Rheinlander: Activism and Identity (also Asian American Feminism Pt. II)
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These are my thoughts on identity activism. It’s also part II of my essay on Asian American feminism and part III of the recent 44’s dialogue on the same topic (check out Xian’s excellent post here).
I e-mailed 44’s Maogirl last week and asked her for her opinion on my opinion of Asian American feminism. She e-mailed me back and wrote the following (re-posted with her permission, emphasis is mine):
one of the reasons i think asian american feminism is a failure (and as far as i’m concerned, it hasn’t accomplished anything of value, hence it’s a failure) because it’s founded on the search for identity, which i think is self-defeating.
let me try to explain: let’s postulate that a large number of asian americans searching for (racial) identity are doing so in a post-structuralist sense…where the idea of identity is not based on WHO they are, but who they are NOT. asian american identity seems to be founded on an identity of absence. they are asian american because they are not white. it’s about who they are in relation to dominant white culture, they’re the hegelian “other.”
Maogirl then went on to explain that many Asian Americans define themselves by white people, i.e. your an “FOB” because you’re too different from white people, or you’re “whitewashed” because you’re too similar. Frank Chin once also said that the search for identity was, in his words, “bullshit.” I kind of understood this before, but Maogirl helped put it in words. Activism based on a search for identity is a waste of time.
Whenever I tell people that I am involved with Asian American activism on a local level and that we run an intellectual group, they’re always say things like, “Oh, you’re trying to find your roots” or “Oh, you’re trying to find out how to best assimilate.” It doesn’t matter if I’m talking to an Asian person or a white person; they always say the same thing. One Asian guy actually said to one of our board members: “Oh, so you’re kind of like an Asian American therapy group.” Right, because we Asian Americans all need therapy. Notice how society always seems to point the finger at the Asian person, as if to say, “You’re pathological, and you’re working to solve your own problem.” When we first started Thymos (our group), I simply ran along with this approach because we didn’t have any set agenda, and I wanted to see where the conversation would lead us. Now I say, “We talk about issues, we educate one another, and we talk about things we need to do to move forward. Join us and see what it’s about.”
That’s the problem with making identity the centerpiece of activism; it accuses the searcher. It describes the searcher as different, and it defines the searcher in relation to the rest of society. Therefore, in the mind of the identity-activist, the rest of society is normal, while the activist and his entire community has the problem. Because it focuses so heavily on the identity-activist, the identity-activist’s mind isn’t focused on changing society to fit the identity-activist, the identity-activist’s mind is focused on changing the identity-activist’s culture to fit society. If society was the sick party to begin with, the healthy activist becomes sick and the sick society remains sick. Someone fighting with the traditional Kingstonian approach to Asian American issues will eventually get tired and burn out, because the more he or she tries to fight with the Kingstonian mindset or techniques, the more he or she channels that anger internally. It is ultimately futile.
Hell, we already all have identities. We’re family-people, we have careers, we’re involved in activism. I’m a father and a reader/writer. What other identity do we need? Real activism must focus on education and results, not just a search for identity.
Going back to that Asian American feminist question, maogirl continues:
now, i think this is problematic particularly for asian american feminists. if you’re going to fight for identity politics, you need to have a fucking identity in the first place, not this limbo that a lot of asian americans seem to occupy. do asian american feminists latch on to feminism because being a chick is the only identity they can really be confident in? i don’t know. but as with their racial identity, these chicks need white people for their feminism, to help them define themselves.
This is exactly right. Look at the work of Amy Tan or Maxine Kingston. Tan’s book is about Asian women assimilating into white culture through learning English, attracting white men, and being part of the grand ol’ orientalist story of the heathen Chinee learning the ways of the white man. Kingston’s Woman Warrior is about learning from the West and implicating and emasculating the Asian man based on Western standards (and Kingstonian lies). In the Kingstonian world, white is normal. Asian is pathological. The entire foundation of Kingstonism AND Asian American feminism has been to raise whiteness on a pedestal. Hence you see the racial dichotomy in feminist films like “Falling For Grace” and “Red Doors,” where attracting a white man is seen as an important step to take in life, something that all liberated Asian women do. Meanwhile, the Asian heroine goes far out of her way to leave Chinatown and all of those Chinamen in Chinatown in order to find her true identity as an Asian American woman. Most of these movies don’t even have an Asian male suitor for the white man to compete with. The Asian man is so degraded by these “Asian American feminist” works that the he doesn’t even possess an individuality; he’s just one more Asian male body in the whole Mongol horde.
This is why I say that Asian American feminism is racism, or that it has historically perpetuated racism. What else has it done, other than reinforce the same orientalist values that we’ve known and experienced for years?
Now–and this is to acknowledge the excellent points made by Xian and Cattygurl over the past week–it may be possible for Asian American feminism to re-invent itself. I personally do not like the Asian American feminist label, since carriers of that banner have been responsible for much anti-Asian racism in this country (i.e. the racialized stereotypes perpetuated by “Falling for Grace”), but if Asian American women decide that they need a more feminist approach to solving problems, I’m all for it. But in doing so, they will have to differentiate their movement from the prior Asian American feminist movement of the past. This isn’t my rule; this is a rule of leadership. You can’t take a movement with a broken reputation and expect to get anywhere with it. If you had the best battleship in the entire navy and called it the S.S. Benedict Arnold, no one would want to be a part of it. And if people joined it, they’d fail at anything they attempted. Such is the power of reputation and culture.
To put this into context, a few days ago, I went to a birthday party for the mother of a friend. The birthday party was held at a restaurant on the east side of Portland called Rheinlander. It is housed in a beautiful German style building (see picture above), and they serve great German food. What is of particular interest in this case, though, is that the restaurant takes German culture beyond the food. The waiters and waitresses all sing in German, and they have an accordian player who walks around the restaurant and plays German music. The entire staff carries German pride with them, and they know their traditional music and style (I don’t know if they’re actually German, but they look like they are!).
Now how does this relate to Asian American feminism? It’s simple: Germany rebounded from its reputation as an instigator of genocide and racism. They left WWII with perhaps the worst reputation in modern history–not only did they democratically elect a mass murderer and an anti-Semite, but they entire German population watched him murder 6 million Jews as he undertook a massive campaign to take over all of Europe and eventually the world. Today, Germany is once again a leader in Europe. Racism is under control, and while people won’t forget the crimes that the German government committed almost seventy years ago, people also can see beyond that reputation.
How did Germany do this? They took responsibility for it. They apologized profusely to the people whose lives they damaged, and they cooperated with the world in order to make amends. They banned Hitler’s Mein Kampf. To this day, you cannot legally possess a copy of that book in Germany because it’s against the law. There is no ambiguity about it.
Now Kingston’s attacks on Asian men are obviously not nearly as serious as war crimes, but any future Asian American feminism must take history into account. If there will exist a movement that calls itself “Asian American feminism,” I believe that it must disown the previous thirty-five years of negative activism created by the Kingstonians. Leaders cannot allow that ambiguity to hang over the heads of the people they seek to lead. What Kingston did was either misguided or wrong–because clearly the Chinese word for “slave” and “woman” isn’t the same, and clearly footbinding wasn’t nearly as pervasive as she portrayed it. The end result was a form of feminism that did nothing to help Asian Americans, whether they be men or women. As maogirl says of Asian American feminism, “it hasn’t accomplished anything of value.”
I myself am open to a new Asian American feminism, if that is what Asian American women feel is necessary to bring about equality. There is no doubt that sexism still exists, and if a feminist movement is necessary to get people to recognize sexism, I’m all for it. Let’s fight inequality on all fronts. As Xian wrote in his feminism post, we basically want to change the world. So let’s do it by setting the right foundation, one which brings us together and focuses on truth and gets away from the mistakes and mischaracterizations of the past. We’ve got the intellectual capital, the physical capital, and everything else we need to change the world as it needs to be changed.
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nightshade
2:06 am | Apr 02, 2008I’m glad that you’re levelheaded on this topic, instead of going on a THIS SUX OMG FEMINISM PWNED rant. Sadly, I have been on quite a FEMINISM PWNED bender lately–I’m too close to it and I only encounter Asian American/Canadian women who are privileged enough to contemplate what it means to be a feminist.
jaehwan
11:13 am | Apr 02, 2008Maogirl is SO right; it’s all about defining oneself with the majority culture. I just see so many Asian American groups fall apart, and the main reason is that they attempt the same old Asian American feminist nonsense which eventually self-implodes. They push out or silence Asian American men, and then they direct their anger at Asian-men-as-a-concept without even aiming the envelope at the mainstream patriarchy. Then they blame Asian American apathy.
Somehow I think people have to try to persuade them to do something different. It’s fine if it exists, but if it continues in its present form without differentiating itself from Kingstonism, it’s doomed. Intellectually, people need to realize this.
Dialectic
6:57 pm | Apr 02, 2008I’m in substantial agreement with everything you’ve said in this piece and the last. I hadn’t explicitly considered AA activism’s intimate relationship with AA feminism and the pathologies of AA activism/feminism in this light until now (though these observations seem obvious now that you’ve made them). I might post a thought or two about this in the future.
jaehwan
12:00 am | Apr 03, 2008Thanks, D!
Looking forward to hearing your views on this most critical of subjects.
SamuraiJack
3:13 am | Apr 03, 2008I put a question out in “Part 1″, and I’ll rehash here, albeit in a different way:
What is “Asian American Feminism”, and what specific issues does it deal with?
And how do these issues differ from feminist issues or Asian American issues in general?
Please enlighten.
kwak76
1:31 pm | Apr 03, 2008Jaehwan,
Great articles and it has been an education. Although I’m not sure if Asian American feminism will recognize their own pathologies. It’s like can Asian American men see their own pathologies.
People may counter argue that why should Asian American feminist own up to past wrong thinking when Asian cultures has been sexist for generations. (I could picture someone saying this. Shouldn’t Asian men own up to past social injustice to Asian women. ) Just playing devil advocate here.
SamuraiJack,
Your question is pretty deep and well I can’t answer it because I don’t know. But when it comes to Asian American Feminism and Asian American movement there is allot of overlap and it is not in a good way.
I give it a shot to answer your question but I could be wrong in my answer. This is what I think of Asian American feminism.
The problem with Asian American Feminism is that they see Asian culture as being oppressive and Asian men as being the oppressor. White culture or the majority culture will side with the Asian American feminist because the majority culture buys into the belief that Asian culture is oppressive. In a back handed way Asian American feminist gets the support from the majority culture.
What the error in thinking here is that Asian American feminist will also experience oppression from the majority culture. Another thing is that Asian culture being oppressive or Asian men being sexist is an extension of how white culture defines us.
This creates a divide within the Asian American culture and movement. I remember the first time I watch the “Joy Luck Club” movie. I felt like shit after I watch that film. I wanted to go up to every Asian women and say ” I am so so sorry for what Asian men has done to you.”
Granted there is Asian male sexism and that Asian culture does have sexism but what the (correct me if I am wrong) Asian American feminist (If it is Tan and KIngston being the voice) the blame lies with Asian culture and Asian men. Without actually looking at how majority culture is sexist to Asian women and how the majority culture oppresses Asian people.
In a nutshell we are divided among ourselves.
jaehwan
7:14 pm | Apr 03, 2008Kwak,
I think you nailed it. I agree with everything you wrote.
We really need to take steps to see where we can come together rather than allowing the same old divisive nonsense that the Kingstonians have been spreading for the last 35 years.
SamuraiJack
10:25 pm | Apr 03, 2008jaehwan, what exactly are the issues of Asian American Feminism that can’t be addressed through feminism or Asian American empowerment?
jaehwan
2:04 pm | Apr 04, 2008SJ,
I can’t say that I know for certain that there are any issues that can’t be addressed through feminism or AA empowerment. That would actually be something for Asian American women to decide. But any movement has to be based on truth and mutual desire for empowerment rather than what “AA feminists” historically have been doing.
SamuraiJack
4:02 pm | Apr 04, 2008jaehwan, the term “Asian American feminism” seems redundant. Similar to what kwak said, I can’t think of any examples of sexism in Asian American males that doesn’t exist in North American society in general.
jaehwan
5:23 pm | Apr 04, 2008It could be redundant if you look at the defensive actions that these movements take. Fighting against exoticizing, stereotypes, etc. is something that Asian American empowerment could/should do.
But then again, maybe Asian American women need a space of their own. Maybe they could achieve things (i.e. through acting non-defensively) in their own Asian American female spheres without Asian men interfering.
These are just ideas. Asian American women would probably be best qualified to decide this sort of thing themselves. The only thing that I would say is that there needs to be a focus on truth, otherwise it usually veers off in the wrong direction.
Xian
5:26 pm | Apr 04, 2008Yes, but there are certainly unique sexist experiences that Asian American females experience in our society. The problem is not that such groups are formed, but that they are often organized to resist Asian male sexism, of which they experience far less than mainstream American male sexist.
All groups should address all injustice, but in my completely uninformed, non-female opinion, it would be more logical for Asian feminist groups to focus on Asian patriarchy and Asian American feminist groups to focus on American patriarchy.
SamuraiJack
10:46 pm | Apr 04, 2008Xian, you make a very important distinction - they are battling Asian male sexism, but not Asian American male sexism… however, Asian American males get the brunt of their angst.
Sure, some Asian American males are sexist, but no more sexist than other American males.
I don’t see a reason for “Asian American feminism” at all… if anything, I think it’s selfish - it seems that it’s only focus is issues that affect Asian American women, but ignoring the issues surrounding Asian American men. It’s like if I were only interested in the Chinese head tax, while ignoring the Japanese internment.
This can be exemplified in the support for “Falling For Grace”… at the surface, it may seem like it’s a positive movie overall for Asian women - many Asian women have to deal with feeling embarrassed by their own culture while dating a non-Asian guy. Well this movie helps with that issue. But it also ignores two other Asian American issues - Asian men are portrayed as sexually undesirable, or rather, they are “below white men” in the hierarchy of desirable partners. And secondly, that Asian women are easy and can’t exist without being with a white man.
You wouldn’t believe the number of dumb comments I’ve heard from white guys - “Asian women are easy - especially Filipinos”, “Asian women are hot and horny”, …yeah, all of this is without the girls around.
Anyways, my point echoes Xian’s point and that Asian American females should give up the “Asian American feminist” label, and just call themselves, an “Asian American activist” and/or a “feminist” and include issues facing Asian American males as part of their agenda.
Mellel
6:04 pm | Apr 07, 2008“Anyways, my point echoes Xian’s point and that Asian American females should give up the “Asian American feminist” label, and just call themselves, an “Asian American activist” and/or a “feminist” and include issues facing Asian American males as part of their agenda.”
I’m kinda torn on this. Sociologist Patricia Hill Collins would say that each group of feminists, while sharing an over-arching interest in the advancement of women, has a separate agenda tied into race and ethnicity. So Caucasian feminists, for example might be concerned with constantly being “the trophy” or frowned upon by their male counterparts for bearing a child of color. Black and Latina feminists may be concerned with be ignored. Asian American feminists could, in theory, be concerned with combating fetishism, exoticism, and try to educate their fellow Asian American women AGAINST automatically assimilating into the Caucasian world.
Then again, y’all are right…all these women could accomplish this under the simple title of “feminist.” After all, being female IS the common denominator here, and in some way, the root of all these problems.
blockthebox
12:30 pm | Apr 23, 2008*VERY* interesting piece. My belief is that searching for identity is a requisite phase for most AAs that usually happens in college. Hopefully (and I think eventually) most of us move past it and realize what a futile exercise it is in the long run.
jaehwan
2:05 am | Apr 24, 2008BTB,
There was this book called “Asian American X” edited by Arar Han and John Hsu. You can see it over here. Arar and John were either college kids or recent graduates when they edited and published it. It was ALL about identity. I flipped through it at Costco, and they had some crazy ass deconstructionist identity-searching bullshit from some of their multiculturalist essayists. Good effort, and I applaud the young kids who put the book together, but as it is, identity-search just takes people in all kinds of useless directions.
level1
4:26 am | May 27, 2008Blockthebox raises a good point about identity formation in college. I think part of the problem with Asian American activism (as a discrete entity/separate from individual Asian American activists) is that it arose on college campuses. Because of this, much of the discourse stays stuck in the ‘’searching for identity” phase, and less on changing the outside world.
This is problematic, and we see how it turns into the endless campaigns for Asian American recognition in the media, the reactive campaigns against gaffes by major media figures and so on. Not that there’s anything wrong with that– it just seems to be a little limiting. It’s good to see the folks on this site pushing into new territory.
And I think, that the rise of information technology is dissolving the hierarchy of Asian American studies in the same way that it’s breaking down barriers elsewhere. The other issue with the Asian American movement (and the feminism emanating from it) is that it’s the peculiar product of the late 60s. There’s good and bad with it, but clearly the post-structuralist/neo-Marxist/deconstructionist ”theory” has not yielded political power for the left generally. It’s been a failure– if it hadn’t failed, you wouldn’t have seen 30 years of neo-conservative/theocon ascendancy in US politics.
I always knew who Frank Chin was, but I saw his ideas pretty marginalized by the mainstream of Asian American studies…and it’s hilarious that the rise of the internet/webforums/blogging has empowered those who were marginalized to find each other and to revive interest in the man’s work. Good stuff. I guess we could call it a dynastic cycle, with yesterday’s revolutionaries becoming today’s orthodoxy =)
However, that said, one of the most interesting legacies of the 1960s Asian American movement has been the development of extremely strong Asian American student organizations on many of the UC and CSU campuses throughout California. It is interesting to me to see how many students (many of whom, admittedly will go on to relatively ‘conventional’ corporate careers) are nonetheless being exposed to what is, by any measure, relatively sharp cultural critiques of the mainstream. And not only that, they are learning to have a sense of their own agency and identity.
Now that we have these political institutions, the question is, what will people do with it?
jaehwan
9:43 pm | May 27, 2008Thanks for your post, Level1! And good points!
The internet is definitely changing things up, and I’m excited to see it enabling us to create connections so that we can mobilize for change. Haha…the funniest thing is that these Kingstonians are so entrenched, just sitting in their ivory towers looking down on all of us. Despite the public availability and low cost of the internet, they don’t even see us coming.
I think Dialectic has written some stuff about this. If you haven’t already, check out his stuff on the “mean green meme” in the forum. For women and African Americans, it helped to destroy sexist and racist norms, but it didn’t have any solid ground to reclaim that power because, as you point out, they only know how to deconstruct. They still suffer from this.
Are you interested in Asian American movements? If so, please stay around, get to know people, and continue to contribute. We need smart people here! We’ve got some plans for the future which we hope to implement. It’s all about connections and movement.