You are currently browsing all entries tagged with 'Yale'

Dumb It Down Asians!

  • December 6, 2011 4:48 am

So you’re a 17 year old high school student, your GPA is 4.0, you’ve scored 2150 out of a possible 2400 on the SAT (something you call “pretty low”), and you’re filling out your application to Harvard.  You get to the section where you have to check off your race.  Your father is of Norwegian ancestry, and your mother immigrated from Taiwan.  Your name is Lanya Olmstead.

What box do you check?

“I didn’t want to put Asian down,” explained Olmstead, “because my mom told me there’s discrimination against Asians in the application process.”

Olmstead checked “white.”

Could this be a case of reverse affirmative action?  Of Asians being punished just because they’re doing too damn well?

In Defense of Amy Chua a.k.a. MILF-y, Angry, Overachieving Chinese Mother

  • January 11, 2011 12:01 am

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard of Yale law professor/author Amy Chua’s recent Wall Street Journal piece (excerpted from her new book) about why the super-strict, dictatorial “Chinese style” of parenting is the way to go (check out my fellow Offender Anderson’s take here). Chua’s article was mostly met by outrage from the community and she’s been accused of everything from perpetuating stereotypes to fucking up her kids’ childhoods to being the dragon lady. Considering the level of vitriol slung her way, you’d think she was guilty of selling her children to pedophilic serial killers.

Well, I’m here to say she has nothing to feel guilty about. In fact, I’ve had enough of all these negative and misguided attacks against Chua. It’s about time someone from the community rose in solidarity to stand by and defend her. And I guess that someone will just have to be…moi a.k.a. me.

I know my fellow Koreans reading Chua’s piece are like, “Really? What’s so bad about this? Sounds like her kids are living in paradise.” However, most people are going to respond to Chua’s parenting style/tips with more of a “What the fuck?! You crazy, bitch!” But is what she’s suggesting really that bad? Upon closer examination, I’d have to say the answer is no. Let me explain.

MILF Alert: Angry, Overachieving Chinese Mother, Amy Chua

  • January 9, 2011 11:30 am

Amy Chua (center) and her overachieving daughters

Amy Chua, a Yale law professor and graduate of Harvard, wrote a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal with the heading, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. The thesis for her very bullish essay is that the Chinese (or Asian) immigrant  dictatorial, parental method of raising kids to ensure academic and musical prodigies is the only way to go. It’s in her life blood and that’s how she raises her half Jewish/Chinese daughters, to sometimes the protest of her husband, Jed. Here is a list of bullet points that are definite “no-nos” when it comes to Sophia and Louisa, her daughters:

Basquiat: The Radiant Child

  • September 1, 2010 1:19 pm

In my recent binge on documentaries, I just checked out “Jean Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” and it’s another one worth seeing.  Here are the top reasons why-

1. The Julian Schnabel film ‘Basquiat’ is great but as a dramatization, doesn’t give you the chance to see Basquiat in the flesh.  And while Geoffrey Wright was brilliant in capturing Basquiat’s ambition and introverted personality, there’s nothing like seeing real footage where you see Basquiat’s vulnerability.  The documentary’s director, Tamra Davis was a confidante of Jean Michel and fortunately her archives of recorded conversations between them allows us a window into the real Basquiat.  It’s a gift to see him reflect so candidly on his work, his friendship with Warhol, the pain of dealing with sudden fame, being misunderstood and cut down by the ivory tower of art critics and museum curators.

Part Time Drag Queen

  • February 10, 2010 11:43 pm


QUENTIN

Quentin Lee would like to think he’s a part-time drag queen and and full-time hustler moonlighting as a filmmaker. He went to UCLA Film School with fellow Offender Justin whom he co-directed his first feature SHOPPING FOR FANGS with. Subsequently, he made DRIFT, ETHAN MAO and the upcoming THE PEOPLE I’VE SLEPT WITH. He also blogs as Film Hustler.

The first time I wore women clothes was when I was six. I was hanging out with my mom on a lazy Sunday afternoon while my dad was out. She let me try on her evening gown and carry my favorite glittery purse of hers. As I pranced around on her bed, I playfully dubbed myself “the nightgown chicken.” In Cantonese, “chicken” is the slang for “prostitute.” My mom was cracking up. We both had so much fun. I remember I really enjoyed playing a character… being someone whom I’m not.

But she only let me do it that once.

Chinky Or Not Chinky: It’s My Parents’ Fault I Didn’t Go To Yale Edition

  • December 9, 2009 12:30 am

aaasaablahSo I recently stumbled onto this site where a Dr. Robert Wallace answers questions from tweens and teens and gives them advice. His latest column included this letter and response from the good doctor:

DR. WALLACE: Why are Asian students more intelligent than the rest of us? At our high school, about 5 percent of the student body is Asian, but almost all of them are on the honor roll, and this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian are Asian. My dad thinks their intelligence is tied to their diets. — Lindsay, Newport Beach, Calif.

Fourteen Ways To Tell If Someone Is Korean

  • October 16, 2009 12:05 am

Previously I wrote an insightful, educational piece about the ways you can tell if someone was a Filipino. Now I return with more valuable advice—this time helping you to identify if that groovy Asian dude or chick you’re hanging with is Korean.

i_am_south_korea_mug-p168508946093167178qzje_4001. When they sit down for a meal at a restaurant, they will pray loud enough so that everyone in the establishment can hear. Even if they are eating alone.

2. When you ask them to define “sobriety,” they will reply, “the unfortunate condition I experience every Monday from 8-10 AM.”

3. Their sexual foreplay consists of throwing plates and cups at each other while screaming, “I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”