Introduction to Asian/Asian American Studies

From this video, we can see that most of American people prefer the Americanized Chinese food over the traditional Chinese food.

Because of the difference from culture, habits, tastes, they made a combination of foods. But the food combined has a little bit different between the traditional food and Asian-American food

Most popular Chinese food in the U.S. is loaded with salt and sugar, so it tastes sweeter, saltier, and can often be greasier than authentic Chinese food. Actually, Chinese people like to use several different spices, a little of each kind, in one single dish. Besides salt and sugar, there are many other common spices in China, including dried chili, wild pepper, star anise, Chinese cinnamon, soybean source, water chestnut powder, etc. MSG is also widely used in China –    you can find it in almost every Chinese traditional dish.

The combination changed the traditional! But I think this is a good change.

DJ Rhettmatic is a famous DJ. He began his career in 1983. Now he has his own DJ team in Cerritos. Dj Rhettmatic has worked with many American rappers. Dj Rhettmatic was born in Nazareth Nirza, and he was Pilipino American. This video is about Asian American and hiphop music. In this video, DJ Rhettmatic has repeatedly repeated himself as Filipino. But his career is related to the hiphop DJ. This profession in the Philippines is being questioned by others. Because there is no culture in the Philippine that is like the job of a DJ. He mentioned in the video that years ago people always questioned him. People say he imitates black culture and that he wants to become black. But now people’s thoughts are more open. People slowly accepted him as a DJ. He also slowly gained the respect of others. In the video he also mentioned that, Asian Americans on the West Coast was involved in hiphop music earlier, with the hiphop music becoming more well known, more Asian American has gained more interest in hiphop music. Now a lot of famous rappers and DJs are Asian Americans. In the future there will be more Asian Americans who will engage in hiphop career.

We can’t get enough of all things K-beauty, but when we go to list off our favorite products, they err on the side of sheet masks, essences, and serums as opposed to foundations and mascara. After all, in Korea, skincare is much more than an assortment of products, it’s a way of living.  As such, heavy contouring, overlined lips, and gleaming highlighter aren’t on the menu du jour for most Korean women—it’s the dewy-fresh poreless skin that’s the focus.

In contrast, extravagant makeup routines are often favored in the U.S.—just take a scroll through Instagram and you’ll see a bevy of makeup artists and non-makeup artists alike applying countless products for one look. Not that intricate cat eyes and perfectly filled in brows should be scoffed at—we’re mesmerized by the talent that goes into executing each look—but it’s just the nature of the growing makeup culture here in the states.

I think Jabbawockeez is the famous Asian American hip hop dance goup.  Jabbawockeez is the Season one’s winner of American’s Best Dance Crew. When we talk about the hip pop dance group, the first one people always come up with is Jabbawockeez. The name of Jabbawockeez is from the Lewis Carroll poem “Jabbawockeez”. The signature of them is that they always wearing white gloves and masks when they are in show. There are many cool elements in their show. They were initially formed by members Kevin “KB” Brewer, Phil “Swagger Boy” Tayag, & Joe “Punkee” Larot under the name “3 Muskee”. By 2004, their members included Ben “B-Tek” Chung, Chris “Cristyle” Gatdula, Rynan “Kid Rainen” Paguio, and Jeff “Phi” Nguyen. Tony “Transformer” Tran joined the crew in 2013.The Jabbawockeez do not have a group leader; choreography for their performances, as well as music and design choices, are made as a collective unit.

Fresh Off the Boat…. a never-before-seen family sitcom with an all Asian-American cast. First aired on ABC on February 4, 2015. The idea of the all Asian-American cast resists against the “all American household” and what it means to be proud nationalists. Most TV shows, especially popular ones, consist of mainly white people in the full cast with maybe one or two minority people. The show is about a Taiwanese-American immigrant family attempting to get acclimated to the new setting and surroundings. This is important because Asian American people are acknowledged and broadcasted for being important and relevant people of the mainstream media, which is usually rare. It explains the ideas we’ve discussed in class about transnationalism and globalization, as well as breaking the stereotypes and barriers of race and identity.

http://www.thirdway.org/report/the-untapped-political-power-of-asian-americans

Speaking of the political power of Asian Americans, people won’t give too much credit because it’s really hard to find a politician who is Asian Americans. The report showed some reasons why Asian Americans have little political power. For example, Asian Americans political participation lags other groups because many are new to the partisan political process, neither the Democratic nor Republican Parties consistently target Asian American voters. I think the report really introduces some fresh ideas. For me, I believe that Asian Americans are not reluctant to participate in politics. Asian Americans contribute more money per person to political parties and candidates than any other racial/ethnic or religious group. I really hope that in the future there will be more and more Asian Americans participate in politics.

 I decided to write about Brenda Song because think she is a very important figure in TV and entertainment. She is a very prominent and familiar actress who has starred in many shows and films. Like many of the blog posts, they are about Asian American men mostly, but she is a well-known Asian American woman. Her mother is Thai and her father is Hmong. She has been the face of Disney TV for years, and her talents and efforts are significant because she gives a different face and adds diversity to the predominantly white shows and movies. She is one of the only reoccurring Asian American actors/actresses within the Disney Channel. She’s featured on the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Phil of the Future, The Suite Life on Deck, New Girl, and other shows and movies.

This video introduces the attitude to body shape of Asian American women. They said that they became bigger than they were children. The question of them is that they grew faster than other Asian-American friends. They eat a lot at home and always exercise, so some of them have big shoulders. They think they are not only different from when they were children, but also from everyone else. One of interviewer said when she came to Japan, she found she is not like those Japanese girls who are thin and do not have muscle. I think this is the difference between Asian and Western. According to my understanding, Asian people are with thin for beauty, but Western people think little muscle is beautiful for women. As a result, this is a significant change for Asian American women. They also said, when they have dinner at home, their parents will not have a comment on their weight or body shape. I remember that when I ate at home, my mother sometimes would say you need lose weight. At last, they said people do not have to be thin to be happy. They are satisfied with their situation now. They thing they do things and are healthy for themselves. It is enough to be happy. Though they are different from others, which means they are challenging the norm, they think being different is being them, and when being them, they are liberated and empowered. They can also enjoy life without perfect looks.

The Rise of Asian Americans

The report shows that Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States which is different from the Asian Americans centuries ago. Most Asian Americans were used to be low-skilled, low-wage laborers crowded into ethnic enclaves and targets of official discrimination. The report also indicates that Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States. I believe that with the development of the society, immigration will become more and more common. More and more Asians will come to the US in order to find a better life. I really hope that in the future, the Asian Americans group will become bigger and stronger.

The Asian-American race has, for decades, remained a group of diligent, hard-working, educated people who want to do good for America. From everything I’ve seen, they’re very grateful for the opportunities they’ve been given in America. However, it seems as though they are often forgotten, silenced, or ignored. They do their part in society but get very little recognition. In a time when every voice should matter, they have very little voice. Yet, they’re some of the best citizens our country has. The following article about a recent photo series highlights the racial injustice that is done to the Asian-American race. It’s certainly worth a look — it’s amazing that people still don’t listen long enough to realize that Asian-Americans are very different than the stereotypes given to them.

https://mic.com/articles/161712/this-powerful-photo-series-sheds-light-on-the-prejudice-asian-americans-face-every-day#.YCaSFes6J