Make way for The Baddest Female there is. Last month, 2ne1′s CL released her first solo single in over five years. Was she successful? You bet. In less than 24 hours after the video release of her solo single, she hit over 1 million views. Clearly, CL is ready to take the stage. Check out her photoshoot for Vogue July 2013- its nothing short of fierce.
Jessica Lee. The “Best Yearbook Quote” Award definitely goes to Jessica Lee. Her yearbook quote “Fluorine uranium carbon potassium bismuth technetium helium sulfur germanium thulium oxygen neon yttirum” seems innocent enough. Are we applauding her for her enthusiastic show of the periodic table? No, not necessarily. A closer look at her quote shows quite a different story. Decoded, it reads as:
(F) flourine (U) uranium (C) carbon (K) potassium (Bi) bismuth (Tc) technetium (He) helium (S) sulfur (Ge) germanium (Tm) thulium (O) oxygen (Ne) neon (Y) yttrium
And there you have it! Innocent elements of the periodic table turned into Notorious B.I.G. lyrics. Quite different from your average sentimental highschool yearbook quote, but then those didn’t win the award.
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We’ve all seen the endless jokes about Asians who work in nail salons, massage parlors, and donut shops. This is often an easy target for stand-up comedians such as Anjelah Johnson and her popular skit mimicking the Vietnamese nail salon workers:
Why is it such as easy target? Primarily because such businesses are in fact heavily intertwined in the Asian American community. Its easy for people to make fun of this and yet they don’t take the time to understand that this is a deeply rooted issue for Asian Americans that stems from early immigration into the U.S. These comedians don’t take the time to understand the hazardous effects that such an environment has on our community (such as chemical exposure from glues, polishes, etc. infecting the nail salon workers). To make matters worse, one of the more popular things to make fun of is the fact that Asians talk about their customers in their own language. Apparently, speaking in one’s native tongue automatically justifies suspicion of gossip.
Needless to say, over the years these places have often become correlated to the Asian American community. So when filming a hidden tv show to try and focus on racism towards Asians, where do they choose to film it? An Asian-owned nail salon, of course.
What Would You do? is an ABC hidden camera television show where actors perform scenarios of conflict in public. The show focuses on the bystanders to see how they react to such situations. Recently, they performed a skit in a nail salon with Asian actors performing as the workers. The Caucasian actress was told to be racially offensive and she performed her task with flying colors. She began to comment rudely on the worker’s quality of life (justifying herself with the fact that the worker didn’t understand English) and went on to make racial comments ranging from Asians being bad drivers, good at math, and all the other Asian stereotypes you can think of.
All this was performed in front of unknowing customers and sure enough, the customers reacted. I was pleasantly surprised with just how riled up the bystanders were concerning this blatant show of racism. During each instance, the other customers spoke up about the actress’ rudeness. It was evident that her comments were not okay and it is a simple reminder to us that not all is lost. Its easy for us to point out the number of racist instances that our community has endured, but we must not forget that this is not always the case. While this certainly doesn’t fix the larger issue at hand, it is a reminder that there are people who understand what we continuously face.
Check out the What Would You Do? skit here:
Fox News Anchor, Megyn Kelly, was quite irritated with some of the male news contributors. She decided to let them know exactly what she thought of their views- live on television.
The debate was concerning family dynamics. The men seemed to believe in the old-fashion nuclear family. One of the men, Erick Erikson summed up his views with the statement: “Kids most likely will do best in households where they have a mom at home nurturing them while dad is out bringing home the bacon.” Kelly, a working woman herself, would have none of it. She quickly intervened and began by saying,
“Who made you dominant and me submissive? And who died and made you scientist in chief?”
Erikson argued that its the feminists who believe that male and female roles are interchangeable and ultimately, such a belief is unhealthy for society. Apparently it is so unhealthy that it’s one of the reasons which lead to men walk away from their family and cause women to become single mothers. Yeah, because that makes sense.
“In modern society,” Erikson writes, “we’re not suppose to point out that children in two parent, heterosexual, neuclear households have a better chance at long term success than others. In modern society we’re suppose to applaud feminists who teach women they can have it all- that theres no gender identifying role.”
So how does Kelly respond? By pointing out that there is in fact data showing that children raised by homosexual couples are no worse than children raised by heterosexual couples. She gives plenty of data showing that children of working moms as oppose to stay at home moms are just as healthy and able to thrive in society. She argues that by having a homosexual couple raise a child or by having the mother work instead of being the one to nurture the child, the adults are absolutely not imposing a worse future on their children.
“Just because you have people who agree with you doesn’t mean its not offensive” Kelly added.
Of course, we applaud Kelly for standing up for all the “non-nuclear” families who should not be told that their children will not likely thrive. In the Asian-American community, the number of working women has clearly been increasing. Does this mean that the future of Asian Americans is headed for its downfall because we have more mothers “bringing home the bacon”? We didn’t think so either.
Watch the whole debate below:
June is officially here and with it comes something we’re all excited for- summer clothes. There has been no shortage of summer photoshoots showing the latest trends. Just about everyone seems to be ready to show off their summer look and this includes Korean actress, singer, and model Han Ye Seul. Although Han Ye Seul currently does most of her work in Korea, the artist was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Needless to say, she knows quite a bit about dressing up for the hot weather. Check out more from her cute summer fashion photoshoot for Highcut below:
Kia clearly made the right decision when they chose South Korean heartthrob Hyun Bin for their New K5 commercial. Known for his acting roles in dramas such as The Secret Garden, Hyun Bin has already gained the hearts of many. Here he uses his deep voice and hypnotizing eyes to make him a sure choice for today’s daily SHAG (Smoking Hot Asian Guy). Check out the commercial to give yourself yet another reason to be thankful for Friday:
We’re excited to announce that White Frog is now available on Video On Demand. Be sure to check out our interview with Harry Shum Jr. regarding his role in the film. You can access the film through the following outlets:
-WolfeOnDemand: http://muvi.es/w4159/149647
-Amazon Instant Video: http://amzn.com/B00D6BV65I
-iTunes (US & Canada): https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/white-frog/id650702174
-Vudu: http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!content/441777/White-Frog
-Xbox: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Movie/White-Frog/4886102c-d5a2-4b63-b710-d1df148ebae1
-Major cable providers including, but not limited to Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner
And be sure to check out the trailer below:
Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese and Andrew Lau are joining forces for the action-thriller Revenge of The Green Dragons. The film will revolve around the American-Chinese underworld of the 1980′s in New York City. Specifically, the film will follow two immigrant siblings fighting their way up the Green Dragon’s gang.
Much to our excitement, rumors have spread that Justin Chon and KevJumba are will star in the action thriller film. It is even said that Chon is learning Chinese for the lead role. If the rumors are true, you may catch them filming in New York City starting this month.
Tell what you think!
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Arizona has become infamous for its strict abortion bans, limited access to healthcare providers, and limited reproductive health education. What may not be as well known are the various ways that these restrictions can affect the Asian American women of the Arizona community.
Sponsors of the restrictive law have voiced the belief that Asian women prefer sons instead of daughters. This insulting stereotype is used as a justification- they believe that restrictions merely prevent abortions of Asian daughters. Because the law requires that the doctor determine the woman’s reason for an abortion, Asian women are placed in a difficult position with such a stereotype ruling against them.
In addition to this, anti-immigrant laws have played its role in Asian American women seeking healthcare. Although Asian-American immigrant families need health care just as much as the next person, their fear of the law enforcement separating their family prevents them from seeking medical attention. Worst of all, Arizona employees must prove that their use of birth control is for a medical reason. An employer can now fire a woman for using or seeking contraceptive coverage elsewhere.
All of this is in addition to the various cultural differences that often go unrecognized. Asian American women must already face the challenge of language barriers, economic pressures and cultural taboos toward sex. But rather than aid these women, laws have decided to further restrict them.
The Asian American women of Arizona have decided to put up a fight. An Arizona chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum was established. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the NAACP of Maricopa County and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. They are “challenging a state law that relies on harmful racial stereotypes to shame and discriminate against Black women and Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women who decide to end their pregnancies.”
In April, we named Lee Byung Hun one of Audrey’s Daily S.H.A.G.s (Smoking Hot Asian Guy). Clearly, Lee Min Jung agreed with us. Earlier today, it was announced that the two South Korean actors are tying the knot this August in Seoul. After an on and off relationship, the two were dubbed the “power couple” of the Korean entertainment industry after finally going public about their relationship last year. The couple has received quite a bit of support from fans and they hope the support will continue as they take their next step into marriage.
Lee Byung Hun began his acting career in Korea and became more known in the U.S. for roles such as Storm Shadow G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and more recently G.I. Joe: Retaliation. He will also appear in Red 2 which is out in theaters later this summer.
Lee Min Jung debuted in the Korean Entertainment industry at the age of 25. She had her big break though with her role in the popular drama Boys Over Flowers. She is continuing to gain popularity through her television and film work in South Korea.
We wish the best to these two and hope that their marriage is successful!
