Melanie
Manuel
ASA 114
001
24 February
2020
Daniel C.
Tsang’s “Notes on Queer ‘N Asian Virtual Sex” posits that the Internet has
become a site of sexual freedom for Asian Americans in this modern age. Oftentimes,
the preconceived notions about Asian Americans is their asexuality and effeminacy,
regarding Asian men. These preconceived notions can prove to be harmful to
their psyche and perpetuate self-hatred, not only for their own ethnicity and
culture, but also their sexuality. It is an interesting reading that highlights
the benefits and problems with cyberspace—which is its own double-edged sword.
On one hand, it allows its users freedom to be themselves without the fear of
reprimand in the face of faceless usernames. On another, things said on the
Internet does not go away, it is collected, stored, and sometimes used in futures
scenarios, as seen in the way old posts from Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and other
social media sites become archives for users to scour through to prove or
disprove a public figure’s (past) problematic behavior.
Truthfully,
one of the issues I take with this article is the lack of discussion with Asian
lesbians or the brief mention of Asian bisexuality. It seems to be swept under
the rug, glossed over in a paragraph, while a larger discussion about the gay Asian
community prevails. It is an important piece for positing such things about the
gay community, but it also feels like the “G” part of LGBT is more largely
discussed in the Asian American community. We’ve arrived to a continuously progressing
world, I think it’s time to include the “L” and “B” folks in this conversation
as well.
I’m
including a video by Anna Akana in which she came out to her parents as well as
the Internet. It is an interesting age now where the act of “coming out” can be
publicized in this way, showing how far along the LGBT community has come. It
is also an interesting video where Akana cites experiences of repression when attempting
to come out as a bisexual woman. It seems to be easier to say queer than
bisexual, and I think that’s a conversation worth discussing.
Works
Cited
Akana,
Anna. “how I came out (and what my parents think).” YouTube, 15 November
2018, https://youtu.be/IiF8VqO0q_M.
Tsang, Daniel
C. “Notes on Queer ‘N Asian Virtual Sex.” 1994.
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