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Breakin' Down the Asian Male Complex (& more…)
By Naomi Iwasaki
2002
Okay, okay, okay…
We've all heard the jokes, right?
Why do Asian Guys fix up their cars?
Because the size of the spoiler is inversely proportional to the size of their…
The Complex
Well let's just say there's been a lot of cappin' on Asian Manhood floating around. It's in TV, the movies, 70k e-mail forwards, you name it. Clownin' how they all have the same hair, same clothes, same car…I'm guilty of knowing these jokes...and even laughing at them, and yes even forwarding them on to others.
And they all seem to have a central theme…somehow or another, poking fun at the insecurities that plague men of color, but Asian men in particular. These insecurities that place Asians bottom on the totem pole of masculinity. These insecurities that tell Asian guys they have to try twice as hard as other guys to prove they're manliness. These insecurities that result into a theory of what I've callously dubbed the Asian Male Complex.
That Complex, that turns into motor-revving so loud it sets off my car alarm, is the same Complex that has caused me to roll my eyes and throw up my arms in disgust at the lack of Asian men out there who are secure enough to not have to front off and prove how hard they are.
I've shared many a-conversation with my fellow Asian sisters who are equally as frustrated at this Complex. And to be honest, up until recently, this article was going to be about that frustration and how it's almost driven me to the point of giving up on them boys.
Yes, almost.
Almost because that is my initial reaction to these insecurities. Those angsty complaints about ‘where are all the good men?' who aren't afraid to show public (or private) emotions. I was all set to write a piece that was as equally harsh on half of the API population as the jokes that perpetuate these insecurities. Almost.
I mean, really now. How much more whining from Asian guys can we take? Whining about Asian women & white men, whining about their loss of mass-media masculinity, whining about how people never stop hatin' on Asian men.
But, still that almost has turned into a not.
