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I’ve been reading a book by Robin DiAngelo, a white sociologist, entitled White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism. It’s a fascinating book, written by a white woman who has dedicated her life’s work--or, at least a significant part of it--to cultivating meaningful discussions about whiteness and what that …

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The Model Minority is Bullsh*t and Here’s Why

My grandmother wholeheartedly believes in the model minority myth. She suffers from what a lot of people her age suffer from: lingering racism of her generation. Even being an Asian immigrant, she refers to “the Blacks” and “the Latinos” a lot, which is never a good sign. Whenever we talk about wealth disparity in the …

On Being Wary of Whiteness, or What White Frat Boys Call “Reverse Racism”

I’m currently reading a book called The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer. I’m only about 150 pages in, and though it seems to be a promising book about love and growing up and womanhood, I can’t quite allow myself to trust it. There is a sense of wariness, of discomfort, I feel while reading. It’s …

Is Intersectionality Still Not the Default? Apparently, No.

It is my opinion that you should be able to tell if you’d like someone by their Instagram bio. I know this is ridiculous. It’s judgmental and a little bit petty and all together not true at all. One of my best friends’ bios is, “8teen in NYC.” I cringe. Another one’s is a Bible …

Why “Always Be My Maybe” Hits the Representation Bullseye

In my experience, when people talk about how Asians have been represented in the media, they usually cite two things. The first is The Joy Luck Club (1993), a movie with an all Asian cast that follows the relationship between four Chinese-American women and their immigrant mothers. Being a millennial, I’ve never seen The Joy …