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Ethn2 zine design (cont.)

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Ethn2 zine designs

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Notebook #4 Feedback

A. My classmate, Rena Ogino, created a zine is about the representation of Asian women in the media, exploring how they are representing in horror films and how this translates and connects to persisting representations, stereotypes, and racial and gendered projects in society. The zine also has a focus on colonialism, and the othering of Asian women in general and how this has affected the imagery of Asian women in general. It will analyze, specifically, Sadako in the film titled, “The Ring” and is intended for the audience of other students in this class, and perhaps her friends, family, and anyone who is interested in gender and racial issues and representation.

B. Two quotes I found particularly powerful and relevant are “The two contrasting depictions of the horror object represent how Asian women have been “othered” or “erased” by Western media. The word, “other,” will be used to define how the Western world ostracizes and objectifies other nations. The word, “erase,” will be used to define how the Western world takes objects from other nations and changes them to fit Western standards and expectations” and “the objectification of Asian females in the U.S.A. is an ongoing issue that either over-sexualizes or monstrifies this community.”

C. A very compelling concept that Rena brought up was the sexualization vis-a-vis the “mostrification” of communities. I think this concept of categorizing the Asian women as “other” and thus a “monster” is really fascinating and connects artistic themes in film with colonial, gendered, and racialized aspects of western perception of Asian women. Though I have not seen the Ring, I think that the exploration of how this portrayal comes out in film is something that has never occurred to me, as when Asian women are seen as monsters, they are dehumanized and sexualized simultaneously. I think a layout that would be very interesting of this would be further exploration on the term “monstrify” and imagery showing the process of this monstrify-ing, maybe even with illustrations of transformation from an Asian women to a monster.

D. Two compelling images I found in Renu’s notebooks, were the comparison of images from the Ring and from Ringu. I think if she were to include these images in her zine, maybe with notes or annotations explaining these representations in the film, that would be very powerful.

E. One intersectional analysis I found particularly interesting was the comparison of white women and Asian women in Madame Butterfly. I would reword this analysis in the zine to include imagery comparing the contrasting images of white women and Asian women. I think it would also be interesting to include analysis on how in horror movies, it is always a white, sexualized woman who is being chased by the monster. I would also be sure to make the distinction that Asian and white women face gendered oppressions differently because of their racial oppressions.

 I would also like to suggest a reading, which is written by Rosemarie Garland Thomson, titled “From Freak to Specimen: ‘The Hottentot Venus’” which includes analysis on the freakshow imagery of Black women’s bodies; this “freak” is connected to “other” in very similar ways that “monster” is connected to Asian women’s bodies. Also, as far as connecting your zine to greater social structures throughout society, I would look into the legislation of the Page Act of 1875, which prohibited the entry of “undesirable” and “morally corrupt” Asian women, who were all categorized as prostitutes at the time.

 I found Renu’s notebooks and zine to be very powerful because of its depth of analysis on how Asian women’s bodies are perceived in horror films and how this reflects social structures that have maintained the sexualization and exploitation of Asian women. This concept of “monster” is something that I had never heard before when referring to objectification, but it is extremely accurate and relevant to how sexualization is engrained into the perception of Asian women’s bodies.

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Notebook #3

The focus for my object has broadened in order to contain multiple subjects that relate to each other very strongly, specifically through the physical location of which many racial projects involving (im)migration and citizenship have occurred. This course theme is a connecting point by which relational analysis at Los Angeles International Airport can occur. When entering Los Angeles International Airport, I think of the fact that my mother landed in this place, uncertain of what to expect, anxious for the her future, and hopeful that America will welcome her and allow her to flourish. When I enter Los Angeles International Airport, I think of the many families entering with the exact same thoughts and emotions that my mother had. These thoughts and emotions are a unifying, collective state of being that each person who migrates to the United States is likely to feel. It is inherently a space of vulnerability when you leave your home and move to an unfamiliar place. Those thoughts and emotions are responded to incredibly differently, depending on who is entering the United States, based off of nationality, gender, ethnic backgrounds, and religion. These differing responses, similarly, have one unifying goal: to exclude groups in order to promote a white America. This exclusion has worked against my mother and families who have entered the United States coming from non-western cultures.

The incredibly interesting aspect of this, however, is that when entering into Los Angeles International Airport, the very first thing you hear is the word “Welcome.” You will see welcome signs, many international flags, and an overall appearance of an acceptance of diversity. In fact, you are welcomed to the entirety of the United States. This sign, saying “Welcome to the United States of America” tells people that they will be accepted here. “Welcome” is a word used for support of community, to make people feel that the space they are entering is their home. However, despite Los Angeles being one of the most diverse cities in America, this word “welcome” is meaningless. It is a decoration, made to appear that we are accepting, or that we want others to feel accepted here.

“Welcome” does not mean the Muslim ban. “Welcome” does not mean denying refugees a place to call home.  “Welcome” does not mean building a wall to keep others out. “Welcome” does not mean we have the right to deport masses of people. “Welcome” does not mean my mother being seen as un-American, after having lived here for 27 years. When someone sees this word when entering the United States, they are falsely re-assured of what life will look like here. However, their bravery in continuing on and living life in the United States is an act of resistance to the white nationalism that so strongly prevails. The entering point of where people come into the United States is the beginning of their stories, where their existence is limited to ‘being on the run’ because they do not fit into a mold falsely prescribed as the American identity. This existence is key to the relational analysis of people entering the United States; All people, even those from the America, that do not fit into themes of White nationalism are feeling constantly running, seeking a place of not only safety, but acceptance.

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The “object” that I picked for this week is a picture that I took of a young girl that I met on January 28, 2017 in Los Angeles International Airport, during a protest on the “Muslim Ban” Executive Order that Donald Trump issued the day before this protest. This “object” speaks to the two course themes of “(Im)migration and Citizenship” and “War and the Figure of the Refugee” because the protest was in response to the ban of all people entering the United States, including refugees and those with Green Cards and Visas, that come from countries with predominantly Muslim citizens (as long as their country had no business ties with Donald Trump’s business). The implication of this Executive Order is that Trump’s fear and hatred towards these people has been translated in policies that create incredibly strict guidelines of what it means to be an “American” or what it means to call the United States your home. If whiteness and an adherence to Western culture is not your source of religion, culture, or nationality, then, according to this Executive Order, you are not welcome in America. If you are in need of a place to live because of innocent civilian bombings, largely carried out by American forces, you are not welcome in America. By setting the standard of who is welcome and who is banned from our Country, Trump has created a racial, nationalist project that hurts so many innocent lives-- more than any that would be “protected” by this ba. This ban is largely based on violent nationalism that excludes people based on their nationality and religion, heavily revolving hegemonic Islamophobia.

However, at this protest, I had faith in Americans for standing by this young girl that I met. She was accompanied by her entire family, and after talking to her mother, I felt so much pain for the hatred that this family has faced before and after this ban. I am outraged, torn apart, but hopeful to make a difference. Along with this, I went out and saw intersectionality at play during a protest, when Black Lives Matter advocates spoke about our need to express solidarity with the Muslim community. The speaker explained that this is what solidarity looks like, showing up to LAX (willingly), to support, uplift, and stand by the Muslim community, as outraged as we would be if it were our own.

Though I have changed my object, I hope to incorporate both objects that I have talked about in my final project. I hope to relate the physical process, looking specifically at LAX, of people entering the United States to the broader theme of my zine, focusing on my mother’s experience as well as this recent ban. To connect these themes, I will focus on (Im)migration and Citizenship, but will clearly tie in other course themes, as these themes will constantly intersect with each other. The same airport my mother entered 27 years ago is the same one that is excluding people from entering the United States, based on racist ideologies centered around whiteness, nationalism, and Islamophobia. In the same place that my mother was able to enter, she is still shunned away from being known as an American, where she is constantly told to “go back to where she comes from.” In a relational way, this rhetoric of “going back where you came from” is being thrown at the Muslim community, despite them having already considering America their home. This overarching theme of belongingness is manifested in a location where people enter and exit a place they consider their home, despite being rejected by harmful, unjust, policies and rhetoric.

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Notebook #1

The “object” that I have decided to write about is Grace, my mother. On November 18, 1990, my mother left behind her entire family and home in the Philippines and searched for a better life in California, the United States.  Though she is not a literal “object,” I have decided to write about her because her strength, determination, and courage in coming to the United States by herself at a young age to provide for her family back home in the province of Bacolod in the Philippines never fails to inspire me. Simultaneously, this courage and strength speaks deeply to the social structures permeating through themes of Immigration and Citizenship at the time. Her living through and overcoming obstacles of racial structures and hierarchies is a story that gives me hope for my future while aiding in my understanding of how racial structures so strongly affect the living conditions of immigrants that migrate to America. While she may have been unaware of the complex social structures and barriers she has faced, her lived experiences are vital to an overarching theme of the commonality of immigrants facing systemic and day-to-day difficulty in migrating to America. Seeking to escape poverty and provide for her family after her father’s death, my mother’s experience is similar to many immigrants coming to America. Just like her, immigrants come to America to escape unlivable conditions in seek of a better life.

The social context of my mother’s journey to America was when George Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, an act that allowed her to enter the United States based on her education in the medical field (Stone and Faubert). This act determined that only certain immigrants’ work is valuable, known as “high-skilled” labor and made it easier for those traveling from specific counties to legally enter the United States.  However, in doing this, the Immigration and Nationality Act “set the bar” and defined, very specifically, who is valued and allowed to seek a better life in America by making it easier for them to obtain visas. This racial project signals the perpetuation of the “model minority,” one that has excluded folks through an intentional definition of “low-skilled” labor, especially working to make living and migrating difficult for people entering the United States from Mexico. Though my mother may have benefited from the Immigration and Nationality Act, the complexity of her immigrant story was shown in that the education that she fought so hard for, growing up with too little of money to afford shoes to walk to school or glasses to see the board, was deemed worthless by the United States. While her degree allowed her to be considered a doctor in the Philippines, she was forced to become a caretaker, babysitter, and do maid service when she arrived to the United States. In this labor, she made very little money, but continued to send all that she made back home. The degradation of her labor displays the structural barriers that were intended to work against her. Additionally, this gendered and racial division of labor attributes to the immense wage gap between women of color and white men in the United States. Meanwhile, she continued to do all that she could to provide for her family back home, no matter the injustices she faced in the process.

My mother’s postionality as a woman of color and an immigrant in the United States is crucial to understanding the context of her experiences with patriarchal and racial systems. Firstly, her own culture in the Philippines belittled her as a woman, in which she was taught to be subservient to all men in her life, especially her husband and father as she was upheld to traditional religious norms. Then, when she moved to the United States, she was faced with the overwhelming pervasiveness of white supremacy and continued sexism. Through the cultural aspects of racism and sexism in the United States, my mother continues to face strong xenophobic prejudice as appearing “foreign” to the model of what an “American,” or white man, looks like. She moves from the context of facing gendered obstacles in her own culture, to coming to a place where she is facing intersecting oppressions of xenophobia, racism, and sexism—while in the search of a better life. As Gloria Anzaldúa states,

Woman does not feel safe when her own culture, and white culture, are critical of her; when the males of all races hunt her as prey. Alienated from her mother culture, ‘alien” in the dominant culture, the woman of color does not feel safe within the inner life of her Self.  Petrified, she can’t respond, [she is] caught between los intersticios, the spaces between the different worlds she inhabits.

The intentional displacement and labeling of ‘alien’ to a woman seeking to provide for family is a narrative that has continued since the colonization of America. It displays the pervasiveness of the power structures that impose that America is a land that is not made for her, has no space for her, and devalues her. My mother is not an alien; no immigrant or person is an alien. No person moving from one country to another should face the surge of oppressions that American systems strategically impose onto people entering a new world. This new world and new context for immigrants must not be one that seeks to harm those escaping from a difficult life—as the colonizers of America came from the exact same narrative.