White guy launches magazine for Asiaphiles, I mean Asians
CVK
There’s been a TON of discussion about this story in the blogosphere. Of course, Angry Asian Man has been all over it, but I also want to thank Eric and Christopher for emailing us about it!
Hmmm… where do I begin? Well basically, a white guy born and bred in Boston is launching a freebie magazine called Asian Boston. He himself has never been to Asia and knows nothing about Asian or Asian-American culture other than having a Vietnamese girlfriend. This Boston Herald article quotes him as saying:
“I just think they’re a beautiful people, and I respect their culture,” he says. ”It’s everything about them — their food, traditional dress, their arts and entertainment. I feel I connect to them in a way that’s hard to describe. I hope they appreciate me for appreciating them.”
Uh yeah dude. We really appreciate the objectification. Thanks.
The article goes on to describe the magazine in pretty unflattering terms. It sounds to me like he’s targeting the Asiaphile demographic, since the magazine appears to be little more than a catalog of photos of Asian women:
…the cover of Ballou’s 40-page glossy features a venerable, circulation-boosting ploy: a scantily clad woman flashing a well-lipsticked, come-hither pout. Just above the slender Asian’s bare midriff, the magazine promises to introduce readers to ”the essence of the Far-East Asian Women of New England.”
…Between more than a dozen ads… there are more pictures of sultry women, 11 full pages of them. (The index directs the reader to a website if they want to ”hire Asian Boston models . . . for your media event or venue.”)
I gotta agree with Hyphen on this. It is NOT okay for an outsider–with zero knowledge/experience of Asian or Asian-American culture to create media “for Asians.” From the Hyphen blog:
Splattering images of half-naked Asian women does not scream “for me.” It’s offensive when Asian guys (think Sam) do it, much moreso when it’s a white guy. C’mon, are we THAT silent that other people can make up media “for us”?
It’s good to see that people are speaking out against this piece of crap. Check out this letter to the editor from Giles Li:
That he wants to introduce readers to ”the essence of the Far-East Asian Women of New England” by including several pages of scantily clad models is an insult to all women who have been the leaders and backbone of our communities. Not only is his hyper-sexual ”magazine” laughably narrow in its portrayal of Asian women (by the way, ”Far-East” isn’t a term that thoughtful people use nowadays) in New England, it is also offensive to claim any group of people has an ”essence” — the use of such language dehumanizes Asian women, putting them on a level with perfumes and foods.
Here’s the magazine’s Web site and its myspace page. Christopher pretty much summed it up in his email to us:
Personally, I feel like I need a shower after looking at his webpage. Everything about it, from the pictures of Asian women wearing cheongsams to his ads requesting an Asian female singer (”only requirement is a thick Asian accent!”) just screams “fetish”!
eric wrote:
Whats hilarious is this guy has all these women dressed up in Suzy Wong dresses, long jet black hair, and demure looks on their faces. Apparently I’ve been missing something living here in Boston, as 98% of the Asian people I know actually dress like everyone else, have diverse hairstyles like everyone else, and *shock* aren’t submissive sex kittens!
Whats annoying is this clown feels empowered to even attempt something like this. That in itself is the ultimate form of disrespect to a culture. “Hey, I don’t know anything about this culture, except for my girlfriend (whos not Far-Eastern btw :)), so I’m going to create a magazine that educates asians and non-asians about asian culture!”
Whats infuriating is that I’m reasonably certain that it would be easier for him to get funding for something like, then a minority trying to start a magazine for minorities :/
Posted 10 Apr 2006 at 12:48 pm ¶
caroline wrote:
I went to school in Boston, and it’s sad to say, but during those 4 years, I had never been called a “chink” so much in my entire life. I also had never been approached by so many men with Asian fetishes. What is it with Boston?
This magazine angers me, but it also doesn’t surprise me. Boston is obviously a very academic city, but it is also a segregated city with its own problems with racism — an interesting coexistence.
Can we come together and write a letter to the Boston Globe urging people to boycott this magazine?
Who’s in?
Posted 10 Apr 2006 at 1:39 pm ¶
Bohemian Writer wrote:
^^^^caroline, I’m with you! Just tell me when & where we can start this petition!
Posted 10 Apr 2006 at 1:59 pm ¶
Merq wrote:
Neither East Asian (or Asian at all, actually) nor female. But shit, I’m in. By the way, Caroline, Boston is indeed an incredibly racist city.
Posted 10 Apr 2006 at 3:39 pm ¶
eric wrote:
yeah, I’m from the bean, and the racism and segregation is pretty intense. Whats funny is that Boston considers itself a city on par with NY, LA, Chi, Philly etc in terms of “diversity”.
My fathers side of the family is from Memphis TN, and when they come up to visit they always point out how hard it’d be for them to live here cause of how racist it is
Posted 10 Apr 2006 at 5:35 pm ¶
Gene Ming wrote:
If you are interested in sharing your thoughts on the Asian Boston magazine, please contribute to the growing wikipedia entry about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Boston
Posted 17 Apr 2006 at 6:32 am ¶
Joe wrote:
Although I have yet to see the magazine (and I hope that those who outright condemn it have), everything I’ve seen about it certainly indicates that it’s a product of the systemic, albeit subtle racism in contemporary society. However, I think that some of the criticisms against “Asian Boston” are problematic and have their roots in the same racism (yes people can hold stereotypes against their own “race”)
I take issue specifically with this quote:
“I gotta agree with Hyphen on this. It is NOT okay for an outsider–with zero knowledge/experience of Asian or Asian-American culture to create media “for Asians.” From the Hyphen blog:
Splattering images of half-naked Asian women does not scream “for me.” It’s offensive when Asian guys (think Sam) do it, much moreso when it’s a white guy. C’mon, are we THAT silent that other people can make up media “for us”?”
The Hyphen comment starts off well and then divebombs. The “us” and “them” mentality is a product (and the primary fuel) of contemporary racism. “Boston Asian” should certainly discuss issues relevant to Asian American communties instead of just plastering pics of scantily clad Asian women on every page. But if it did, would it still be less “valuable”; would it hold less insight because the publisher is white? Maybe. But aren’t such assumptions racist? Judging someone’s knowledge and value by the quantity of melanin in their flesh certainly seems racist to me.
Well he’s not part of the “culture” you may say. But what is this culture anyway? Would an Asian male publisher have any valuable insights on the problems of Asian women in America? Would a middle class Asian have any idea of the issues relevant to the homeless Asian population in the U.S. - the population that is all too readily ignored? What about first generation immigrants vs. second generation? Chinese vs. Japanese vs. Thai vs. Bhutanese? The very idea that an “Asian” has more insight than a “white” Bostonian comes from the archaic and Orientalist viewpoint that all Asian are…that’s right: the same.
The only real difference between Asians and whites is that society tells us we are different. Are our experiences qualitatively different? Absolutely. Asians experience racism because they are Asian; whites do not. But every person’s experience is qualitatively different from every other person’s experience on the planet. What makes the experience of race more important than that of class, gender or religion? And could the fact that we think it is be a product of a racist society? The bottomline is that in order to meaningfully write about issues relevant to Asian Americans, there needs to be dialogue between Mr. Ballou and members of the (various!) Asian American communities. He can do this by hiring Asian writers, or polling the public on what issues they’d like to see discussed. But I should certainly hope that the Asian man publishing a magazine about women, or the middle class Asian publishing an article about the homeless, or that third generation Japanese writer discussing the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants has had similar dialogue before deciding that their expertise lies in the continental origin of their ancestors.
If you’re going to fire Mr. Ballou, fire him for the crap he publishes - not for the color of his skin.
Posted 17 Apr 2006 at 1:15 pm ¶
Genny wrote:
the point is, Joe, that what you reductively characterize as “the color of his skin” is the root of the problem: the privileged entitlement that whiteness takes in casually appropriating any and all other cultures and races. but perhaps you should do some reading and actually study racial politics before contributing your drivel to the conversations of thoughtful people. thanks, though.
Posted 18 Apr 2006 at 10:06 am ¶
Joe wrote:
I’ve read quite a lot on racial politics and have apparently come to different conclusions than you. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Posted 18 Apr 2006 at 3:44 pm ¶
anh wrote:
i’m the person in the boston globe article who made the comment about ballou portraying asian women as sex kittens and i’ve read the magazine and i’ve had a conversation with mr. ballou about the content of his magazine. and i have to agree with joe.
the editor of the newspaper that i work for (sampan) is white and he has enough sensitivity to understand asian american issues and is committed to reporting issues that affect the asian community. it’s hard to get an asian american to step up to the plate and take on the role as english editor of a small non-profit newspaper that pays less than 30k a year. the sampan newspaper has been around since 1972 and i can’t even tell you the last time an asian headed the newspaper. point being: if it weren’t for a lot of white guys, a paper that is committed to covering only asian american issues wouldn’t even be published.
i don’t believe that you have to be asian to know that when someone calls you “chink” it’s bullshit and racist. i think a lot of non-asians saw the asian boston magazine and knew that it was bad. the problem with ballou isn’t that he’s white – the problem is he’s ignorant. there are plenty of ignorant asians living in boston who’s screwing it up for the rest of us. ballou has no memory or knowledge of what it’s like to be an asian in boston and he basically galloped in like a cowboy and set boston asians back – undoing what our predecessors did. but a lot of boston asians do the same damn thing.
i’m glad ballou published this magazine because we now have dialogue. but talking gets old after awhile. hopefully we’ll have some action soon – especially from the asian community.
joe – i won’t be dismissive when you try to talk to me about race issues. i’m glad that you’re thinking about it. i won’t pull the race card either and act like you can’t talk about the subject (assuming you’re not a minority).
Posted 20 Apr 2006 at 10:39 pm ¶
John wrote:
anh, I agree that you don’t have to be Asian to be sensitive to Asian issues.
But you see nothing wrong with your statement- “I can’t even tell you the last time an Asian headed the (Sampan) newspaper”?
I bring this to your attention because there have been studies on the lack of minority representaion in media institutions (one study was mentioned on this blog). I’m no expert, but the two main factors seem to be cronyism & low pay (and not the lack of interest from qualified minority editors, writers, etc).
Anyway, Boston’s Sampan is off topic…
What’s really distressing here are the Asian American businesses that are in bed w/ Asian Boston.
Posted 21 Apr 2006 at 8:58 pm ¶
anh wrote:
sampan is off the topic but i only mentioned it to show that i’m not merely an observer and that i am only talking from reading race relations in books. i don’t know if anyone on this site read the magazine or had a conversation w/ ballou or have experience in media and wanted other people to know that i have. i also wanted to reveal my identity and not hide behind a web identiity. you can make your judgement on whether my statements are credible or not based on what i’ve told you.
and actually, there is a lack of interest from qualified minority editors/writers to work at small, start-up ethnic newspapers. atleast from our experience. actually, this was discussion topic at the ethnic media conference at umass boston about two weeks ago. do you know that there isn’t a lack of interest from qualified minority writers? and, our payrates are similar to larger papers in the area.
anyway, how do you suppose the community take action?
Posted 22 Apr 2006 at 12:25 pm ¶
John wrote:
ahn,
If you want to mention Sampan as a professional qualification- that’s cool.
I personally didn’t mean to stray “off topic” in my comment (I have a habbit of doing that & was actually going to rant on Boston’s reputation for segregation). When I said “off topic” it had nothing to do w/ you.
As for your conversation w/ Ballou… what could one gain from that?
The guy doesn’t believe he’s publishing a fetish rag. Sorry, but I just don’t see any personal growth in this guy’s future, aside from the boner when he’s going through model headshots.
“do you know that there isn’t a lack of interest from qualified minority writers?”
I’ve worked for a popular internationally published magazine, but check out
http://www.gawker.com/news/race/gawkers-special-correspondent-for-brownpeople-issues-nyo-on-lilywhite-magland-148076.php
or check out CVK’s opinion on the Gawker article.
“how do you suppose the community take action?”
Boston’s your town, bro.
The elder seniors probably wouldn’t take this issue seriously because they’ve delt w/ much harsher things in their time.
As for the Asian American businesses and models involved, what can ya do… call Michael Tow an ignorant FOB and scream morality lessons at the girls?
I guess the logical answer: organize & educate.
Sampan’s got your back, right?
Get a group of people together to educate businesses/potential advertisers… get local artists, musicians, actors & comedians to refuse Asian Boston interviews… get the models in Import Tuner where they belong (kidding)…
You’ve got a major story here, bro!
Posted 22 Apr 2006 at 9:38 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
My boy John is wicked cool.
Please understand this is no offense to Ahn. The (mostly) closed ranks in the magazines, newspapers, broadcast news is no secret to anyone in the biz. How could she not know this and wasn’t this discussed in the umass conference? Her statements are from media experience not books but is the Boston Chinatown paper her media experience?
Does she know for a fact that there have been no qualified Chinese Americans interested in stepping up to the plate at Sampan in the last 5, 10, 15, or how many years?
Posted 23 Apr 2006 at 5:11 pm ¶
chowdahead wrote:
^typos are a pain. slow down!
Posted 24 Apr 2006 at 3:07 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
Wonder if people are angry enough to follow through with the “Boston Globe petition” and “organize/educate” plan?
Posted 24 Apr 2006 at 5:47 pm ¶
anh wrote:
thanks for the advice john. no offense taken about your comments. i realized i sound curt when i write.
concerning the advertisers, we can’t blame them for advertising because most advertisers don’t know the content of the publication until it’s printed. that’s just my opinion.
and yes, my experience is only with the small grassroots publication. and i do know that there hasn’t been qualified asian american writers that want to step up to head the paper in the past 15 years, atleast. and i do realize that it may be our fault for making the editor’s position so difficult. it really is a thankless job but someone’s gotta do it.
Posted 05 May 2006 at 10:29 am ¶
the point is, "Joe" blows wrote:
Genny-
“privileged entitlement of whiteness takes in casually appropriating any and all cultures and races”
YES! THANK YOU GENNY!
NOTICE HOW “Joe” DOESN’T ADDRESS THIS STATEMENT.
Ahn,
If you re-read Genny’s comment, I think you will find that you misunderstood what she was saying.
Posted 19 May 2006 at 4:16 pm ¶
Ron wrote:
Among major cities Boston is by far the most racist of new england if not top 5 in the entire U.S today. And that’s not just toward asian, its all minority groups. Having multiple friends from the deep south, we were shocked when we moved up here for a year long company project. I am white btw, born SC, but always had a strong interest in chinese culture.
I have not found one bar in Boston that has a decent blend of whites and minorities. The city would be 100% white if it was not for the colleges in the area. They might work together, but they certainly don’t live togehter. A magazine mis-launch like this did not surprise me. Try relaunching the mag from CA or NY next time. At least the people there have an understanding of minorities, especially asians.
Posted 03 Aug 2006 at 10:24 pm ¶