I said this somewhere else, but: Does anyone else find this insanely dehumanizing and othering? I really do not like the idea of a magazine lining up a bunch of headshots of people of the "same" race (most of these people aren't even the same ethnicity) and drawing sweeping conclusions about their roles in the world. This is giving racial phrenology. Imagine a nineteenth-century magazine story headlined "The Mongoloid Moment."
I haven't been able to access the full article yet, but as one of the mixed white and Asian kids from the millennial generation, the cover shot feels like a callback to Kip Fulbeck's hapa project from the early 2000s, which I saw exhibited at the JANM in LA as a kid and which was really validating at a time when that experience wasn't really talked about so much. That exhibit deliberately played on the visuals of these types of "mugshot" photos that were common in problematic historical race science exhibits but transformed it by pairing it with participants own handwritten statements which often rejected some of those same racial assumptions. It was a huge thing for me and my part-asian mixed race friends at the time!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hapa_Project
So like, I can sort of see why you got those visual vibes, but I don't think you realize how much mixed race folks tend to find allyship and identify with other mixed race folks who may have different exact racial backgrounds but the same experience of being pulled between multiple cultures.
Thanks for sharing about the Hapa project, Iâd never heard of it before! Whatâs really cool is itâs actually on exhibit now at the Museum of Us (amazing museum) in San Diego through next summer. https://museumofus.org/exhibits/hapa-me
For what itâs worth, Iâm not a member of this group but I also remember the Hapa Project and assumed that was the visual reference being made here.
This is extremely valuable context; I had no idea about these mugshots.
But Iâm also a mixed personâthe kind of hapa described hereâand what I really dislike about this article is that it unquestioningly repeats typical beats re: wasians over and over again. There are all kinds of different people represented here, with all kinds of different origins: Alysa Liu, whose parents used a white donor egg to conceive her; Olivia Rodrigo, whose parents seem to be a typical California mixed couple; Laufey, whose mother and grandfather were musicians in China (and who isnât even Asian American). You can read all kinds of significant differences into these origins: how white donor eggs and sperm became desirable to Chinese nationals, how Southern California became as diverse as it is, how Laufeyâs own Chinese familial music history could impact her own artistry.
Instead, what we get is a flattening out of all these differences into discourse about media representation, and the radical potential of Asian Americans giving way to assimilation and what is so unsympathetically glossed as the desire for âupward mobilityâ (ah! The desire to escape from poverty, how horrible!). The latter talking point is so common that we donât really even realize how insulting it is. My Asian parent was not âassimilatingâ when they married my white parent; there was none of the racial self hatred that people are so quick to accuse Asian Americans of.
What bothers me about this is this flattening of ALL of us into this narrative, which does not apply to all of us. And itâs lazy. And boring!!!!
this movement isnât about mixed race asians as a whole though, it specifically highlights asians mixed with white which is why it comes off so peculiar
Same, but the one for me was this cover on Time magazine in 1999, which was a computer-generated composite of a bunch of people. I picked it up and it was like looking into a mirror and suddenly I was like oh, I belong. Not everyone is blonde-haired and blue-eyed - in fact, most of us are not!
Iâm a 4th generation Chinese-American, and canât help but wonder if I would have kept a bit of Chinese culture if my grandma had access to even the concept of âwasianâ vs just assimilation asap.
Now they obviously wouldnât have had some pan-Asian solidarity with Japanese-Americans given the time period. My grandparents wouldnât even buy Fujifilm or a Honda.
Considering the article (which I assume you didnât read) goes on to critique white supremacy and the erasure of Asian representation, then no I donât consider this to be othering. The writer literally brings up phrenology.
>Considering the article (which I assume you didnât read)
Everyone's doing this across all social media platforms that posted this article; just having knee-jerk reactions based on the cover alone. I read the article earlier today, and it discusses literally everything that people WHO CLEARLY DID NOT READ THE ARTICLE complain or criticize in the comments section, lol
>This is giving racial phrenology. Imagine a nineteenth-century magazine story headlined "The Mongoloid Moment."
Racial phrenology was bad because it claimed different races have different immutable personality traits and skills, not because you can "imagine" it involving a set of photos of people from a similar background
I saw this headline and was disappointed. It reminded me of a friend of a friend. This guy was a white/chinese hapa guy, and he only wanted to date other people with similar roots or Asian looking people with lighter hair and eyes. It seemed so odd to me.
A few months ago there was a âwasianâ meetup that also gave me the ick.
It feels very exclusionary, it only counts east Asian folks and not southeast or south Asians. Or Blasians. And just another version of fetishization.
EDIT: I donât really like the Asian umbrella term because it flattens a lot of distinct cultures and identities. And wasians flattens Asian more and prioritizes white.
Yeah man, youâre so right! Finally someone is saying this!! How dare Americans with a mixed racial background and similar upbringings try to form some community!!! They are LITERALLY just as bad as 19th century scientific racists!!!!!
The writer didn't really talk Asian America proximity and seeming worship of white people. I think that's what made people uncomfortable with the meetup.
>They grew up with Chinese-immigrant parents in Central Jersey who conceived them using a white egg donor. While Tang is visibly biracial, their brother is a head taller and more white-passing. âMy dad has said heartbreaking stuff like, âIâll never be seen as American because Iâm yellow,ââ Tang says. They recall their parents saying that being part white is a âgood thing. It will keep you safer to look whiter.â
I feel like I can't criticize this family for choosing a white donor as someone who dates out of their race but there's something disappointing choosing a white donor to insulate your kids from instead of fighting it.
I think itâs an interesting entertainment thing to think about. If you have a half white character then you can cast a dad or mom as white so that does it make it less âotheringâ to an audience than a full Asian family. Iâve noticed the same thing happening with black characters.
I think Asians marry mostly white people in America so the face of an Asian is becoming more wasian in entertainment and irl. Not my community but it is interesting to read about.
Hollywood could also cast two mixed POC and white people to be the parents of mixed POC and white people because multigenerational mixed POC and white people do exist. Hollywood can't handle having at least one fully white person in a cast of an average tv show or movie. Monoracial POC and multiracial POC are expected to relate to mostly white casts a lot of the time.
Interesting, itâs shame I canât read the article. I have noticed more visible mixed Asian faces and thatâs pretty cool to me. Donât know if love wasian as the term weâve settled on, but it is what it is.
envyviolet | 10 hours ago
non-paywall link
(this is my first time being early enough to capture something on IA so hopefully the link works lol)
steal_it_back | 9 hours ago
Worked for me - thanks for saving me some clicking đ
lispectorgadget | 11 hours ago
I said this somewhere else, but: Does anyone else find this insanely dehumanizing and othering? I really do not like the idea of a magazine lining up a bunch of headshots of people of the "same" race (most of these people aren't even the same ethnicity) and drawing sweeping conclusions about their roles in the world. This is giving racial phrenology. Imagine a nineteenth-century magazine story headlined "The Mongoloid Moment."
sennkestra | 11 hours ago
I haven't been able to access the full article yet, but as one of the mixed white and Asian kids from the millennial generation, the cover shot feels like a callback to Kip Fulbeck's hapa project from the early 2000s, which I saw exhibited at the JANM in LA as a kid and which was really validating at a time when that experience wasn't really talked about so much. That exhibit deliberately played on the visuals of these types of "mugshot" photos that were common in problematic historical race science exhibits but transformed it by pairing it with participants own handwritten statements which often rejected some of those same racial assumptions. It was a huge thing for me and my part-asian mixed race friends at the time!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hapa_Project
So like, I can sort of see why you got those visual vibes, but I don't think you realize how much mixed race folks tend to find allyship and identify with other mixed race folks who may have different exact racial backgrounds but the same experience of being pulled between multiple cultures.
AmyBrookeheimer | 11 hours ago
Thanks for sharing about the Hapa project, Iâd never heard of it before! Whatâs really cool is itâs actually on exhibit now at the Museum of Us (amazing museum) in San Diego through next summer. https://museumofus.org/exhibits/hapa-me
PBnBacon | 11 hours ago
For what itâs worth, Iâm not a member of this group but I also remember the Hapa Project and assumed that was the visual reference being made here.
lispectorgadget | 10 hours ago
This is extremely valuable context; I had no idea about these mugshots.
But Iâm also a mixed personâthe kind of hapa described hereâand what I really dislike about this article is that it unquestioningly repeats typical beats re: wasians over and over again. There are all kinds of different people represented here, with all kinds of different origins: Alysa Liu, whose parents used a white donor egg to conceive her; Olivia Rodrigo, whose parents seem to be a typical California mixed couple; Laufey, whose mother and grandfather were musicians in China (and who isnât even Asian American). You can read all kinds of significant differences into these origins: how white donor eggs and sperm became desirable to Chinese nationals, how Southern California became as diverse as it is, how Laufeyâs own Chinese familial music history could impact her own artistry.
Instead, what we get is a flattening out of all these differences into discourse about media representation, and the radical potential of Asian Americans giving way to assimilation and what is so unsympathetically glossed as the desire for âupward mobilityâ (ah! The desire to escape from poverty, how horrible!). The latter talking point is so common that we donât really even realize how insulting it is. My Asian parent was not âassimilatingâ when they married my white parent; there was none of the racial self hatred that people are so quick to accuse Asian Americans of.
What bothers me about this is this flattening of ALL of us into this narrative, which does not apply to all of us. And itâs lazy. And boring!!!!
CarlySimonSays | 8 hours ago
I missed that this included Laufey--she's famously Icelandic (ETA: as well as having a Chinese mother)! Weird choice on the article's part.
hales_mcgales | 7 hours ago
Her mom is Chinese, apparently. Wouldnât be surprised if her Madwoman music video was the initial inspiration for the article
RedditFan3510 | 3 hours ago
I remember on X there was a lot of criticism similar to the "Wasian day" when the video was released.
It's tricky because it came from a place of privilege in many ways.
RedditFan3510 | 3 hours ago
The fact that THIS was your main takeaway after reading the article is deeply troubling and grossly not empathetic.
tiny_claw | 9 hours ago
Hapa project was so good. To this day I hate when people say âhalf x, half y.â No, not half anything. X and Y.
echocharlieone | an hour ago
I hate "half" too. 1+1 = two things, not two ½s .
veryowngarden | 7 hours ago
this movement isnât about mixed race asians as a whole though, it specifically highlights asians mixed with white which is why it comes off so peculiar
Li54 | 2 hours ago
Same, but the one for me was this cover on Time magazine in 1999, which was a computer-generated composite of a bunch of people. I picked it up and it was like looking into a mirror and suddenly I was like oh, I belong. Not everyone is blonde-haired and blue-eyed - in fact, most of us are not!
https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19931118,00.html
yo-ovaries | 10 hours ago
Iâm a 4th generation Chinese-American, and canât help but wonder if I would have kept a bit of Chinese culture if my grandma had access to even the concept of âwasianâ vs just assimilation asap.
Now they obviously wouldnât have had some pan-Asian solidarity with Japanese-Americans given the time period. My grandparents wouldnât even buy Fujifilm or a Honda.
cthulhuhentai | 11 hours ago
Considering the article (which I assume you didnât read) goes on to critique white supremacy and the erasure of Asian representation, then no I donât consider this to be othering. The writer literally brings up phrenology.
tres-vip | 5 hours ago
>Considering the article (which I assume you didnât read)
Everyone's doing this across all social media platforms that posted this article; just having knee-jerk reactions based on the cover alone. I read the article earlier today, and it discusses literally everything that people WHO CLEARLY DID NOT READ THE ARTICLE complain or criticize in the comments section, lol
gerira | 10 hours ago
>This is giving racial phrenology. Imagine a nineteenth-century magazine story headlined "The Mongoloid Moment."
Racial phrenology was bad because it claimed different races have different immutable personality traits and skills, not because you can "imagine" it involving a set of photos of people from a similar background
PlantedinCA | 10 hours ago
I saw this headline and was disappointed. It reminded me of a friend of a friend. This guy was a white/chinese hapa guy, and he only wanted to date other people with similar roots or Asian looking people with lighter hair and eyes. It seemed so odd to me.
A few months ago there was a âwasianâ meetup that also gave me the ick.
It feels very exclusionary, it only counts east Asian folks and not southeast or south Asians. Or Blasians. And just another version of fetishization.
EDIT: I donât really like the Asian umbrella term because it flattens a lot of distinct cultures and identities. And wasians flattens Asian more and prioritizes white.
RedditFan3510 | 3 hours ago
And did you read the article????
TheTruckWashChannel | 11 hours ago
This is what we call "waking up offended."
ethanb473 | 11 hours ago
Yeah man, youâre so right! Finally someone is saying this!! How dare Americans with a mixed racial background and similar upbringings try to form some community!!! They are LITERALLY just as bad as 19th century scientific racists!!!!!
cherrybounce | 6 hours ago
Is this sarcasm? Hard to tell.
veryowngarden | 7 hours ago
thatâs not really whatâs happening when it isnt all mixed asians, just ones mixed with white. but act obtuse if you want
RedditFan3510 | 3 hours ago
The point of the article is a nuanced take on privilege not what you're implying. Did you read the article?
insomniacla | 10 hours ago
THANK YOU! And so much of the discourse around this article on Reddit has been toxic. Why can't I just exist as a biracial person?
madamesoybean | 8 hours ago
As an ostracized/othered 1966 Fire Horse Wasian: abso- freakin-lutely. Well said.
RedditFan3510 | 3 hours ago
You aren't familiar with the Hollywood/Film TV industry are you?
jxanne | 11 hours ago
omg you people canât do anything
AsexualArowana | 6 hours ago
The writer didn't really talk Asian America proximity and seeming worship of white people. I think that's what made people uncomfortable with the meetup.
>They grew up with Chinese-immigrant parents in Central Jersey who conceived them using a white egg donor. While Tang is visibly biracial, their brother is a head taller and more white-passing. âMy dad has said heartbreaking stuff like, âIâll never be seen as American because Iâm yellow,ââ Tang says. They recall their parents saying that being part white is a âgood thing. It will keep you safer to look whiter.â
I feel like I can't criticize this family for choosing a white donor as someone who dates out of their race but there's something disappointing choosing a white donor to insulate your kids from instead of fighting it.
Morningshoes18 | 9 hours ago
I think itâs an interesting entertainment thing to think about. If you have a half white character then you can cast a dad or mom as white so that does it make it less âotheringâ to an audience than a full Asian family. Iâve noticed the same thing happening with black characters.
I think Asians marry mostly white people in America so the face of an Asian is becoming more wasian in entertainment and irl. Not my community but it is interesting to read about.
veryowngarden | 7 hours ago
just say âless othering to a white audienceâ because poc audiences have been watching plenty of shows with zero poc
greenapplegummi | 5 hours ago
âAsians marry mostly white people in Americaâ? Thatâs not true at all. By and large, Asians mostly marry other Asians in America.
Complexyeahnah | an hour ago
Hollywood could also cast two mixed POC and white people to be the parents of mixed POC and white people because multigenerational mixed POC and white people do exist. Hollywood can't handle having at least one fully white person in a cast of an average tv show or movie. Monoracial POC and multiracial POC are expected to relate to mostly white casts a lot of the time.
yo-ovaries | 10 hours ago
Commenting to see if someone posts a non-paywall link.
envyviolet | 10 hours ago
hopefully this works! non-paywall link
foreignne | 10 hours ago
https://archive.ph
konomichan | 10 hours ago
Double comment. Someone reply to this pls when it happens
FlowerProofYard | 10 hours ago
Interesting, itâs shame I canât read the article. I have noticed more visible mixed Asian faces and thatâs pretty cool to me. Donât know if love wasian as the term weâve settled on, but it is what it is.