Miss Asian Oregon

2009 September 24
tags: , , , , , , ,
by jaehwan

mao

Okay, time for an exciting announcement. I am the co-owner of the Miss Asian Oregon Pageant, and we will be having our inaugural event on October 10th, 2009 down in Salem. My partner Michelle is a former contestant/finalist and law firm owner, and we are totally psyched about doing this. Our emcee/organizer Liani is a prominent public official and lawyer activist. We now have all of our contestants, and we’re ready to rock the state of Oregon.

I’ve fielded some protest e-mails, and I understand where people are coming from. Many pageants objectify women; I won’t discount that. But this pageant is different. We’re trying to redefine beauty for Asian America. What better way to redefine beauty than to step up and provide a platform for redefining beauty? This was the reason I decided to do it. We’re always complaining about media representation and image, and I wanted to do something proactively to take control of this image. I see this an activist endeavor. This “pageant” (for lack of a better word right now) is new. We’re putting strong focus on the content of what each contestant represents, and how she represents. Each contestant is required to have a platform or cause. Why? Because we believe that part of being beautiful is contributing your talents towards changing the world.

So…because Thymos people love debate, there’s also going to be a counter-pageant to discuss why pageants might be bad. Or how they can be improved. The counterpageant will be held the very next day on October 11, 2009, and we will be screening two of Curtis Choy’s films.  If you wish to sound off, this is the event for you.

Here is the announcement for anyone interested in attending:

In October, Miss Asian Oregon will hold a women’s beauty pageant, followed the very next day by two films and a discussion by Curtis Choy protesting against women’s pageants. On the pro-side is the idea that women, particularly Asian American women, could use a vehicle for publicity and community. Many former pageant winners, including the first Miss Asian America Mona Lee Locke, have gone on to have amazing careers. The pro-side of pageants encourages Asian Americans to take control of their images.

On the anti-side, critics charge that pageants are a relic of the past and that they put too much focus on a woman’s looks. According to detractors, we need to move beyond pageantry, and we need to take steps that move us away from the image of what pageants used to be.  The anti-side of pageants strongly advocates in favor of tossing off the baggage created by earlier waves of pageantry.

We encourage people to check out BOTH events.  Curtis’s event is free; Miss Asian Oregon’s event costs $25 but will have good food.  Here is the info:

Saturday, 10/10/09, 12 noon: Miss Asian Oregon at Marco Polo Global in Salem. Click here for tickets and info. Come to see how Miss Asian Oregon is “Redefining Beauty in Asian America.”  This is THE inaugural event, so buy your tickets now. Remember, you can’t say you were there if you weren’t.

Sunday, 10/11/09, 2 pm: Screening of Curtis Choy’s Making Up (3min) and Year of The Ox: The 1973 Chinatown Livestock Show (17min) at the Asian Family Center, 4424 NE Glisan. A discussion about pageants will follow.  Hear both sides of the issue, along with a debriefing of the Miss Asian Oregon pageant.  This is your opportunity to watch, absorb, and make your voice heard!

from → Activism, Asian American, Portland

13 Comments leave one →
2009 September 25
Asian American Female Suicide | big WOWO permalink

[...] is why I’m involved with Miss Asian Oregon.  By redefining beauty and creating a space that allows young Asian American women to raise [...]

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2009 September 26
Jason permalink

I’ll be down in Oregon this weekend!
I’ll make an effort to make it out on Sunday.

2009 September 26
jaehwan permalink

Jason,

Sounds great! Look forward to seeing you again. It’s going to be really fun.

By the way, Patti Sakurai and Patti Duncan taught a writing workshop for the Thymos Book Project. Man, those two are REALLY talented teachers. Now I know why everyone loves them!

B.

2009 October 2
No Thank You permalink

I’m sorry Byron but I think the photos and content are just all wrong. As a Japanese-American women I find it almost insulting. Pls don’t consider this a “protest email.” I’m all for a good contest of any sort but the photos on the Volunteer tab? What are you selling? They look like an ad for “Child Brides from the Orient.” It’s just sad and not part of an image I’d want to be associated with at all.

2009 October 2
jaehwan permalink

Thanks for your comment, No Thank You. Did you really think child brides with that picture? I thought they looked clean and respectable…

In any case, all those pictures are stock photos that we bought from an online service. After our first pageant, we will be replacing all the pictures with those of our contestants, all of whom are very respectable. Please let us know what you think of the new pictures once they’re up. Stay tuned!

2009 October 8
Some questions permalink

Hey Byron,

If redefining Asian American beauty and promoting great community contributions/work are the true aim of this event, why use such a tired and cliched vehicle as a beauty pageant? I have to agree with “No Thank You”–your “stock online” photos certainly do not welcome “nontraditional” beauties to participate in your pageant. Why not feature photos of REAL groundbreaking Asian American women who have achieved something and who redefine beauty, not stock models? Yuri Kochiyama, Helen Zia, Iris Chang, Renee Tajima-Pena, Elaine Kim, Ruth Osawa, Nobuko Miyamoto come immediately to mind. Also, it doesn’t seem like you’re really serious about having a true dialogue between the pro and anti-pageant proponents when you have those two events on two different days with completely different formats. Why not come up with something totally cool and new, like the Webby awards did for internet ingenuity? After all, there are so many ingenius and talented (and beautiful because they are ingenius and talented) designers, inventers, entrepreneurs, community leaders/activists out there already, working hard, who are not just willowy barely twenty-somethings who have nothing yet to show but “attitude” and “cuteness”. You know what’s really cool? The “Intel Star” TV ad featuring people going gaga over Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB. 1 million viewers on Youtube prove that, right?

2009 October 8
jaehwan permalink

Questions,

“Why not feature photos of REAL groundbreaking Asian American women who have achieved something and who redefine beauty, not stock models? Yuri Kochiyama, Helen Zia, Iris Chang, Renee Tajima-Pena, Elaine Kim, Ruth Osawa, Nobuko Miyamoto come immediately to mind.”

Well, that’s in the past. I believe in strong past leaders, but I certainly don’t want to be stuck in the past. The purpose of this pageant is to focus on new, young leaders, not old leaders. I could’ve put a picture of Mona Lee Locke as well, who was the first Miss Asian America. And maybe we do want to build a tradition. But the focus is on women between 15 and 26, and so that’s what we have.

Why not come up with something totally cool and new, like the Webby awards did for internet ingenuity? After all, there are so many ingenius and talented (and beautiful because they are ingenius and talented) designers, inventers, entrepreneurs, community leaders/activists out there already, working hard, who are not just willowy barely twenty-somethings who have nothing yet to show but “attitude” and “cuteness”.

I’m not against that. I think that’s a great idea. But it’s not the only idea. Some people watch Tyra Banks and describe her show as vapid, superficial, etc., but the truth is that she has confronted issues of beauty of self-image head on with her show.

I believe in working hard, but I’m more about working smart. This pageant will provide a platform for young women to effect change. It’s a great platform for women to have, and it is an institution which will give women the visibility they need, which is why I support it. There are a hundred ways to skin a squirrel; I’m looking for the best ways to do so.

As for people who have “nothing yet to show,” I believe in young people. We all start somewhere.

2009 October 10
Daymond permalink

Anybody who eats aquirrels knows that there is only one way to skin a squirrel. Hahaha. Also, you organizer needs to be compensated. I believe she has been working on it for 3 weeks, and even took time off of work.

2009 October 10
Lingyai permalink

Not to pile on…. but….

I just looked at the application for the contest.

It says women can only compete if the have never been pregnant.
http://missasianoregon.com/downloads/application.pdf

Really? So if a woman has been raped and has an abortion she can’t be miss asian oregon? and forget raped, she get accidentally pregnant and has an abortion she technically can’t be miss asian oregon.?

This is the kind of BS that makes people not only disapprove of contests like this but out right hate them as it is like an attack on women.

This pregnant rule is the same as miss America contest (I knew someone who competed on the local level) and is anti woman and anti choice.

again I know jaehwan and people have worked hard on this contest and are not purposefully anti woman and are trying to do a what they see as a good thing. If it happens next year I hope they will change the rules, and change the contest.

2009 October 10
American Girl permalink

Good questions Lingyai. That issue never came up before, but sometime it is hard to think of all the ‘what ifs’ in the world. We will reevalueate and consider making an exception in the application for victims of rape who had to suffer through an abortion and filed a complaint.

Why don’t you help us think of more ‘What ifs.’ What if one of the applicants was at a party and got high off of someone else’s marijuana? What if she was smoking a ciggarrette and someone laced it with herion?

Thank you and all the protestors for complaining about what you do not like about the pageant.

How about complaining about the fact that each contestant must submit a one page essay on each of the following topics:

• How do you define Asian-American.
• How do you identify with being Asian-American.
• Your career goals.
• Your personal goals.
• How you would use the title of Miss Asian Oregon.

BTW, the pageant went off sucessfully. I am very proud of the contestants, they did a wonderful job.

2009 October 10
jaehwan permalink

Yes, good questions, Lingyai. We just finished the competition a few hours ago. It was really good, much better than anything I expected. The contestants really pulled it off! I was really floored by their awesomeness!

“Really? So if a woman has been raped and has an abortion she can’t be miss asian oregon? and forget raped, she get accidentally pregnant and has an abortion she technically can’t be miss asian oregon.?

This is the kind of BS that makes people not only disapprove of contests like this but out right hate them as it is like an attack on women.

I admit, you do have a point, lingyai. Just to be clear, we would still take an application from the hypothetical formerly pregnant woman who checked the “no” box. They could put their explanation in the space below, and it would be considered.

It’s a hard line to set rules for any competition. Look at the Presidency–my friend Hoang was a Marine for the US military (hear his story here), who risked his life for a country he loved during the first Iraq war (the legal one under the first Bush), but he’ll never be eligible to run for the U.S. Presidency because he wasn’t born here. It’s especially ironic because his love for the U.S. comes from the fact that he was saved and brought to this country by the Marines. So does that birth rule make sense? I don’t know.

In this case, we needed to start somewhere with basic guidelines for the kind of contestants we wanted. Since it’s a feed-in competition to Miss Asian America, we had similar guidelines to them–no illegal drug usage, never been married, never been pregnant.

For me, I know it’s a different experience and image when talking about post and pre-pregnant/marriage people. It’s complex, but I can tell you that I’m a totally different person since having kids. It would feel weird for me to enter such a competition with people who have never been married and never had kids. The feel and aura is different. So let me just say that I don’t know if the decision was right or wrong for 99% of the cases out there, but it’s something we can consider.

Anyway, I’m going to see if I can get some audio clips from the pageant. I think, lingyai, that you’ll like what the contestants had to say about their activist platforms (sustainability, bridging different cultures, and inspiring young people). I’ll be the first to admit that everything we’re doing right now isn’t perfect, but we can get better. And as AG said, I think we did do many things right.

Okay, I need a beer.

2009 October 10
jaehwan permalink

Daymond,

“Anybody who eats aquirrels knows that there is only one way to skin a squirrel. Hahaha. Also, you organizer needs to be compensated. I believe she has been working on it for 3 weeks, and even took time off of work.”

Haha…I agree she should be compensated.

I need a beer.

2009 November 13
Mr. Hyphen tomorrow, the quest for masculinity | big WOWO permalink

[...] the dialogue. I really appreciate it. As some people may know, I was involved with the creation of Miss Asian Oregon last month, and so I am into the pageant scene too. All this dialogue helps me to make sense of [...]

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