A blog about being mixed in America

Negotiating Culture: Arranged Marriages in Western Culture

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Caroline

One of the challenges of being mixed culturally is negotiating what to emphasize from which culture in your own life. This can be incredibly difficult when family members insert their own say in your life.

I came across an article in BBC which highlighted this very issue. Ravi’s family is Indian and his mother Asha, believes strongly in arranged marriages. So much so that she has a binder full or women. Asha wants to choose a wife for Ravi but as a young man raised in Toronto around western culture, Ravi wants to choose his own life partner. This video highlight their relationship and how they deal with their differences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22171885

Mindy Kaling vs Hannah Simone (New Girl’s Cece): Why Actors and Writers of Color Matter

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Caroline

Mindy Kaling from The Mindy Proect and Hannah Simone from New Girl are two Indian American actors with major roles on cable televison. They represent two spectrum of the changing landscape of media as a whole. On one hand, there are the Mindy Kalings who are writing and producing their own work that reflects their experiences. On the other hand, we have the Hannah Simones, those represent these expereinces but don’t write or produce their parts. After watching every single episode of both New Girl and Mindy Project, its amazing to see what a difference having people of color as both the writers and actors on a show.

Mindy Kaling plays Mindy Lahiri a success single doctor in New York City trying to figure out her life. Mindy is one of very few Asian women with leading roles in Hollywood. The Mindy Project presents an interesting playground so to speak for lead role and creator Mindy Kaling. It allows her the creative power to shape her show’s narrative. Her character is like any other person. She’s a young woman trying to find love, dealing with coworkers and working through her own issues.

Mindy Kaling is one very few South Asian women on television. This means she is often designated as the voice of South Asian women. In the clip below, Mindy talks about how her personal identity informs her character. In the show, she allows her identity to come up organically, as it would it real life.

New Girl’s Cece played by Hanna Simone. Both the character and the actor are Indian Americcan. Cece is well known as the beautiful woman who Schmidt loves. Her character is hyper sexualized. This is validated through her modeling career. Cece is exotified and in fact the entier episode Quick Hardening Caulk (watch below) is a metaphor for Cece as the rare exotic California lion fish.

This is the difference between Mindy and Cece. Mindy Kaling writes her characters as a real person. She doesn’t rely on her characters gender and sexuality to drive her script.

New Girl is written by a young white woman Elizabeth Meriwether. Most of the main writing staff is white. They build Cece’s character and her relationships around her race and gender. While all the other characters are more complex, Cece is fairly one dimensional. At PaleyFest, the characters discussed their views on Cece and Schmidt’s relationship. Hannah Simone is very vocal about how Cece is portrayed.

It is amazing how many actors of color there are today on television. However, without writers whose experiences mirror the characters, we end up with problematic portrails such as Cece’s.

Full Disclosure: New Girl and Mindy Project are my favorite shows at the moment.

Deja-vu? Blackface controversy stirs yet another french magazine

Posted on February 28, 2013 by gdealmar

The international fashion scene continues to be a stage where racial and ethnic misrepresentations and appropriations can take shape. France is once again under fire for yet another blackface controversy, this time in their magazine, Numéro for one of their March 2013 spreads. They used 16-year-old white model, Ondra Hardin in black face for their “African Queen” photoshoot. In response to a Huffington Post request for a comment from the magazine on the issue, Numéro issued the following statement.

Some people have declared that they have been offended by the publication in Numéro magazine n°141 of March 2013, of an editorial realized by the photographer Sebastian Kim called “African Queen”, featuring the American model Ondria Hardin posing as an “African queen”, her skin painted in black. The artistic statement of the photographer Sebastian Kim, author of this editorial, is in line with his previous photographic creations, which insist on the melting pot and the mix of cultures, the exact opposite of any skin color based discrimination. Numéro has always supported the artistic freedom of the talented photographers who work with the magazine to illustrate its pages, and has not took part in the creation process of this editorial. For its part, Numéro Magazine, which has the utmost respect for this photographer’s creative work, firmly excludes that the latest may have had, at any moment, the intention to hurt readers’ sensitivity, whatever their origin. Numéro Magazine considers that it has regularly demonstrated its deep attachment to the promotion of different skin-colored models. For instance, the next issue of Numéro for Man on sale on 15th march has the black model Fernando Cabral on the cover page, and the current Russian edition’s cover of our magazine features the black model Naomi Campbell on its cover. This demonstrates the completely inappropriate nature of the accusations made against our magazine, deeply committed to the respect for differences, tolerance and more generally to non-discrimination. Considering the turmoil caused by this publication, the Management of Numéro Magazine would like to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this editorial.

The main issue here is citing that any appreciation for the melting pot and a mix of culture erases any need for critical thinking on the question of power as it relates to race. In fact with a photoshoot where you are literally reading people’s bodies, I would argue this becomes even more relevant. To take it one step further, the choice to name the spread “African Queen” exemplifies a privileged ignorance to critical questions of race and representation. In their apology, Numéro goes on to praise their endeavor in promoting the work of models of all races, insisting that any condemnation of their spread lacks foundation. You might ask where the regret is. In fact it is one of those “I’m sorry you were offended by what I said” apologies. If the decision to publish this photoshoot doesn’t indicate it, the magazine’s response certainly shows they have failed to think of the sensitive implications of using blackface as a central component of fashion.

As Julee Wilson outlines in her Huffington Post article, “pointing out a few covers featuring people of color does not save you from ridicule and definitely doesn’t make the accusations/backlash surrounding the current situation “inappropriate.” What’s inappropriate is not hiring a black mode in the first place.” While I agree that it is not productive to assume U.S. race relations to be the best way to understand race as it relates to power in other national contexts, in the case of ethnic and racial misrepresentation and appropriation on the runway, we are left with crucial questions to consider. What has the commodification of the black body come to signify in fashion? If the goal of this spread was indeed to surpass racial hierarchies while staking a claim on a post-race framework, why the need for race-bending with a white model in blackface under the banner of being an “African Queen”? We must continue asking critical questions of an industry that is too quick to defend racial and cultural misappropriation for the sake of artistic agency and personal expression.

For more on the topic see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/numero-magazine-blackface-apology-african-queen_n_2772670.html

Zoe Saldana Speaks Out About Nina Simone Role

Posted on February 27, 2013 by gdealmar

On October 30th, 2012, I published a blog post Nina Simone through the Lens of Hollywood: Unpacking the Controversy, where I addressed the backlash against Saldana playing the role of Nina Simone. Much of the controversy has been centered on a critique of the ways colorism affects Hollywood casting. After having stayed relatively quiet on the matter for months, Saldana defended her choice to take on this role, and how she deals with these comments. The controversy of having a lighter skinned afro-Latino play the part, called into question Saldana’s blackness. Her response? “I did it all for love. Out of love for Nina, my people and who I am and my pride of being a Black woman and a Latina woman and an American woman. That’s my truth.” There’s no doubt that people will continue to disagree on who can claim rights to telling the story of Nina, the icon. Incorporating different voices and perspectives into the conversation certainly complicates the dialogue.

Sports Illustrated 2013: Contextualizing Jessica Gomes Mixed Heritage

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Caroline

The 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues features models in seven continents posing in swimsuits. The issue got some negative attention due to the ways in which it exotified some of the cultures featured in the issue. Below are photos from Ann V’s shoot in China and Emily Didonato’s shoot in Namibia.

In this post, I will focus on Jessica Gomes’ photoshoot in China. Jessica Gomes is a famous Australian model who began her career at a very early age. Her father is from Portugal and her mother is from Singapore from the Chinese diaspora. Her mixed identity makes these photographs different from the other ones featured in the issue.

Jessica is seen here with a group of young girls in traditional clothing. Her minimal clothing evokes her western identity in contrast to the girls. There is also a play on femininity deeply embedded in hypersexualization of Asian women. The youth and innocence that is part of the girls stature could become the sensuality that Jessica represents.

Here Jessica is pictured with a two older men (and some birds?) on what appears to be a sampan. The men are mere props in this photo. Furthermore, like they are part nature much like the the hills and vegetation in the background. These men are objectified and stripped of their masculinity as they do not seem phased by Jessica’s presence. There is a long history of Asian men being feminized in the West. The men in these photos are desexualized so much so that there must be another subject to consume this image. This subject is the absent spectator.

Considering that 77% of the magazine’s readership is male, we cannot ignore the presence of a male gaze in relation to these two images. Jessica stares at the spectator, inviting him in while neglecting the men behind her. Having been stripped of their heterosexual desire, they pose no threat to the spectator.

There is an argument to be made about what role whiteness plays in these images. After all, she is mixed and her mother is from the Chinese diaspora. But she is positioned in a ways that emphasize whiteness from the swimsuit to the ways in which she is contrasted to people around her. A more complicated and important subject to explore would be the role that people of color who are raised in the West but have a mixed history such as hers play in these situations. How does cultural appropriation and commodification fit into this image and what language should be used to discuss this?

Its important not to view Jessica’s image the same way as Emily Didonato’s or Ann V’s. There needs to be a larger more complex conversation especially as more models of color participate in shoots similar to these.

abc’s The Neighbors: Aliens and Alienation

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Caroline

Cast of The Neighbors

abc’s The Neighbors is a new show about a family, the Weavers, that moves into a neighborhood of aliens. The family buys a townhouse in the neighborhood in hopes of fulfilling their American dream. After the Weavers come to terms with the fact that their neighbors are aliens in human bodies, they proceed to try and teach them how to fit in society.

The neighbors Larry Bird and Jackie Joyner-Kersee and their two sons Dick Butkus and Reggie Jackson speak in various accents and dialects. They are a racially diverse family who culturally differ greatly from the Weavers. Larry Bird and his family are otherized as the Weavers learn more about personal lifestyles and community dynamics.

In many ways, the show is a reflection of the overall consensus of the shifting racial demographics. It is becoming clear that the racial landscape of the country is quickly changing, and this change will soon mean a majority/minority shift. Americans can either panic, or embrace this change. This show tries to show how people from different backgrounds can live alongside each other. With each episode, the Weavers teach Larry Bird’s community how to be more like humans (read American) and Larry Bird’s family teach the Weavers how to be better people.

Would this show be the same if the Weavers were a family of color? Well, the show relies on preconceived notions of a homogenous America and immigrants as a new phenomenon. The Weaver family, whose name is almost identical to the Cleaver family from Leave it to Beaver, represent the threat that the increasing presence of minorities have on Whiteness by the mere fact that they are featured almost exclusively in this neighborhood. This show is reinventing the social landcape on television by challenging the all white Leave it to Beaver setting while still relying on whiteness as the norm in order to illustrate how people with different backgrounds can live together.

GQ: Hypersexualizing Women by Race

Posted on January 18, 2013 by gdealmar

GQ in an overstep that unfortunately has become too common in our society, has taken the hypersexualization of women one step further. In their list of the “100 Hottest Women of the Millenium,” GQ have categorized their definitions of fetishized sex appeal by race. However it’s not even that clear cut, because although celebrities of color such as Beyonce, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry made the cut, they were not described by race. The list goes from ‘This Century in Jessicas” highlighting Jessica Simpson, Jessica Alba and Jessica Beil, to “This Year’s Hottest Chines Chick.” Later on it spotlights Michelle Obama in the “Spoutal Hot” Category with no mention of race, and we then have Eva Mendes’ sexiness categorized by her cheek mole. Although Shakira also is not racialized she does fall prey to eurocentric ethnic stereotypes under the heading, “Most stimulating things to come out of Colombia in Order: (1)her hips. (2) cocaine.”

Below are the pictures of the celebrities who are ethnically/racially categorized in this list. GQ’s decision to use race as a way to hypersexualize womens’ bodies further exemplifies the role exotification plays in popular culture. Not only is it a select group of women that make the list for representing their entire culture/country/ ethnic group, but they lose their symbolic status as women, when they’re labeled as ‘chicks.’ Ruth C. White, Associate Professor of Social Work in the Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work at Seattle University weighed in on the topic. “If the magazine were saying, ‘These are all the beautiful women from every country in the world’, that would be a bit different; that’s what the Miss Universe pageant is all about,” White told Yahoo’s “Shine” Blog. “But by calling out certain women’s ethnicity and not others, what they’re implying is that these women are not beautiful simply because they’re beautiful; they’re only attractive within the context of their own ethnicity. This is qualifying their beauty and dismisses the idea that beauty comes in many different forms.” To take it one step further, the ultimate message is that these women are not the norm but rather in exception within they own ethnicities/backgrounds.

Freida Pinto

M.I.A.

Monica Belucci

Zhang Ziyi

Cherien Dabis: How her Sundance Nominated Film Speaks to Culturally Mixed Life Experiences

Posted on January 14, 2013 by gdealmar

Cherien Dabis touches on the ways her film ,’May in the Summer,’ speaks to her experiences of growing up between cultures and across different borders. Her film, is premiering in dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival this January.

The experience of having grown up really with one foot in the midwest and one foot in the middle east, and really getting to see from a young age how completely misunderstood both sides were to one another. In order to make sense of my own life I needed to explain one to the other.

Talking Race: Conservatives Panic over Shifting Demographics among Voters

Posted on November 12, 2012 by gdealmar

As one more election season has passed we as a nation find ourselves once again in this awkward race space. After four years of conservative and liberal voices alike praising our supposed post-racial status, much of the conversation about the Republican loss is in fact centered on the party’s inability to connect with voters of color. Just after the Obama’s reelection, many frustrated and concerned conservative figures went out insisting that the changing demographics are what lost Romney the presidency. Though undoubtedly offensive, statements such as seen in Bill O’Reilly’s comment on the plight of the ‘white establishment’ give us a glimpse into areal fear that people of color would have significant power to impact the U.S. as decided voters. O’Reilly referenced the white establishment, as something of the past, that had been clearly threatened and possibly eliminated by the demographics of people of color who had chosen to vote for Obama. The assertion is that people of color, who historically have not been treated as citizens, in voting have the power to impact Anglo Americans. This demonstrates a tremendous over-generalization, and perhaps ignorance on the role of race in American politics. However I also do not want to make sweeping generalizations. Over the last few days, several key players of the Republican party have spoken about the dire need to alter their party so it also speaks to minorities and people of color. A few different republican politicians have now that Obama was reelected, begun to critique Romney for not having taken that extra step to work with and run a campaign that embraced communities of color. I could write an entire separate post on what might very well be a shifting Republican party, but the point of this post today was to address the voices of right-wing politicians and pundits who have in the days following the election have talked about rising communities of color as a threat to whiteness. O’Reilly isn’t addressing this demographic change as a means to talk about creating more inclusive political fabric, but rather to say literally “this is not your father’s America.” Shall we translate? What he means is that the face of America has changed, a change caused by the very populations that continue to be considered second-class citizens. The nuance being overlooked here is that systemic change does not happen over night. High numbers of people of color does not mean there will immediately be laws and policies that service them. Rinku Sen’s Colorlines article from November 7th puts it best: “Demographics alone aren’t going to run a policy agenda through the system. It’s not like we, people of color, can just exist and, as a result, lead politicians to pass helpful policies simply by asking. Huge challenges remain in economic justice, immigration, environment, education and housing reform. The nation’s understanding of what it will take to generate racial, economic and gender equity remains shallow, focused largely on how new constituencies threaten the old white way, per Bill O’Reilly.”

Nina Simone through the Lens of Hollywood: Unpacking the Controversy

Posted on October 30, 2012 by gdealmar

(L) Nina Simone, (R) Zoe Saldana

As controversy over Zoe Saldaña being cast as Nina Simone continues to increase, I’ve found myself going back to my earliest recollections of Nina’s music. Some of my earliest memories of music involve Nina Simone, in fact one of the first CDs my dad bought me was hers. I remember feeling such awe and power in her voice. Considering the musical and historical status of the High Priestess of Soul, it shouldn’t be surprising that everyone has an opinion on who should and shouldn’t be playing her. When news that Zoe Saldaña would play Simone began surfacing on the internet last month many people expressed strong feelings of disdain. An online petition on Change.org which garnered more than 2,600 signatures urged the producers of the film to reconsider their casting decision.

The images of Saldaña on set that have been released over the last week have caused further outrage. Clutch, a magazine for black women, raised the following issues: “we can tell that Zoe appears darker, with a wider nose, fake teeth and an afro wig. For some, the photo begs the question: why not just hire an actress that actually resembles Nina Simone?”

Zoe Saldaña on set
(clutchmagonline.com)

Zoe Saldaña in full costume on set
(cinemablend.com)

Saldaña in full costume on set
(cinemablend.com)

This question of colorism should be considered critically in the context of the U.S. where we see so many misrepresentations of black and brown womanhood in the media. Tiffani Jones, who runs a blog entitled Coffee Rhetoric posted about Saldaña playing Simone as doing a disservice to the memory of Nina Simone. In an interview with the New York Times, Jones said the following:

“Hollywood and the media have a tendency to whitewash and lightwash a lot of stories, particularly when black actresses are concerned. When is it going to be O.K. to not be the delicate looking ideal of what the media considers blackness to be?”

It is impossible to overlook Hollywood’s complicated and problematic approach to depicting people of color. Colorism is alive and well in an industry that continues to value highly racialized body images of women. With that in mind it is also important to not delegitimize Saldaña’s decision to accept the role as denying her blackness in any way. As Akiba Solomon from Colorlines notes, it seems wrong to assert that Saldaña cannot play Simone simply because “her ancestors landed in a different part of the African diaspora.” The real issue here, which Solomon also outlines, lies in what was overlooked and deemed unimportant by the filmmakers. The casting for this film serves as an example as to how Hollywood markets roles of people of color. Solomon writes that Saldaña should not be held responsible, but rather Hollywood and mass media who continue to “prize light skin, straight hair, very thin female bodies and keen facial features.”

Fans, family, and artists have been very adamant about the importance of having a representation of Nina Simone that can center a narrative and image of the singer that embraces her curves and dark skin tone. Much of the controversy over this casting decision has been Simone fans wanting to ensure that the singer’s body image and sense of self-pride be taken seriously. Singer and actress Jill Scott, while she didn’t speak out against Saldaña in the role of Nina Simone, did address this question of respect:

”Zoe is an incredible actress–I think that she’s a fine actress. I think that there should be some work done, like a prosthetic nose would be helpful and definitely some darker makeup. If Forest Whittaker can become darker in “The Last King Of Scotland” then I believe Nina should be treated with that respect. She was very adamant about her color about her nose about her shape and her self and there needs to be some homage paid to that.”

The singer’s daughter, Simone Kelly, in addition to critiquing the filmmakers for pursuing a film that is not authorized by the Simone estate, also highlighted the importance of appearance in casting. “My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose is too wide, her skin was too dark,” Kelly said in an interview. “Appearance-wise this was not the best choice.” This consideration is even more powerful when thinking about the message behind Nina Simone’s music, so much of which was about embracing female blackness, regardless of size, color, and hair. In her autobiography, I Put a Spell On You, Simone talked about how she grappled with complex ideas of beauty as an artist in her music. When talking about this process in her song, ‘Four Women,’ she said the following:

“The women in the song are black, but their skin tones range from light to dark and their ideas of beauty and their own importance are deeply influenced by that. All the song did was to tell what entered the minds of most black women in America when they thought about themselves: their complexions, their hair-straight, kinky, natural, which?-and what other women thought of them. Black women didn’t know what the hell they wanted because they were defined by things they didn’t control, and until they had the confidence to define themselves they’d be stuck in the same mess forever.”

The irony then cannot be ignored. Media has unparalleled power in its ability to disseminate information and particular images. Film is no exception. Thus we must think carefully and critically of what it means to have the image of Nina Simone whose work so closely grappled with storytelling that embraced an image of ‘black is beautiful,’ as depicted along Hollywood’s lines of physical and racial comfort.

To read more on the film and casting follow links below:

New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/movies/should-zoe-saldana-play-nina-simone-some-say-no.html

Dailymail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2224329/Zoe-Saldana-embodies-legendary-jazz-singer-Nina-Simone-dons-signature-head-wraps-new-film.html

Colorlines:

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/10/why_zoe–or_mary–shouldnt_play_nina_simone.html

Clutch:

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2012/10/is-makeup-enough-zoe-saldana-on-the-set-of-nina-simone-biopic/

Indiewire:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/jill-scott-is-cool-with-zoe-saldana-playing-nina-simone-well-that-is-if

(Re)Mixed