As students and consumers, we should be aware of the power that marketing has over our consciousness. The t-shirts send the wrong message: that exploitation is fine when it is done in the name of financial gain.
Our campus commercialism is a far cry from the powerful artistic expressions of filmmakers like Greg Pak and playwright David Henry Hwang. Pak produces humorous and sexy digital art that capitalizes on Asian imagery and especially Asian pop culture imagery. The skillful representation of his subject matter is a world apart from racist caricature. Pak's films stand up on their own; they are not silk screen advertisements for a preppy clothing company. Moreover, Pak's work is genuinely interesting, compelling, and entertaining. Some of the pop-porn is overtly feminist in theme, offering empowering imagery created for contemplation, not commercialization.
As Hill & Tu point out, though, not everyone is pleased with the work of researchers like Mimi Nguyen. Nguyen's Web site offers "Asian-American feminist resources" and has become a "hub for Asian-American feminists (Hill & Tu). Moreover, Nguyen's work is deliberately subversive, designed to stimulate thought on race and gender and to ultimately change public opinion. For example, Nguyen grabbed the metatags from porn sites and embedded them onto hers so that would-be buyers of Asian mail-order brides would stumble upon her challenging cultural critique. Offended visitors to her website must understand that unlike the campus store, her counterculture work begs for fruitful analysis and argument.
The line between dark humor and bigotry can be a blurry one. If the images on Abercrombie & Fitch's clothes or on our campus gear were executed on canvas and displayed in a museum, the effect would be different. Why? Artists who reclaim outmoded ideas to make social commentary create real kitsch, not advertising. The campus gear is offensive not just because of its content...
The Abercrombe and Fitch images were "racist caricatures" being pimped in order to sell clothes (Nguyen).
Orientalist kitsch has its place. Images like those on our campus gear can be reclaimed, transformed into a symbol for anti-racist solidarity. Much in the same way African-Americans repossessed the "N" word, Asian-Americans can own the disturbing caricatures that were created initially by European-Americans. The campus clothing is not denounced by all Asian-American students because many appreciate what is commonly called "kitsch value." Kitch value can be used to channel the embarrassing legacy of racism or sexism or to make fun of the bigotry that gave rise to the orientalist imagery in the first place. Context matters, though. The clothing produced for our campus stores is an inappropriate venue for orientalist kitch because the goal of the gear is money-making, not consciousness change.
Commercialism and capitalist greed are at the heart of the protest against orientalist kitsch clothing. The Industrial Age boom was what prompted the first wave of Asian immigrants, who were systematically excluded from the source of social and cultural capital. Asian-Americans were segregated and denigrated via caricatures like the ones now being depicted on t-shirts. Therefore, Asian-Americans are being exploited once again for the capital gains of the dominant culture. The racist caricatures echo the sweatshop mentality, which places the bottom line above human dignity.
Works Cited
El Boghdady, Dina. "Abercrombie & Flinch." Washington Post. May 4, 2002. P. E01.
Hill, Logan and Tu, Thuy Linh Nguyen. "Nude Japanese Schoolgirls! Lotus Blossoms! Radical Feminists?" The Vilage Voice. August 22-28, 2001.
Nguyen, Mimi. "Orientalist Kitsch."
Strasburg, Jenny. "Abercrombie recalls t-shirts many found offensive." San Francisco Chronicle. April 19, 2002.
