Miss UsaHaving 5 different speakers on the panel, the talk covered many different interesting topics revolving the topic of African American beauty pageants and their impact on producing the socially defined “perfect” woman. The first speaker, Maxine Craig, mentioned that there is much less black self-representation, as white people usually represent them. Also, black beauty pageant queens are usually political activists, which are very different from their white counterparts, showing that black beauty is actually a political notion. Since Vanessa Williams became the first African American to be crowned Miss USA, there have been 6 others who won the title. This breaks the idea of a “race barrier” as race no longer makes a difference in beauty pageants. In the fashion industry, black women have been used as models for front covers of fashion magazines like Vogue.
I felt that the talk was very interesting as coming from Singapore, I was vaguely aware of the underrepresentation of black women in USA, but did not know much of this phenomenon. After attending this lecture, I understand the whole history of black women representation in America and how this has changed over the years. I feel that today’s American society is generally non-discriminative when it comes to black women as people judge others based on non-racial factors. The fact that black women participate in beauty pageants and reality TV programs like America’s Next Top Model and American Idol is testament to this, as audiences admire them for their talent and not hate them because of their skin color. The success of Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson in American Idol further supports this. Despite them being black, because of their talent in singing, they are still able to garner the support of the audience. Hence, I feel that the society has come a long way in the representation of black women.
Somewhere in between a two-way street, both at the same time and on various issues surrounding black women and the media, there is a certain fear that some people just don’t give a damn on a topic. Why do I think so many people don’t do the research behind them? Why can’t people just do their job. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important for Asian American groups and women to work within their own communities and ask that they ask people where the privilege lies. What is more important is for Asian American groups and women to address the intersectional issues that Asian American and other non-Asian groups face when they have to figure out where they stand. The problem with this is that Asian American groups and other non-BME women can’t address the issues that people of color have faced. These issues are often not directly the issues that Asian Americans have. They aren’t in direct contact for, and have no direct contact with each other and for those who are the minority group, they have to learn how to address those issues.
So there you have it. Black women and trans women—who are constantly reminded of our issues, the injustices, and the power structures that exist within white society—are so often ignored despite trying all of us to help them. Let’s talk about this topic and show you some of the ways Asian American, non-Asian, and other Asian American groups and women are being ignored on a daily basis.
Asian American Groups:
Asian American groups and other Asian American groups work for the most part with one of two different groups that are white and black. I am from North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin. My main area is South Carolina, where there is a lot of attention on Asian American issues. I am an Asian American who was born and raised as the daughter of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants in the Carolinas in the 20s, 40s, and 50s. Although I am born in the “South” (Eastern US), I was born and raised as a white male. After graduation, my parents separated when I was thirteen. For the last 7 years, I have been working as an Asian American. I worked for an American Airlines flight, because I would like to take my place in a flight to Asia as a flight attendant. But as the flight attendants I had some negative experiences with. The flight attendants have been very supportive, and my experiences were one-sided, because my mother and brothers were black and in need of medical treatment for their children if they were born in China. But those of us who are Asian American groups are not alone. Many Asian American groups are working for minority groups and trans groups. This is usually the case because of the lack of opportunity and other systemic problems within the mainstream Asian American communities in many areas. I have had my Asian American group work for two Asian American groups before. One group (Asian American Asian Americans) gave to one Asian American group and other groups and I had one group give about half of my Asian American group. At that point, my Asian American group was the first Asian Asian American group there.[23] This is when it started to look more and more like a lot of things were happening, with Asian American groups starting to get a place and being able to talk about why Asian American, Hispanic, African American–white groups are discriminated against. This made it seem like a good thing for Asian American groups and women. We have even been surprised that I and my allies are still receiving support from more liberal groups. At this point in my life, I’m very wary about the culture of mainstream Asian American organizations that use the term “white patriarchy.”[24]
So, to sum up: Asian Americans aren’t the first to ask questions about issues of race, privilege, or even gender. The Asian American community, by virtue of having a diverse community of Asian Americans, is one of the most