Hyphenated Lives

1. Episode 5, Part 1: Weekly Discussion (Beyoncé’s Feminism & New Album) In this week’s discussion, BlackinAsia and unapologetically-yellow discuss Beyoncé’s surprise album, Beyoncé, and the feminism she embodies in this work. There is a lot to love about the album (x, x, x, x, x, x, x), and we discuss some of the problematic aspects of the album as well (x, x, x). Will white people and other people who aren’t black women willfully misinterpret Beyoncé? What does this album mean for the world as a manifesto for black American womanhood?

SPOILER ALERT. In this week’s discussion, we discuss Catching Fire. The movie gets a lot right, from the portrayal of (white) women to how oppression is carried out. However, when it comes to race, the movie gets a lot wrong. We have input from ideologyofaminor, saotome-michi, and panaghiotis223 about where the movie could’ve been different. Despite the movie portraying race in an artificial suspension, a lot of fans are still uncomfortable with casting choices for the opposite reasons we are.

In this week’s news stories, we have Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s vegan (food-only) challenge; Twitter’s meltdown over Lorde’s Asian boyfriend; the casting of Wonder Woman; two quick music spots. We also answer a listener question from wherehotstrangersmeet about Black Pete in the Netherlands/Belgium and 2goldensnitches about “defending your own” when “your own” is people of privilege.

In this week’s discussion, in light of Fear of a Brown Planet’s bit on reverse racism, the focus will be on “reverse racism,” “misandry,” and defining power/privilege/oppression. (For the paper mentioned in the episode about reverse racism, click here.) So often as activists we do one thing after another without pulling back and taking a look at the ideas underlying our work. We work to debunk these “reverse-isms” and take a look at some of the core ideas to social justice activism.

In this week’s news stories, we have a white man cooking in China becoming an internet sensation (like Eat Your Kimchi); the New York Times sneaks a racist anti-Asian article in time for Thanksgiving; Indian Actress (Mallika Sherawat) vs. Indian female journalist meets Buzzfeed; Selena Gomez shades Justin Bieber. We also answer a listener question from theragingfeminist about dealing with internet debates.

HYPHENATED* Episode 2, Part 1: Weekly Discussion- “Do non-native POC benefit as settlers on native lands? In this week’s discussion, the focus will be on the exclusion of Native peoples and erasure of their issues from anti-racism discussions. ferntales sent an amazing submission (and paper!) about our roles, even as POC, in the system of colonial oppression, and we will be discussing our thoughts. DISCLAIMER: in this episode, when we refer to Indigenous/Native peoples, we are referring to those in lands now called America/Canada.

HYPHENATED* Episode 2, Part 2: New Stories In this week’s news stories, we have the Huffington Post’s piece on the REAL history of Thanksgiving; XOJane’s piece on the pressure to be thin Asian/Asian-American women face; Katy Perry’s racist performance at the AMAs; Dow Jones at a record high even as public education continues to fail poor communities of color; a blast from the past. We also answer a listener question from cocksucking-accent about taking degrading jobs.

In this week’s discussion, the focus will be on deconstructing "Pacific Rim." The movie contains a lot of progressive ideas and portrayals of People of Color, yet it still relies on some problematic tropes. Related topics: Black-Asian solidarity, the portrayal of Asian women and men in Western media, and the tensions that rise between Women of Color and Men of Color due to (lack of) media representation.

In this week’s news stories, we have Ines Rau and Tyson Beckford’s photoshoot; the tale of two waitresses and their tips; Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP flop and Thor 2’s opening weekend numbers; Lily Allen’s non-apology; Renisha McBride.