Meet the Sad Asian Girl's Club. Recently established by Rhode Island School of Design juniors Olivia Park and Esther Fan, SAGC is a “collective of Asian-American girls aiming to break the culture of passiveness and silence of Asian women during discussions of racism and feminism, as well as to provide more representation for Asian girls of all types and backgrounds around the world.” Without SAGC, I personally would not have even bothered to think about MY role as a Korean-American living in today’s white, male dominated society. I, unfortunately, have been conditioned to accept and normalize racism considering I was raised in the South; however, SAGC’s movement has made me realize that THIS IS NOT OKAY. In one of their recent projects, SAGC sent out this tagline “ASIAN WOMEN ARE NOT _______” and took submissions to compile a list of the most reoccurring ones. The following five are only a sample of the endless truths told by Asians that need to be heard.
On countless occasions I’ve been told, “You’re my favorite Asian friend ever!” Okay… As opposed to…? Like can’t I just be your favorite friend ever?
The amount of times I’ve heard “I’ve always wanted to date an Asian” or “I’ve always wanted to know what it was like hooking up with an Asian” is disrespectful to women in general. More importantly, we are NOT some experiment. You don’t get to “try” us out. We’re worth more than a hit it and quit it from your “exotic” checklist.
Sometimes we speak in our native tongue because it’s easier for us, or because there are certain things we can’t express with the English vocabulary; English isn’t everybody’s first language. But if you continue to stare at us while speaking in our own language then we’ll probably end up talking shit about you for staring.
Why is it that when we are trying “add diversity” or “represent minorities”, the default is automatically African Americans? Don’t get me wrong, witnessing an increase of blacks portrayed in the media is a very big step in the right direction for America! However, diversity consists of more than adding a couple black characters to a TV show, and this issue needs to be addressed.
This insinuates that Asians have a different standard for beauty. That’s not right. Asians shouldn’t have a lower standard for beauty, and to think that the European look is an archetype for what pretty people should look like screams white supremacy.
There are so many more of these truths that need to be publicized in order to eradicate stereotypes against Asian women. We can no longer sit in silence passively, further supporting the submissive and quiet stigma. Speak up, don’t settle and follow SAGC’s future works by checking them out on their multiple social media outlets!
Tumblr: sadasiangirlsclub.tumblr.com
Twitter: @SADASIANGIRLS
Instagram: @sadasiangirls.club
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SADASIANGIRLSCLUB
YouTube: youtube.com/sadasiangirlsclub
Website: Stay tuned. Launching mid-May
