I got this e-mail from a disgruntled professor in California who is upset at the fact that we’re producing Miss Asian Oregon. I usually don’t post angry hate mail, but this one really got on my nerves because I really don’t get it–why do some professors, whose tenure protects them from the hills and valleys of the economy, take such an antagonistic view against the private sector? These people are teaching our future leaders. They feel soooo high and mighty because they get a guaranteed paycheck, and they take that arrogance and throw accusations against the rest of us who are trying to pay the mortgage and put food on the table for our kids. It baffles me.
Keep in mind that there is no economic benefit for me personally in all this, at least none that I see so far. I slave away on this site, on Miss Asian Oregon, and on Thymos, and the economic benefit has been…well…let’s just say that there are FAR more lucrative ways to spend time. But even if there were economic benefit…why is prosperity bad? Especially if it helps people develop their careers or change the image of Asian American women?
The truth is that our economy hasn’t been this bad since the 1930′s. I know friends who have been unemployed for over a year. A blogosphere friend (MinorityMilitant) now has two unemployed parents, both of whom were working class people employed by private industry. To think that there are holier-than-thou professors using their bully pulpit to futher bully people who are down and out is…simply shocking to me.
Professor, if you’re reading this, I think you owe me an apology. I think you owe America an apology. With our state unemployment rate of 12.2% and our national unemployment rate approaching 10%, the last thing we need is arrogant professors in ivory towers pointing fingers and laughing at the rest of America in our struggles to lift our “sagging” economy.
Read this arrogant guy’s email and my response below.
Greetings,
I had been informed of your Miss Asian Oregon contest. I am amazed and dismayed that a contest like this still exists. I would feel less outraged if the contest was the fading remnants of an older generation’s past traditions, which are slowly and properly fading away.
I will keep this short. From the information about the Miss Asian Oregon contest, the organizers and occupations are mentioned several times.
In my opinion, this whole event appears to be a cheap and desperate attempt at free advertising for the co-organizers, both of whom are employed in sagging industries. Will you be checking the Oregon’s registered sex offenders public website on the background of any volunteers, sponsors or organizers? I hope that this event is cancelled due to its irrelevance.
Very sincerely,
ArrogantProfessor
Asian American Studies Department
Some California University
Dear ArrogantProfessor,
You wrote:
“In my opinion, this whole event appears to be a cheap and desperate attempt at free advertising for the co-organizers, both of whom are employed in sagging industries. Will you be checking the Oregon’s registered sex offenders public website on the background of any volunteers, sponsors or organizers? I hope that this event is cancelled due to its irrelevance.”
I have three points I’d like to make–the first two in passing, and the third in detail.
First, whether or not we’re advertising, it’s not cheap, and it’s certainly not free. M and I have put lots of money into this event. We’re doing it because we believe in providing a platform for young Asian American women to have their voices heard. Second, there is no advertising benefit in this for either myself or M. At least none that I know of, but since you obviously think you know more about my business than I do, ArrogantProfessor, maybe you can show me a connection between pageants and mortgages that will make me rich. Seriously, if you know any people who would watch our pageant and say, “What a great speech on sustainability! I feel like buying a house. Byron, lock me in at a low rate!” I’d like you to send that person my way.
The third point is something you should think very hard about, ArrogantProfessor, while you sit in your high and mighty Ivory tower collecting your guaranteed paycheck. You said that we’re in sagging industries, and you use disparaging words like “desperate” and “cheap.” M’s business is not sagging at all. She couldn’t care less what you think of this pageant or her as a person. She’s a great lawyer, her services are in high demand, and her reputation for strong professionalism is well known.
I’m in the mortgage business, on the other hand, and there is no denying that the mortgage business is shaky. My company itself is not “desperate.” We’ve been the largest by volume privately owned mortgage company in Oregon for at least the past four years because of our unrivaled reputation for good business, and we’re the most solid mortgage company in the state today. That being said, it’s well known that we shut down our wholesale division and laid off a whole bunch of people last year in the ongoing mortgage crisis that is plaguing the nation. Our owners had to make this difficult decision because of the shaky economy and our “sagging” industry. I saw many of my competitors go out of business. I had the hard and unenviable experience of seeing former coworkers crying because they were laid off and didn’t know where to go, coworkers with kids in colleges like yours. We happen to live in a state where the unemployment rate is 12.2%, and there are people desperate for work. Everyday when I drive on to the highway, I see people begging for money. There are so many talented people out there, and there is not enough work for them.
I’m glad, ArrogantProfessor, that you get paid by your university with no worries about job security. I’m glad that you don’t have to worry about getting downsized, and that you have the privilege of gloating at the rest of us whose jobs are less secure than those of tenured professors. However, I think it’s hypocritical of you to take this condescending tone with business people given the fact that your university is supported by business people from the private sector like C***** D**** and O*** K*****, and I also think you’re setting a terrible example for your students, who ought to be taking leadership roles and developing the entrepreneurial desire to create businesses and jobs. You’re biting the hand that feeds you and defecating on the kids of people who pay tuition at your school. But whatever floats your boat. I’m happy that you can close your eyes to the reality of what ordinary Americans are struggling with today.
As for me, I hope there’s some economic incentive in Miss Asian Oregon for people. If our pageant succeeds in inspiring people to become something better, or if it brings businesspeople together so that they can find solutions to help bring Oregon out of this financial crisis, or if our court helps businesses develop by showing how the Asian American community supports local businesses, or if the pageant helps one young woman create an outstanding career, I’m all for it. I’m pro-business, pro-jobs, and pro-prosperity. I’m not going to create an anti-business fervor within this organization, especially since our state and communities desperately need new jobs and new companies to provide these jobs. We need people to lead. We need Miss Asian Oregon.
So in closing, I hope you’ll go buy yourself a nice, expensive steak with your guaranteed paycheck, and I hope you have a good laugh as houses go on auction and America burns. Just remember that there are real people trying to make a difference in society. We’re the ones pushing society forward.
Sincerely,
Byron Wong
Related posts:
One of you just pm’ed me and commented–the names and professions of our pageant organizers aren’t even on the MAO website! What was this guy thinking?
Forget that guy!
To be clear, what is he objecting to:
1) The idea of a pageant?
2) The idea of Asians needing a seperate pageant from the mainstream?
I’m not clear from his letter what the objection is based on.
Jaehwan, did you change his name and details to “Arrogant Professor” and “Some Cali Uni”? or is that what he really wrote?
are you sure it isnt just a troll?
If it was a profeesor, wouldnt he leave his name and contact details? i can’t imagine a PROFESSOR of ASIAN AMERICN STUDIES doing this!!
Are you sure its the ACTUAL professor there?, or maybe someone is just trying to cause trouble….
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?
Thanks, Ed!
Thanks for pointing that out, King. He seems to be against it but also doesn’t say why. I guess people have to resort to attacks against character and motivation when they can’t form an argument or even a premise. Pretty sad that people have to resort to that.
Anna,
This guy included his real name and school. I just changed it to save him some face. Don’t know why. I guess I’m just a nice guy. Do I get alpha points for that?
Some questions,
Didn’t you post the same exact thing here?
Jaehwan,
If you already called the school, and checked that the guy sent that to you (and not someone impersonating him) then i give you 100 Alpha points!! lol
I agree the prof’s attitude and way of stating his/her opinions is unbecoming of a college professor… I don’t disagree with the sentiment.
how exactly is this pageant going to as you say “redefine beauty for Asian America.”
You bring up Mona Locke, how is she not considered beautiful now? She was a TV reporter, so clearly considered mainstream good looking. Whats next Lucy Lui as someone who has been overlooked as beautiful?
it seems most of the women at the beauty pageant are already considered beautiful so how the heck is that redefining anything?
Judging women on their looks, seems same old thing to me.
I didn’t say anything before as it seems like you have worked hard on this, and you do put a lot of time into BigWowo and other things. but respectfully I think the beauty contest is not a positive.
…on the other hand it could be easily argued a Mens beauty contest to redefine Asian male goodlookingness would be a positive and something that actually would be redefining beauty.
The points brought up in this thread and in the e-mail from the Professor would be good things to talk about at Curtis Choy’s film screening/event.
Basically, I think the Professor is saying that beauty pageants in general are sexist and reinforce traditional notions of femininity. There is also probably a concern that the pageant promotes the exoticization of Asian women as well.
I am not saying that this particular beauty pageant is doing these things, but that’s probably the concern felt by the professor or others here and in that other thread about the pageant.
“on the other hand it could be easily argued a Mens beauty contest to redefine Asian male goodlookingness would be a positive and something that actually would be redefining beauty.”
Yes, something like Mr. Hyphen, which Hyphen Magazine hosts every year.
http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/component/option,com_magazine/func,show_edition/id,93/Itemid,1/
Jaehwan: Let’s do a Men of Thymos Calendar–Swimsuit Edition!
You, “Daymond,” Panther Eyes, and Hung Far Low can be the stars.
Whatever message this professor may have had is lost in his incohearant ad hominem rant attacking the organizers personally. Then he goes on, without knowing who any of the volunteers are, to presume we might be so reckless and loose to allow sex offenders to participate in this event. If the professor has an point to discuss, he fails to draw attention to it by throwing inflamatory remarks. He is merely flinging poo and it comes across as juvenile. In my book, he fails.
It is one thing to disagree. It is another to sit back and criticise based on assumptions and conjecture. It takes hours of work by many people to put together an event, and there is no pot of gold in it for the organizers and volunteers at the end of the day. We all have jobs and no lack of other things to do with our time. But we are doing this because we care about out community and we care about women. We are trying to take ownership of the definition of “beautiful” in our culture. If you disagree with the vehicle we employ, then fine, you disagree. If you have some better idea, go do it. No one is stopping you. If you think a poetry slam is going to help, by all means. If you want to do a coffee table book, go right ahead. You want an essay contest or a science fair, have at. Show me what you can do.
You want to sit around and throw personal attacks at people you don’t know, expect pesonal attacks back. Gloves off. Jaehwan, I think you were too nice in not publishing that professor’s name. Maybe he had a bad day, maybe he hit send accidentally in the middle of his rant before making his point. Whatever, he did not follow up.
I have to say something about the contestants. It’s not about merely being pretty. As I said before, you can take any face and make it pretty and conversely, you can take any face and make it ugly. We have contestants who are both accomplished and have high potential a further sucesses. One of these ladies is a graduate student, another a professional who will return to graduate school. In my opinion, all the contestants will accomplish many things and be sucessful at what they put their efforts into. All of these women have strong messages. It is not easy to stand up infront of a room and say what is on your mind and maintain ones composure. I applaude them for their courage to put themselves out there and to hone in their speaking, and presentations skills. I hope that they are blessed many times over for the fact that they stood up and did something to change the image of Asian American women and to put a real face on Asian American beauty. For that, they are and will be blessed many times over.
How is exploiting beautiful, young sisters going to redefine beauty? How do you redefine the looks that you were genetically given?
Why do you create an event that is exclusive? How do you teach the younger sisters that they too are beautiful and empowered by only having three contestants and, ultimately, just having one winner? You just reenforce the notion that the others are not good enough.
If you wanted to be an example, why not hold workshops for younger women that teach them that the definition of beauty is as varied as the cultures that make up Asian America?
But with that being said, I also commend you for giving voice to the opposition. It’s a burden to be the one carrying the target on your back.
Actually, I am with Lingyai. I understand your intentions and felt like if I couldn’t support you, I should just keep my mouth shut. ‘Beauty’ contests in any shape or form leave a bad taste in my mouth. And we already know about Asian women fetishes and exotification of Asian women.
I’d be behind some kind of athletics scholarships for young (female or male) Asian Americans. I mean, hell, we all know Asian kids already get the academic scholarships, right…? (Yeah, yeah, before someone gets their knickers all twisted in a bunch, that was tongue in cheek.)
In any case, however, I do have to say that this professor has pretty damn poor communication skills.
Since the pageant is less than two days away, maybe this might be one of those cases in which it might be best just to show what’s there. So I’ll try to get lots of footage of both events. It’s times like this that I wish I weren’t so cheap and could buy my own video camera.
Larry, if we do the male calendar, you’re going on the front cover. PH, HFL, and I could stand in the back.