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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years

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On the Outside Looking In: Growing Up in the Moonies

Flore Singer Aaslid, Ph.D. (2007)

Abstract The author recounts her experiences as a child and young adult in the Unification Church (“the Moonies”). She discusses the enduring sense of not fitting in, which arose from her many years of travelling and being taken care of by people other than her parents (who were usually busy with missionary work) and stigmatized for being an “unblessed” child (not born to Moonie parents). During this prolonged conflict situation she vacillated between trying to “buy it” and rebelling. Leaving the group proved to be difficult because she discovered that she did not fit in “outside” either. Ultimately, however, she left the group permanently and began to build a new life.

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There is a saying that if something doesn’t kill you it will only make you stronger. A spiritual perspective might interpret this statement as meaning that most challenges in life, however unpleasant or inconvenient, are like trials laid out by some Grand Master Plan for the sole purpose of adding some muscle to one’s otherwise weak disposition. Perceived from such a perspective, being raised in an environment such as that of the Moonies is really a blessing in disguise, with a vast array of potentials and possibilities to grow and expand in every conceivable manner. In my case, I can see how the whole experience has toughened me up in many respects. Nevertheless, for me, the most enduring and overwhelming side effect of growing up as a cult kid (having been set apart from society at large and carefully protected in a dogmatic cocoon for most of my formative years) is the relentless, almost haunting, yet mostly exasperating feeling of never quite fitting in—anywhere. I have yet to discover whether this is a blessing or a curse, but it’s probably a little of both.

Like that of many of my peers also raised in “the church,” as we called the whole ordeal, my childhood was somewhat turbulent. From the age of two, I never lived more than two years at a time in any one place. By the time I was eight, I had already lived in four different countries and learned three different languages (two of which, unfortunately, I forgot as I no longer used them). The number of “caretakers” I had during those years is beyond my recollection (probably more than 20 and fewer than 50), for both of my parents were missionaries, busying themselves with the very important task of saving the world. I was a sacrifice for the sake of a greater good, my mother used to tell me. I was put into God’s Hands, and with the help of a lot of faith and a seemingly endless number of dedicated prayers, He would protect me (sort of like paying holy instalments toward some kind of sacred life insurance). This might have worked, for all I know; I was an almost abnormally healthy child, and even today the most serious illness to fall upon me has been the flu and some nasty stomach problems in India.

Still, it is as if all this moving about, learning new languages, making new friends, adapting to different environments, only to be torn away from it all and repeat the process all over again (and again, and again, ad infinitum), somehow turned me into a weird little muddled misfit. I was doomed to feel like a perpetual stranger, forever the foreigner, like some bizarre product of shoddy enculturation, sloppy socialization, or whatever one wishes to call that process through which young children experience a sense of belonging, and identify with their nearest and dearest. I wasn’t, of course, consciously aware of my predicament at such a young age. I just felt exceedingly lonely, and of course being an only child didn’t help matters. Children, as a rule, don’t like to stand out, and lord knows I did my best to fit in. I made friends easily, was unusually outgoing, learned languages and dialects in record time, joined the Girl Scouts, the swim club, the ski club, and even a glee club (chorus). I wore the right clothes and probably liked the right things, but to no avail; that lonely feeling just never left me. And all this, by the way, relates purely to my experiences with the Outside World (that is how we Moonies referred to what other people might perceive as “normal society”). Children growing up in cults, or in any kind of fundamentalist movement for that matter, always get stuck between (at least) two worlds.

Things probably would have been slightly different, although not necessarily better, had I felt some sense of belonging in the Inside World (my own personal term for the Moonies, or “the family,” as we insiders referred to ourselves). This fate was not to be mine, however, for one big reason that I can explain only by examining the Moonie Belief System (B S). This “family” came complete with a set of True Parents (Sun Myung Moon, also founder and self-proclaimed messiah, and his wife) and True Children (their 14 children). All the other members lovingly referred to each other as True Brothers and Sisters to complete the Holy Metaphor, but also, I suspect, to linguistically prevent any kind of sexual activity from occurring between these “Brothers and Sisters.” Premarital sex was regarded as an almost unforgivable mortal sin. Sex was so terrible that any children born from this impure act were blemished forever with the stain of Original Sin, passed on through generations all the way back to when Adam and Eve had premarital sex. This is “the fall” according to the Moonie bible (otherwise known as “The Principle”)—which, incidentally, was Eve’s fault because she had sex with Satan first and then felt guilty because she remembered that it was Adam she was supposed to have sex with, whereby she seduced him, but, alas, too late or too early, or both, and so women became the inferior sex and suffer childbirth and menstruation and all sorts of womanly misfortunes as a consequence of this badly timed and somewhat bungled-up sex act.

To remedy this calamity, all lowly mortals (both men and women) must pay Indemnity. Any kind of personal misfortune could be seen as one form of paying Indemnity, but most members supplemented this payment with additional suffering, just to make sure that Indemnity was indeed being paid. There was fasting (often for [7] days with absolutely no food whatsoever); getting up very early and praying hysterically for days, weeks, or months on end; as well as fundraising (practically all the members fundraised at some point or another; many did nothing but fundraise) and witnessing (getting other unsuspecting outsiders to join the happy family). The only other activity that could remove the stain of Original Sin was The Blessing. Here, several hundred (sometimes several thousand) couples, whom True Father himself picked out from pictures or in a great big gathering called “The Matching,” would all get married at the same time by True Parents, in some very big place, like a football stadium, or Madison Square Garden.

▲ Sun Myung Moon “matching” couples in the 1980s.

Not only the Blessed Couple, but all the future children born from this holy matrimony, would then be freed of Original Sin (which explains why it was so popular; I think the Moonies are even in the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest mass weddings in history). The offspring of these decontaminated couples were then subsequently called the Blessed Children since these lucky little cherubs were born into the world unblemished and completely free of Original Sin. In all metaphysical respects, as perfect as can be.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one’s point of view), I was no such child. Born to an unwed mother before she joined the church, I was doomed to carry the burden of Original Sin. I and others like me were continually reminded of this disgraceful state of affairs by simply being given the rather unflattering designation of Unblessed Children [“Jacob children”].

As an Unblessed Child, I was excluded in several different ways: Ritually during Sunday morning prayers (which always took place at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m.), for example, where I was consistently prohibited from saying the Pledge of the Families (not belonging to a Blessed Family myself). Socially, during big Moonie celebrations such as God’s Day, where special seats were always reserved for Blessed Children (I was allowed to sit there on many occasions, but hardly ever without first being solemnly informed that these seats were really for Blessed Children). Then there was the obligatory trip to Korea ( [usually for 40 days, but possibly] lasting several years), which was an absolute must for most Blessed Children, but not for me (although from what I’ve heard, I think I was blessed to have missed it). And of course, as opposed to most of the Blessed Children, I was in no way exempt from the fundraising and witnessing. After all, Indemnity must be paid, and I have many (not so very fond) memories of myself standing on street corners selling flowers with my mother, usually for some worthy “Christian” cause (we hardly ever said it was for the Moonies, unless we happened to be in the mood for some rather unpleasant “persecution,” as we called the stone throwing, name calling, and other mostly verbal abuse).

Understandably, after many years of this kind of treatment, one is always in danger of feeling vaguely inadequate and prone to a slight sense of inferiority with respect to those Holier Than Thou. So, to finally make my point, even in the Inside World, amidst my own True Brothers and Sisters, I felt like an outcast, a recluse, a misfit, and once again, the freak in the group.

Psychologically speaking, there are probably several ways to deal with this type of dilemma. I have ascertained two primary methods: Either you buy the crap (pardon my French), or you don’t. Choosing the first method would have been highly destructive to my fragile psyche. No complex psychological analysis needed here; I simply state what to me seems obvious: believing that one is fundamentally inferior to most of one’s peers, for whatever reason, can dangerously stagnate one’s own personal growth and development. (However, believing that their superiority is due to a somewhat more elaborate mating ritual between their parents than that of one’s own does make it all the more absurd, even though some 50-odd years back, the majority of our God-fearing citizens adopted this view regarding unwed mothers and their “bastard” children. But this just goes to show how cruel and easily duped we humans can be.) Therefore, probably to protect myself and spare myself serious damage in the long run, somewhere in the depths of my psyche (possibly even subconsciously), I decided at a relatively early age that I was surrounded by a group of gibbering morons.

This was, perhaps, not the most sophisticated strategy, but it was effective, and it worked wonders when it came to ignoring and shutting out most of the ranting and raving that appeared to compose the greater part of my conceptual reality tunnel (the Inside World), although, admittedly, many times the two worlds collided. The resulting clash was so straining that I did my best to convince myself that this plump little Korean guy jumping about on a stage, flailing his arms energetically and barking loudly in gibberish (Korean), really was the Messiah, here to save the world and populate the planet with little Blessed Children. Fortunately, this phase was usually fleeting, and then I was back to my familiar miserable, cynical self. Ironically, I strongly believe today that had I been a Blessed Child, this strategy (deciding that I was surrounded by a group of gibbering morons) would have been very difficult to adopt. This is because Blessed Children had, for the most part, been told all their lives how very special, important, and unique they were, sort of like Holy Super Kids. The whole world depended on them, and if there is still widespread misery and suffering today, it is because they haven’t taken their role and mission seriously enough (what a burden, poor kids). Basically, my guess is that it is much harder to disregard and block out positive affirmations that build self-esteem and make one feel like a Very Important Person than it is to ignore a Belief System that ultimately makes one feel like a little piece of poop. In other words, I think I was blessed to have been unblessed (life is funny that way).

Another factor worth mentioning here is that many of the Blessed Children, in addition to being conveniently Blessed to one another, later became very economically dependent on the church, which mediated and sponsored both jobs and higher education, making it hard for a recipient to break free on any level, even if one did start developing a mind of one’s own. Put slightly differently, where subtle and sophisticated mind-controlling techniques fail, hard economic facts still tend to win out in the end (I, of course, was never worth sponsoring and have had to make do with a combination of student loans and welfare, sigh). Finally, I do believe that all that moving about during my early years, and the fact that I never really managed to “bond” successfully with my mother, made it much easier for me to break out later on. Filial piety (playing the role of obedient and devoted daughter) just didn’t seem to be in my nature; and as for my father, he drifted out when I was 12 and later helped me do the same.

I have often wondered why it was so easy for me to turn my back on my True Family, and (almost) never look back. I left to live with my father in California when I was 14 (although mentally I was long gone way before then). About two years later, I decided to re-join, and become a missionary myself in France (the Outside World was too much for me at such a vulnerable age, and I had to escape before it gobbled me up—“from the frying pan into the fire,” as they say). Being a missionary in France was probably the most serious attempt I made at “buying it” my whole life. Growing up in the Moonies was due to unfortunate circumstances way beyond my control, but becoming a missionary at the age of 16 was a desperate and conscious choice. It was, in many ways, a matter of survival, at least existentially. The loneliness and emptiness I felt in the Outside World at the age of 14 was so intense that I’m really quite surprised I emerged from it all as relatively unscathed as I did (my mother was almost certainly paying holy instalments to my sacred life insurance more than ever at that point).

The best illustration I can think of to illustrate this feeling is that of a small animal, locked up in a cage most of its life, and then suddenly set free to manage as best as it can in the jungle. Or, as another cult kid I read about in a Norwegian newspaper described it, being raised in a sect is like growing up in a spaceship, protected and confined, and then one day leaping out into space. Compared to the chaos, the overwhelming freedom and the incredible loneliness I encountered out in the big cruel world, being an Unblessed Child in the Moonies seemed like peanuts. After all, here at least I was part of something, even if it was the lesser part of an otherwise perfect family. Orbiting the Outside World, having cut all ties linking me to the Mother Moonie Spaceship, I felt utterly and completely alone. Therefore, I quit high school and set off to become a missionary and sell flowers (more out of necessity than conviction). A stranger in yet another strange land, but, as fate would have it that was probably one of my wisest and most courageous decisions. Sunny California would have been the death of me, and even though I ended up staying in France only for a year (after which I fell in love with a young Norwegian and moved to Norway), I knew instinctively that I had to get away, no matter where, no matter how.

The Moonies (or whatever they call themselves today) are not the Ku Klux Klan, as one of my childhood friends has already pointed out in a previous article. They do have some positive values, and they do mean well (yes, I know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions). On the whole, my experiences have taught me a lot about society, human nature, and this very bizarre and sometimes unpleasant state called life. The feeling of being a misfit, a social freak, doomed to dwell forever on the outside looking in, still haunts me wherever I go. However, I do have a new “family,” I have my friends, and I have my son (and I can rest assured knowing that when it comes to child rearing, I certainly know what NOT to do). I also have my sense of humor to chase away any new devils (traumas and tragedies) that might happen to fly my way. I have noticed that fanaticism (in its many forms and guises) and humor are unhappy bedfellows; they just don’t mix very well. So for those of you who find this article somewhat offensive in any way, my sincere apologies; but when it comes down to a conflict between preserving other peoples’ Belief System and my own mental health, I tend to get a little selfish.

In many respects, I suppose that growing up the way I have has made me stronger and wiser. But I certainly didn’t choose the easy way out, and sometimes I can’t help but wonder if things might have been less problematic if I’d just stayed on the inside, content with looking out. But then, I seem to attract adversity; and besides, I was never really on the inside, just like I’ll never really be on the outside. You’ll find me floating in those fuzzy grey zones in between.

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This material was originally prepared for a presentation at the AFF [now known as ICSA] annual conference, June 14-15, 2002, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Orlando (FL) Airport.

It was published in Cultic Studies Review, 2(1), 2003, 1-8

http://www.icsahome.com/articles/on-the-outside-looking-in-growing-up-in-the-moonies

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Flore Singer Aaslid was born 12 October 1972 in Rosenheim, Germany. She was raised as a “non-blessed” child [a “Jacob child”] in the Unification Church and grew up in Germany, England, USA, France, and Norway, respectively.

She was about 8 when her mother was ‘blessed’ to her father at a Unification Church mass wedding at Madison Square Gardens in 1982.

Currently, she is a social anthropologist based in Trondheim, Norway, where she lives with her son.

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Wise Mind – A Case for the Integration of Subjective Experience with Objective Reality in the Age of Fragmentation written by Flore Singer Aaslid

Introducing ‘Ethnography and Self-Exploration’ — Sjaak van der Geest, Trudie Gerrits, Flore Singer Aaslid

Marginal groups, marginal minds Reflections on ethnographic drug research and other traumatic experiences by Flore Singer Aaslid

Flore Singer Aaslid Thesis: Facing the Dragon: Exploring a conscious phenomenology of intoxication

Flore Singer Aaslid Book: Facing the Dragon: Exploring a conscious phenomenology of intoxication Paperback – 23 Feb 2010

Do you see it? Adam and Eve were husband and wife before the Fall, not brother and sister.

In the 1952 Divine Principle, Jesus was married.

Sun Myung Moon’s explanation of the Fall of Man is based on his Confucian ideas of lineage, and his belief in shaman sex rituals.

Hooked on the “true lineage” rhetoric

Sun Myung Moon’s theology used to control members

Sun Myung Moon: The Emperor of the Universe

Writings of former FFWPU members Many recount their experiences in the organization or their journeys out of it

Ashamed to be Korean

#Flore Singer Aaslid #Sun Myung Moon #trauma #Unification Church #Family Federation for World Peace and Unification #Divine Principle

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lutalicaforever · 7 years

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A Tocsin from UNICEF: Cyberbullying.

One of Six Demons.

During the early 1990s when the word “chat room” was used to describe online messaging, insults were simpler, more benign, a learning experience. They were named flaming.

FLAMING (flaming) n. 1. To engage in an inline argument usually involving unfounded personal attacks by one or more parties. [Urban Dictionary]

In an effort to “educate” newbies, a more seasoned user of the particular chat room would send off a sarcastic, sometimes hurtful but often creative comment — known as a flame. Take the case of the 1994 Moby, who asked Usenet group how he was supposed to bring a date home when his two cats were constantly puking or in heat. One user flamed, “Get a sense of humor, or a life. In that order.” followed by a silence and group exit by Moby. This “art of flaming” is illustrated in Virginia Shea’s book Netiquette where she explains in detail how an arrival of flame was signaled.

CYBERBULLYING (cyberbullying) n. 1. An advanced form of bullying; the electronic posting of mean-spirited comment about a person (such as a student) often done anonymously. Often takes a form of a meme, a troll, or even a picture.

[UNICEF (Child Online Protection in India)] & [Merriam-Webster Dictionary]

Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl, had an online boyfriend named Josh Evans, he suddenly turned on her, writing “You are a bad person and everybody hates you…the world would be a better place without you.” Megan hanged herself in her bedroom wardrobe. A couple of blocks down, Lori Drew reportedly laughed when she heard of the suicide. She was masquerading online as the teenage boy to see if Megan was saying anything bad about her own daughter Sarah. The days following the county prosecutor discovered there was NO LAW on the books to make a case against Lori Drew, though the state of Missouri quickly passed laws on cyber-bullying for the future. For now, Lori Drew is sentenced to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine and the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act is now pending in Congress, which will be too late for a young sad girl.

This is the evolution of flaming, from a decent sarcastic, or a SIGNALED flame to a life threatening and suicide involving comment. Cyberbullying is real, and it’s happening on a worldwide scale, a person sitting in Huston, Texas can make you question your existence in Aligarh, India.

“Cyberbullying is a ‘pernicious’ issue.” ~ Theresa May, UK Home Secretary

India, a developing country, where the DIGITAL ILLITERACY rate is more than 90% of the total population (source), the most common answer to a cyber threat is “ignore it” — the imperfect default due to this illiteracy! Sexting, abusing, violence, rape threats, and stalking is some of the major issues casting a dangerous shadow on Indian children, according to UNICEF.

A class 9 girl sent over 30 sexually explicit pictures to a boy in class 11, which he took as an invite from her and approached her to start a physical relationship. When she got scared and tried to back out, he threatened to make those pictures public. This case was taken to the school counselor where afterward the boy was held guilty and gave a written apology to the girl.

These incidents are easily labeled as privacy or security incidents, but to think of them solely in those terms is a mistake. India being almost digitally illiterate and Internet immature, has failed to address the societal impact of technology and these breaches are a wake-up call for all. We’re at a point where new life skills are needed in order to enjoy the benefits of the Internet. Preparing ourselves for new communications technology, just like when we learn to drive. We go to driving school to improve our safety and the safety of others, why shouldn’t we do the same when we decide to go online? ideas like theses are embodied in growing moment known as digital citizenship. It represents an evolution in our norms — the ways we think about our personal responsibility, and the ways we respect and look out for others online.

“A study commissioned by Microsoft in 2012 ranked India third for high online bullying rates among 25 different countries where survey was conducted.” ~ UNICEF Report

For kids, it’s more than just the general insults and abuse that the anonymity of the Internet permits. When telecommunications were less ubiquitous, the home could represent something of a separate zone for adolescents, where they could switch off their school identities. Even a kid from dysfunctional families generally has some autonomy once they’ve closed their bedroom doors. But kids who come home and look up their Facebook pages face the same problem a celebrity, a blogger, or an Internet writer does: they are always on. The bullies who taunt in school hallways are most likely to be there again, the moment you go into your bedroom and turn on your computer.

Schools are expected to be aware of a student social stigmatization and ostracism and to intervene to do something about it. Mandating an anti-bullying training for schools personnel and making reporting of incidents obligatory to the respective parents. Schools should not involve themselves, rather they should make sure that the parents get to the speed. That will probably mean at least somewhat fewer kids going through cyber bullying, and that’s a very good thing.

A major thing that should be taught to students across schools and border is to STOP, THINK, and CONNECT. Taking their time to understand the risks of use and learning to spot potential problems. Next, considering how actions online could impact the safety of themselves and others. Last, enjoying the benefits of the Internet with greater confidence.

“Kids get on the sofa on Friday and spend the whole weekend on Snapchat, Facebook, Kik or Instagram — their weapons of Mass Destruction.” ~ Jennifer Pagan, Restorative Justice Mediator, On how physical fights result from online spats.

Schools sometimes become a battleground for a feud happened online, If someone makes an ugly remark online and an argument ensues, one kid will tell another, ‘Okay, when we get to school tomorrow, I’m going to handle it.’ this makes Mondays particularly contentious and makes it important for school officials to be aware of the happenings on social media and have to take it seriously and talk to students over and over about it.

There are many initiatives who try to bring forward the witnesses, as per The Teens, Tweens and Technology Survey commissioned by Intel Securities in India in 2015, 43 per cent of children active on social media claimed to have witnessed cruel behavior on social networks, but only a very few of that percent reported it to the officials and took any action for one getting bullied. I Am A Witness Campaign is a very good example of bringing old school awareness campaign to the Internet, where iOS (Apple ecosystem) and Android (Google’s ecosystem) has integrated (👁‍🗨) emoji in the keyboard, symbolizing the phenomenon of witnessing any form of bullying and talking about it.

“Just as we learned to look both ways before crossing the street, we want children to learn to make smart choices when using the Internet.” ~ Michael Busselen, McAfee Senior Vice President of Global External Affairs.

With the World Wide Web now in its third decade, it seems natural that it’s newest consumers learn to cultivate their digital fluency at the start of their online journey, rather than waiting to learn the hard way where their actions can go wrong. Teaching the basics of Digital Citizenship and Internet maturity while young can go a long way into a more secure future of children on the Internet. The online world is young. It’s evolving, and we’re all learning to live in it. In my opinion, both the technology companies and the schools of India must adopt a comprehensive Digital Citizenship & Internet Maturity (DCIM) program urgently. While dot-com companies and smartphone manufacturers must adopt DCIM by building simple, engaging tools to educate their users and work towards a better future, schools must do so by incorporating DCIM into their curricula.

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letstalkabout-media · 5 years

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The Asian American Dude Bro: Beyond the Asian Geek

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place and Othering

(Originally Written May 7, 2018)

Preface:

A scene of an episode of the show Two Broke Girls plays out as followed: A laugh track blares as one of the waitress Max (played by Kat Dennings) remarks "You can't tell an Asian he made a mistake. He'll go in back and throw himself on a sword." [1] to her coworker Caroline, played by Beth Behrs. This joke is made to refer to their boss Han Lee (portrayed by Matthew Moy) mainly attempting to find humor in his overachieving status as an Asian (ambiguous). His character’s ‘quirky’ personality can be summed up as a ‘short money-hunger man-child’ with a hammed-up accent for laughs. The show’s brand of humor loves to focus its aggression into jokes about the otherness of anyone that isn’t a conventionally attractive well-off white millennial.

Two Broke Girls is one of many pieces of media that fall into the myriad of playing race for jokes, actively typecasting, and interchanging treating people’s culture as convenient for stories. Asians have had roles in cinema and tv, but more often than not they are put in insignificant or very stereotypical roles The issues of discriminatory casting makes many actors questioning if the missteps of attempted diversity in media are better than just playing generic roles.

The Philosophy:

The issue at hand is Otherness which Jean-Francois Staszak refers to as “a process by which a dominant in-group(“US,” the Self) constructs one of many dominated out-groups (“Them,” Other) by stigmatizing a difference--real or imagined -- presented as a negation of identity and thus a motive for potential discrimination.”[2] The concept of otherness itself is credited to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel during the late 1700’s with the concept of self-consciousness being made the binary of the Self and the Other[3]. The concept refers to the understanding of what a person identifies as themselves, or things/people that they can identify and connect with, and other things that they identify that they are not and do not share the same sense of community with. It is commonly thought of as the binary of ‘Us vs Them’ or ‘You vs Me.’

This idea extended to the concept of intersubjectivity, which refers to the psychological interaction between people. The concept was popularized in 1929 when Edmund Husserl published the Cartesian Meditations[4], which focused heavily on the subject, and expands the concept of Other and combine it with his concepts involving the transcendental.

Beyond the psychology of Otherness, it has application within the socio-cultural with active and passive discrimination. The idea of the binary is extended to which one group is privileged over the other, through having the privileged group being considered the ideal, it makes anyone outside of that group to be considered falling short, or insufficient.[5] This concept can be more clearly noted in Simone de Beauvoir’s book The Second Sex in which the concept of Other is combined with another of Hegel’s concepts the Lord and Bondsman[6], which is used to explore the traditional Man-Woman relationship and emphasize the unequal power balance.

Modern society has definitely made strides in reducing the direct prevalence, and it has become more subtle in its appearance for the most part. Attempts of obligatory diversity often turn to tokenism in one way or another for gender, race, or sexuality. Along with the idea of tokenism the ideas and associations with cultures and minority groups build and reinforce roles created by those in power, which have negative effects on those they refer to. The History of Otherness, Asia, and Orientalism

The fascination with Asia for the Western world stems heavily from the exoticization of the cultures and the people. Particularly this trend was historically notable during the mid-1800’s and described as such by art critic Philippe Burty in 1872 when the Japanese art and sculpture became popular in the west. This not only led to a burst in the collection of Japanese along with western artists that would create “eastern-inspired” as many collectors did not properly distinguish between works of different cultures such as Chinese work from Japanese.[7] This ambiguity towards the different Asian cultures has carried over in Western culture and to a point is still present in current society.

Another concept that relates to Otherness is the practice of Orientalism and its focus on the East/West dichotomy. The concept of Orientalism was popularized in Edward Said’s book by the same name from 1978. Orientalism as a concept refers to the “the acceptance in the West of “the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny and so on.”[8] While the term generally refers more to the middle east rather than the far east, the focus on the binary of the area to the West still carries over.

Concepts of Otherness and Asian Americans

The othering of Asian American/immigrants throughout media tends to follow a few conventions. Auditorily, there’s accents and the structural confusion of ‘Broken English.’ Often people were treated as less intelligent or disrespectful by native English speakers, who treated their familiarity with the English language as the end all be all of their abilities. From this many of those with accents were treated in a more juvenile manner or as if they had a disability. This issue creates not only issues through the reaction of others, but also internally for the speaker. Varieties of social studies including Speaking With a Nonnative Accent: Perceptions of Bias, Communication Difficulties, and Belonging in the United States from the Journal of Language and Social Psychology reflect these difficulties. Issues communicating and self-consciousness speaking, building an overall feeling of not belonging those studied who had non-native accents.[9] Personality is the main other convention which tends to be the most common in the contemporary. Specifically through variation of model minority trope, which in general refers to “the cultural expectation placed on Asian Americans as a group that each individual will be smart, wealthy, hard-working, docile, and spiritually enlightened”[10] This, in particular, can be attributed to one of the factors that helped build up many of the ‘traditional’ Asian/Asian-American stereotypes such as the nerd, the non-threat, and the monk, that each have their further subsets with popular hits like ‘the awkward almost mute friend,’ ‘the kung-fu fighter,’ and ‘the lovable IT guy’.

Many Asian/Asian-American actors consistently face the issues of the typecast as delivery men, monks, martial artists, I.T. people, or flat out nerds. Alternatively, many have faced being passed over for Asian roles being whitewashed like in the roles of Doctor Strange (title character), Iron Fist (title character), or done in ‘Yellow-Face’ makeup like I. Y. Yunioshi played by Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. These problems are far from recent occurring since the start of cinema with the issue of white actors using ‘Yellow-Face,’ and they still weigh heavily on contemporary actors because they are being othered, whether it be actively or passively by the industry.

A Look at the Change:

Since the 2010’s more media is trying to step away from the typical aforementioned stereotypes and forging a new path for Asian actors, the dudebro. This functions to push past the association of the social, athletic, or charismatic ideal man from the overused average white guy, and shifts to reverse a lot of the harmful model minority mentality created for characters. Eric Francisco addresses this new trend in his article focusing on changing Asian stereotypes “Together, these dudes are the antithesis to the majority of Asians in pop culture, who are often portrayed as socially inept, dorky, and sexually repressed as they are sexually repellant.”[11]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:

The show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend centers on a woman following a former flame after leaving her job, and the shenanigans that take place as she tries to woo him and his friends. A part of the fun of the show is that the main love interest, the muscular, kind of dumb, heartthrob role, is named Josh Chan and played by Vincent Rodriguez III, a Filipino American actor. While the role was not specifically written for an Asian person in mind, the character was changed upon casting Vincent. The showrunner Rachel Bloom spoke about how Vincent’s heritage was incorporated into his role,“I grew up with a lot of Asian bros. That’s a type of person that I grew up with that I’ve never seen anywhere in the media.”[12] The decision to include a representation of a role that is rare for an Asian actor, and aligns more realistically with the lives of Asian Americans has made an impact on Asian American audiences and actors.

Beyond the casting of an Asian male as the main romantic lead, the show also worked to actively include aspects of Filipino culture within the episodes and the plot in a respectful manner. The concept of the heavy importance of family gatherings, group photos, and going to mass,[13] along with including the traditional Filipino dish Dinuguan being a plot point of the show’s Thanksgiving episode[14] a number of times. These functioned as significant moments for both the audience and for the actors on the show as Filipino culture is not actively focused on in much of mainstream culture, and as mentioned earlier, many Asian cultures are still treated interchangeably.

Another aspect of the show is a running gag of one of the characters’ nicknames and how it plays with otherness. One of Josh’s best friends shares his name, and in order to distinguish between the two their group of friends gives the other Josh the nickname “White Josh” in the words of the show “because he looks like Josh except for he's white.”[15] This joke takes the concept of a minority/token sidekick character trope and not only inverts it but overemphasizes the white character in the role of the ‘other’ and puts the Asian character as the ‘normal.’

The Good Place:

The Good Place centers on a woman who has died and her time in the afterlife along with her newfound friends. One of the supporting character, Jason Mendoza, a Filipino American failed DJ portrayed by actor Manny Jacinto, is mistaken for a silent Taiwanese Monk named Jianyu.[16] Most of the humor of his character comes from his childlike behavior and intelligence, which is balanced by his well-meaning heart of gold. Jacinto in an interview about his role has stated, “you don’t really see a lot of dumb Asian guys on mainstream television. He’s usually intelligent or the model minority. I’m not saying playing Jason is pioneering, but it’s so great for me to do because it’s not a stereotype.”[17] Like Josh Chan he is played as a handsome, albeit dumb and at times childish, creating love triangles in his own oblivious way.

Detouring from the cultural influence in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Place works on the other side of the spectrum, focusing on having the characters not be ‘defined by their culture’[18] and focus on having a target audience identify with a character beyond appearance, reducing otherness internally. Jacinto specifically addresses this, ““When you step away from [introducing a culture] and you have a person of color just being a regular person, you start changing people’s mindset in the idea that, ‘Oh, I can see myself in this person even though we’re a different color,’”[19] This element of inclusion is also very important beyond cultural recognition, by being able to create a variety of characters that audiences can identify with, the amount of conscious or unconscious otherness being experienced can be reduced.

Conclusion:

While the issue of otherness is still prominent throughout the entertainment industry, it’s important to acknowledge the departure from the reliance on stereotypes and tropes to build characters instead of caricatures. The concept of having characters read as intelligent doesn’t read as traditionally positive, but with the history of the model minority trope hanging over media, the bumbling and beautiful idiot becomes a breath of fresh air.

Works Cited:

“And the Break Up Scene.”Two Broke Girls, Season 1 Episode 2, CBS , 26 September 2011, Youtube,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yQULP-P5q8

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books 1989

Berenson, Frances. "Hegel on Others and the Self." Philosophy 57, no. 219 (1982): 77-90.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4619540

Brons, Lajos. “Othering, an Analysis,” Transcience 6, No. 1 (2015) 69-90.

https://www2.hu-berlin.de/transcience/Vol6_No1_2015_69_90.pdf

“Jason Mendoza,” The Good Place, season 1, episode 4, NBC, Sept 29, 2016. Netflix

“Josh’s Girlfriend’s Really Cool.” Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 1, episode 2, CW, date. Netflix.

Jung, E. Alex. “The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto on Jason’s Voice, Asian Stereotypes, and Ted Danson’s

Grossest Prank,” Vulture, January 4, 2018, Accessed May 5, 2018. http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/the-good-place-season-2-manny-jacinto-interview.html

Francisco, Eric. “The Most Lovable Idiot on Television Is More Important Than You Know”

Inverse. Feb. 1 2018, Accessed April 16, 2018.

https://www.inverse.com/article/40663-good-place-jason-mendoza-asian-bro-stereotype

Gluszek,Agata and John F. Dovidio. “Speaking With a Nonnative Accent: Perceptions of Bias,

Communication Difficulties, and Belonging in the United States,” Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, no 2, June (2010) 224–234.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X09359590

Guillermo, Emil. “Diversity, Authenticity, and Dinuguan: How 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Is Changing TV,”

NBC News Jan. 22. 2016, Accessed April 18, 2018.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/diversity-authenticity-dinuguan-how-crazy-ex-girlfriend-changing-tv-n501486

Sora Hwang, “The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto on Playing a Non-Stereotypical Asian Role,” Mochi

Magazine, Spring 2017, Accessed April 18, 2018

http://www.mochimag.com/article/the-good-places-manny-jacinto-on-playing-a-non-stereotypical

-asian-role/

MOHANTY, J. N. "The Cartesian Meditations." In Edmund Husserl's Freiburg Years:

1916-1938, 367-84. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2011.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1npzng.20.

Said, Edward W. "ORIENTALISM." The Georgia Review 31, no. 1 (1977): 162-206.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41397448.

Staszak, Jean-Francois, “Other/otherness,” in International encyclopedia of human geography,

(Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2008): 1-4 http://www.unige.ch/ses/geo/collaborateurs/publicationsJFS/OtherOtherness.pdf.

Weisberg, Gabriel P. et al., Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art 1854-1910 (London: Robert G.

Sawyers Publications, 1975), 3.

Wong, P., Lai, C.F., Nagasawa, R., & Tieming, L. Asian Americans as a model minority: self-perceptions and perceptions by other racial groups. Sociological Perspectives (41/1) (1998) http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/SOC217_PIMENTEL/asians3.pdf

[1]“And the Break Up Scene.”Two Broke Girls, Season 1 Episode 2, CBS , 26 September 2011, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yQULP-P5q8

[2]Jean-Francois Staszak, “Other/otherness,” in International encyclopedia of human geography, (Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2008): 1-4 http://www.unige.ch/ses/geo/collaborateurs/publicationsJFS/OtherOtherness.pdf.

[3] Berenson, Frances. "Hegel on Others and the Self." Philosophy 57, no. 219 (1982): 77-90.http://www.jstor.org/stable/4619540

[4] MOHANTY, J. N. "The Cartesian Meditations." In Edmund Husserl's Freiburg Years: 1916-1938, 367-84. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1npzng.20.

[5] Lajos Brons. “Othering, an Analysis,” Transcience 6, No. 1 (2015) 69-90. https://www2.hu-berlin.de/transcience/Vol6_No1_2015_69_90.pdf

[6] Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books 1989

[7]Gabriel P. Weisberg et al., Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art 1854-1910 (London: Robert G. Sawyers Publications, 1975), 3.

[8]Said, Edward W. "ORIENTALISM." The Georgia Review 31, no. 1 (1977): 162-206. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41397448.

[9] Gluszek,Agata and John F. Dovidio. “Speaking With a Nonnative Accent: Perceptions of Bias, Communication Difficulties, and Belonging in the United States,” Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, no 2, June (2010) 224–234.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X09359590

[10]Wong, P., Lai, C.F., Nagasawa, R., & Tieming, L. Asian Americans as a model minority: self-perceptions and perceptions by other racial groups. Sociological Perspectives (41/1) (1998) http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/SOC217_PIMENTEL/asians3.pdf

[11] Eric Francisco, “The Most Lovable Idiot on Television Is More Important Than You Know” Inverse. Feb. 1 2018, Accessed April 16, 2018.

https://www.inverse.com/article/40663-good-place-jason-mendoza-asian-bro-stereotype

[12]Ibid.

[13]Emil Guillermo, “Diversity, Authenticity, and Dinuguan: How 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Is Changing TV,” NBC News Jan. 22. 2016, Accessed April 18, 2018.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/diversity-authenticity-dinuguan-how-crazy-ex-girlfriend-changing-tv-n501486

[14] Ibid.

[15] “Josh’s Girlfriend’s Really Cool.” Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 1, episode 2, CW, date. Netflix

[16] “Jason Mendoza,” The Good Place, season 1, episode 4, NBC, Sept 29, 2016. Netflix

[17] E. Alex Jung,, “The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto on Jason’s Voice, Asian Stereotypes, and Ted Danson’s Grossest Prank,” Vulture, January 4, 2018, Accessed May 5, 2018. http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/the-good-place-season-2-manny-jacinto-interview.html

[18] Sora Hwang, “The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto on Playing a Non-Stereotypical Asian Role,” Mochi Magazine, Spring 2017, Accessed April 18, 2018

http://www.mochimag.com/article/the-good-places-manny-jacinto-on-playing-a-non-stereotypical-asian-role/

[19] Ibid.

#crazy ex girlfriend #the good place

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thenoticeblog · 7 years

Text

Just Who Counts as a Woman of Color?

by Lindsey Sarang Yoo.|

After I shared an article that addressed the conspicuous lack of women of color on magazine covers, a friend exclaimed, “Let’s not forget there is a lack of our Latina and Asian sisters.” That comment, while coming from someone with all the best intentions in the world, prompted me to ask a series of awkward and sobering questions: When people say “women of color," am I included in that equation, or does it not apply to Asian-American women? What about Hispanic women? Do they have more of a claim to that label than Asians do? Or do they also not count? Do people really want to hear from someone who looks like me when they engage in conversations about racial justice? Advocates for a more inclusive feminism cannot be content with calling attention to the tendency of feminist circles to focus solely on the issues that matter to privileged, white women. We must also rethink the ways we use the term "women of color.” Our community needs conversations that explicitly demonstrate how the struggles of Asian, Latina and other women who fall outside the black-white binary are inextricably linked with the oppression of others. While I thoroughly appreciate the discussions that came from #solidarityisforwhitewomen, we must work even harder to ensure solidarity with all women who experience life at the intersections of race and gender.As a Korean-American woman, I am sometimes hesitant to participate in conversations like #solidarityisforwhitewomen, because all too often, no one seems to be quite certain where I belong. In college sociology classes, when I asked to see the perspectives of Asian-Americans in our studies, some professors told me to look at the statistics on white people, or insinuated that Asian-Americans had no bearing on racial justice. I've been told since high school that Asian-Americans are not relevant, that our voices and experiences matter only when high-schoolers turn their pages to the obligatory paragraphs in their world history readers that briefly address Chinese railroad workers. The Asian-American experience, despite spanning several generations of struggle and oppression, is rendered invisible. When I confront my friends and family — Asian-Americans are just as capable of internalizing and perpetuating anti-Asian racism as anyone else — for participating in casual, anti-Asian humor, I am told I have no right to be offended, since we are doing so much better than everyone else and should be grateful (as if our ethnicity, which comprises a multitude of racialized experiences and socioeconomic backgrounds, can be generalized into one, harmonious, high-achieving blob). Mikki Kendall states that "we use umbrella terms referencing race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc., but we are all aware (or should be anyway) that no community is a monolith." In my experience, however, the Asian-American community has always been portrayed as a monolith of kung-fu fighters, loose women and unscrupulous small-business owners. I am aware that certain segments of the Asian-American community do enjoy more privileges than other people of color. But I am also keenly aware of the ways that I, like other people of color, am yoked and burdened by the existing structures of power and privilege. I am oppressed both as a woman and as a person of Asian descent. My body is constantly orientalized and hypersexualized by people who are more comfortable seeing me on television as a giggling, sexually repressed schoolgirl or whip-carrying dragon lady/tiger mom than they are with seeing me as an empowered individual with a dynamic history and voice. This dismissive attitude toward Asian-Americans causes a dangerous rift in the ever-evolving journey toward true solidarity and the dismantling of racial and gender hierarchies. It's difficult, for instance, to feel like an ally when so many prominent feminists around me choose to praise and write about Orange Is the New Black for its portrayals of gender and race, but make almost no mention of the lazy, racist depiction of the lone Asian female character. Unlike the other characters in the series, Chang is given no substantial backstory or opportunity to redeem herself. She functions only as a vessel of cheap humor that draws from her awkward, accented English.Similarly, it's hard to say I stand in solidarity with my feminist allies when feminists have railed against singer Chris Brown for his misogyny and violence, but have said very little about his incredibly racist song and music video, "Fine China." When Chris Brown releases a popular song that exoticizes Asian women, takes all the liberties in the world with "Asian culture," and perpetuates every racial trope that has ever existed in the Asian-American community, his actions should warrant further conversations about racism, appropriation and misogyny. The idea of working "outside the binary" — not looking at race as a simple matter of black and white — has been hashed and rehashed within the social justice world, but we need to push for more than the occasional misguided ode to the "model minority" of "hard-working Asians." Roxane Gay is right: "We have a painful, infuriating history to reconcile — one where the concerns of heterosexual, able middle-class white women have too often been privileged at the expense of everyone else." But in our respective fights to be heard and empowered as women of color, we must be careful not to further stigmatize and marginalize other voices in our midst. I am writing from the perspective of a college-educated, Korean-American woman who was privileged enough to be asked to join this conversation. Because I have felt excluded from discussions concerning women of color, I am certain that there are many other voices out there — Latina, Southeast Asian, Vietnamese, Native American — that also have felt left out, even under the all-welcoming label of "women of color." Joining Mikki Kendall's "endorsement of listening, of not always trying to be the leader, and instead handing the proverbial reins over to others" is the only way we will ever build a culture of true solidarity. Our efforts and agitation toward the dismantling of racial hierarchies make sense only when we include, legitimize and strengthen the voices of all women of color.

#Lindsey Sarang Yoo #Women's Rights #op ed #south asian #asian #feminism #womanism

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