for a contestant. We had a great, fun conversation, but Sunny was convinced that people just want to hear what they have heard before, which is something like: beauty pageants are not just about outer beauty but also inner beauty-- giving contestants the chance to showcase and explore their beauty, or about how style can reflect one's personality and being asked to evaluate and discover personal style can do wonders for one's self-esteem.
Not that I don't agree with these statements, but I strongly feel like bringing Miss Asia from Asia to the US has much more interesting implications for contestants than what we've already been fed about beauty pageants in the past.
In many ways, the young women who participate in beauty contests created for specific ethnic communities in the US become part of the glue which holds the community together. This is true especially of the Asian American community since we simply do not have many of the kind of community driven traditions it takes to breed cohesiveness, and beauty pageants by nature have the power to drive it.
That said, there are similar programs within the US already in place today, organizations which are well established, largely successful and serve their communities well, such as Nisei Queen (held in LA) and Miss Chinatown (various cities across the US), but are divided along ethnic cultural lines. As well attended and supported as these ethnically specific contests are, when there is a competition such as Miss Asian America, the power to unite Asians as Americans is tenfold. If you look at the Miss Asian America sponsorship list alone, "the proof of pudding is in the eating." When faced with something of that scale, Asian Americans can not be denied as an integral piece of what makes America, America.
Now take it out of the US and put it on the world stage. It's another way for Asian Americans to represent America proudly, another reason for America to claim Asian Americans as its own, another reason for other Americans view us as their own. The producers at ATV are recognizing Asian Americans as an important population, we should too.
After about an hour of bantering back and forth to come up with ideas we could agree on for the record, Sunny got some sound bites about how Miss Asia is about inner and outer beauty and I got to add one quality that I believe is key to the perfect candidate: Community Savvy-- someone who has a good perception of what it truly can mean to be Miss Asia New York, Miss Asia Los Angeles or Miss Asia San Francisco.
Are you the next Miss Asia? Applications are still open for the west coast regionals: www.sundayusa.us/missasia/.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Desparately Seeking...
Right in the middle of a busy day of possible sponsor gathering, my dear friend Gabe called. After a few minutes of chatting about a project he and I have been brewing for some time now, he asked me this age old question:
"Since you are working on this Miss Asia thing, I thought, maybe you are the right person to ask. I'm looking for sponsorships for this thing I am working on...how do you do it?"
Well my dearest Gabe, if there is some big secret to gaining sponsorships I really wish someone would just cough it up. Cheesy as it sounds, I've just been tackling it like I have done with every other project in my life, by just doing it.
Instead, a better question is how do you get over the hump each day to make yourself do it, because for me that has been and always is the biggest challenge. It can be very overwhelming to face the day to day tasks of sponsorship seeking, especially when you are under a time crunch. And frankly, you are always under a time crunch. For my curious friends and for Gabe, here is how I've been breaking it down:
1. Do some research and then use it. Call people. Lots of people are going to tell you, to get anywhere in life, especially in this area, it's all who you know... but how are you going to know people if you don't go out and find people to know.
2. You know more people than you think. Both to my detriment and to my advantage, I have always utilized my network. Before you start any project, make lists, figure out what you need and figure out who you know that might be connected to that goal and then contact them.
3. Have a Plan A and a Plan B. Set reasonable deadlines. You aren't always going to get exactly what you want but you can still do a good job by utilizing your resources in the best possible way. Know your goals. Know your limitations. Use them to your advantage.
4. No sometimes means yes, just not today. Just because someone says no doesn't mean that it's over. Hang on to every piece of information you have gathered, it maybe useful for later, maybe for a project down the road, or you may realize that you can come back with a different angle.
5. Tell people what you are up to. You would be surprised what will fall in your lap.
So, how is Miss Asia shaping up, you ask?
Just Swell, my friends, just swell. *wink*
"Since you are working on this Miss Asia thing, I thought, maybe you are the right person to ask. I'm looking for sponsorships for this thing I am working on...how do you do it?"
Well my dearest Gabe, if there is some big secret to gaining sponsorships I really wish someone would just cough it up. Cheesy as it sounds, I've just been tackling it like I have done with every other project in my life, by just doing it.
Instead, a better question is how do you get over the hump each day to make yourself do it, because for me that has been and always is the biggest challenge. It can be very overwhelming to face the day to day tasks of sponsorship seeking, especially when you are under a time crunch. And frankly, you are always under a time crunch. For my curious friends and for Gabe, here is how I've been breaking it down:
1. Do some research and then use it. Call people. Lots of people are going to tell you, to get anywhere in life, especially in this area, it's all who you know... but how are you going to know people if you don't go out and find people to know.
2. You know more people than you think. Both to my detriment and to my advantage, I have always utilized my network. Before you start any project, make lists, figure out what you need and figure out who you know that might be connected to that goal and then contact them.
3. Have a Plan A and a Plan B. Set reasonable deadlines. You aren't always going to get exactly what you want but you can still do a good job by utilizing your resources in the best possible way. Know your goals. Know your limitations. Use them to your advantage.
4. No sometimes means yes, just not today. Just because someone says no doesn't mean that it's over. Hang on to every piece of information you have gathered, it maybe useful for later, maybe for a project down the road, or you may realize that you can come back with a different angle.
5. Tell people what you are up to. You would be surprised what will fall in your lap.
So, how is Miss Asia shaping up, you ask?
Just Swell, my friends, just swell. *wink*
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Why Miss Asia?
If you thought I left my days of Asian American community activities (and activism) behind with Altra... SURPRISE, I'm back. My newest incarnation is US Image Director of ATV's Miss Asia pageants.
I know, I know...
"What?!?"
"Alice...noo..."
Try not to judge! Before you start erasing my name from your list of favorite AA feminists give me a chance.
When I think of beauty pageants this quote from my favorite Asian American comedienne, Margaret Cho comes to mind:
"It's this idea of beauty as being a rumor that becomes true in the re-telling."
Growing up, blissfully living the American Dream in a predominantly caucasian suburb, I was never what you might call "disadvantaged." And I won't lie and say that I didn't have a healthy perception of my physical appearance either. My aunts and uncles doted on me, always suggesting that I'd grow up and compete in Hong Kong for one of the coveted beauty queen tiles. Or that I'd be Miss Chinatown, Houston.
But this in itself poses an interesting question: Why do I have to travel to Hong Kong to be beautiful? Why am I only beautiful within the confines of Chinatown? I didn't even live in Chinatown! Seeing nothing but Texas blond beauty queens on TV didn't help either. It was exciting for me if there was a brunette Miss America (Lynda Carter!), because that was the closest thing to an American role model who looked like me, and was praised for her beauty and to a certain extent, her intelligence.
This brings us back to what Margaret said.
One of those beauty pageants that my aunts and uncles fantasized that I would fly off to Hong Kong and compete in, ATV's Miss Asia, founded in 1985, is now acknowledging that there is a significant and important Asian population here in the United States. Originally only open to Los Angeles women, the competition is now open to New York and San Francisco, for the first time in the three years ATV has invited the US to send a representative over. We now get three representatives, three ladies to send to Asia and show how Asians who grow up in the United States are awesome enough to act as a representative of Asian awesomeness to the world.
So how does what Margaret said apply to Miss Asia in America, especially because it's still "Miss Asia," and especially because the girls who win the 3 US regionals still go to Hong Kong to compete for the final titles?
Well, because we aren't Asians in Hong Kong. We are Americans. We are ambassadors of our community, of our country. And the ladies who are chosen here, in the process of being chosen, they rally the community around them, they become role models.
Now that there are three regional competitions, the access has tripled. Girls from all over the US are welcome to apply as long as they are willing and able to travel to the respective locations for trials and the actual pageant. If you can come from Texas and compete in California or New York, even better. Bring your community with you.
For my generation and the generations before me, there were very few visible or popular Asian American role models. Asian American girls, like all other women of color were always forced to put their beauty in context. The producers of All American Girl told Margaret that she was "too Asian" looking and not relatable to the American public. Getting canned for not being funny is one thing, but fired for looking like you do, off a show based on your life?
I think it's about time that we had a forum here in America that is not just confined to individual communities, that is not just contained within the US, that encourages Asian American girls to embrace their beauty and gives them the opportunity to reshape the perception of "beautiful" in America. I think it's about time we had the opportunity to represent America in this capacity because Asian American women should be proud and know they are beautiful just because they are.
Represent. Apply. www.sundayusa.us/missasia/
I know, I know...
"What?!?"
"Alice...noo..."
Try not to judge! Before you start erasing my name from your list of favorite AA feminists give me a chance.
When I think of beauty pageants this quote from my favorite Asian American comedienne, Margaret Cho comes to mind:
"It's this idea of beauty as being a rumor that becomes true in the re-telling."
Growing up, blissfully living the American Dream in a predominantly caucasian suburb, I was never what you might call "disadvantaged." And I won't lie and say that I didn't have a healthy perception of my physical appearance either. My aunts and uncles doted on me, always suggesting that I'd grow up and compete in Hong Kong for one of the coveted beauty queen tiles. Or that I'd be Miss Chinatown, Houston.
But this in itself poses an interesting question: Why do I have to travel to Hong Kong to be beautiful? Why am I only beautiful within the confines of Chinatown? I didn't even live in Chinatown! Seeing nothing but Texas blond beauty queens on TV didn't help either. It was exciting for me if there was a brunette Miss America (Lynda Carter!), because that was the closest thing to an American role model who looked like me, and was praised for her beauty and to a certain extent, her intelligence.
This brings us back to what Margaret said.
One of those beauty pageants that my aunts and uncles fantasized that I would fly off to Hong Kong and compete in, ATV's Miss Asia, founded in 1985, is now acknowledging that there is a significant and important Asian population here in the United States. Originally only open to Los Angeles women, the competition is now open to New York and San Francisco, for the first time in the three years ATV has invited the US to send a representative over. We now get three representatives, three ladies to send to Asia and show how Asians who grow up in the United States are awesome enough to act as a representative of Asian awesomeness to the world.
So how does what Margaret said apply to Miss Asia in America, especially because it's still "Miss Asia," and especially because the girls who win the 3 US regionals still go to Hong Kong to compete for the final titles?
Well, because we aren't Asians in Hong Kong. We are Americans. We are ambassadors of our community, of our country. And the ladies who are chosen here, in the process of being chosen, they rally the community around them, they become role models.
Now that there are three regional competitions, the access has tripled. Girls from all over the US are welcome to apply as long as they are willing and able to travel to the respective locations for trials and the actual pageant. If you can come from Texas and compete in California or New York, even better. Bring your community with you.
For my generation and the generations before me, there were very few visible or popular Asian American role models. Asian American girls, like all other women of color were always forced to put their beauty in context. The producers of All American Girl told Margaret that she was "too Asian" looking and not relatable to the American public. Getting canned for not being funny is one thing, but fired for looking like you do, off a show based on your life?
I think it's about time that we had a forum here in America that is not just confined to individual communities, that is not just contained within the US, that encourages Asian American girls to embrace their beauty and gives them the opportunity to reshape the perception of "beautiful" in America. I think it's about time we had the opportunity to represent America in this capacity because Asian American women should be proud and know they are beautiful just because they are.
Represent. Apply. www.sundayusa.us/missasia/
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