Mr. Hyphen tomorrow, the quest for masculinity

Why are we trying to redefine masculinity in a less masculine setting? What is so wrong about the masculinity in traditional Asian culture: the inner drive of Musashi Miyamoto, the cunning of the Monkey King, the power of Kwan Gung?

My point exactly. There have always been masculine ideals in Asian cultures.

This is also the point Frank Chin makes in his writings as well. When a great cultural heritage has either been stripped, suppressed or forgotten, then men either emulate other cultural models to give them a sense of manhood or they make the sh!t up. We already have masculine ideals in Asian culture. It just needs to be a part of Asian American culture.

Throughout history Asian men were laborers and soldiers in far off lands all over the world. They were away from their wives and loved ones for long periods of time.

Don’t you think Asian men got busy doing the horizontal mambo with the local women in these far off places? Well if you look, at places all over the world, like the Philippines, Africa, Central Asia, the Americas and even in Europe, Asian men have left their sexual legacy. So much so that Asian men have altered the gene pool of entire countries.

Now I’m not saying that being a man-whore is the masculine ideal to strive for. But people act like the Western masculinity and Asian masculinity are mutually exclusive. But men are men, no matter what part of the world you’re talking about. Men of all cultures do stupid sh!t, like wage war, screw lots of women and say things they later regret.

“My questions are as follows: Why are we trying to redefine masculinity in a less masculine setting? What is so wrong about the masculinity in traditional Asian culture: the inner drive of Musashi Miyamoto, the cunning of the Monkey King, the power of Kwan Gung?”

I think you are already answering your own question, Jaehwan.

Traditional Asian culture is not Asian American culture, its not even AZN culture. Those heroes were created in the context of a privileged, majority mindset. In the west, the context is different. Traditional western/white representations of masculinity currently exclude Yellow males, in many areas in white dominated societies. The best way to redefine Yellow masculinity would be through propagating media/films with strong Yellow masculine themes and Yellow male heroes. But you’d need a whole support structure for that, something that is really challenging for a minority to achieve.

You’d need financing, access to production studios, distribution, and screening channels, and television airtime to consider. But to do all of this, you’d also need the human resources, Yellow actors, directors, producers, writers, distributors, a whole system producing pro Asian yellow supporters in the industry~ it cant happen in a vaccume. If you can’t do this, then what can you do? Whites dominate and control almost all western media, so if theres no social infrastructure in place to support Yellow masculinity in the media/Hollywood, then what can you do?

Male pageants might not be the most desirable forum, but its a start. People are doing what they can do, in the best way they know how, with the resources they have.

Thats why pageants like Hyphen arent so bad…

This just rubs me all wrong also. I’m all for promoting Asian-American masculinity also. But c’mon, not like this, for Christ’s sake!

There’s something about a male pageant that just seems gay.

So I just learned that there is a catwalk for the Mr. Hyphen competitors. I almost had to change my view and oppose this pageant for moral reasons. But I think I’ll keep my current position. To each his own, right?

By the way, do you know the gender of your child yet? If it’s a boy, there’s a great book called “The Wonder of Boys” by Michael Gurian that I STRONGLY recommend. It’s by far the best book on raising boys that I’ve seen.

I thought the Mr. Hyphen contest always had a catwalk. it’s a beauty contest, so I expect nothing less.

Anyway my wife and I are having a girl, YAY! Although I’m looking forward to be a father, it is a little daunting to know that your relationship with your daughter is going to influence how she relates to men later in life. I gotta dot my i’s and cross my T’s from now on.

“The Wonder of Boys” looks interesting. I think women don’t fully understand why men nowadays feel disinherited and disconnected from their sense of masculinity. Which is why the book and movie “Fight Club” is so popular.

I think with Asian American men, this disconnect is compounded by the fact that we’re a minority with few role models. Which is why I do the Alpha Asian blog. I post videos of Asian American men of various backgrounds doing their own thing, being Alpha or successful in their own ways.

If you look at the reactions of some of the audience members at the Mr. Hyphen contest, it looks a little bit like a Chippendales’ performance. There is kind of a “Woo hoo. Bring on the hawtness!” air to them.

http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2009/11/mr-hyphen-your-ticket-to-a-goo.html#more

This could be one reason why some Asian guys are not feeling the contest.

Personally, I think if they added a lap dance component to the competition, Mr. Hyphen could really blow up even bigger than it already is.

Thanks for the continued dialogue on this topic. As an editor and founder at Hyphen, allow me to clear up a few things:

Yes, there is a catwalk at Mr. Hyphen. Not an actual catwalk, mind you. Those fashion runways are pricey to build, but we do invite local independent Asian American designers to showcase a collection (part of Hyphen’s mission is to support artists). And the Mr. Hyphen contestants walk out on stage wearing the clothes. And yes, ladies in particular cheer loudly for them, though there are also plenty of straight men in the audience who come to the event of their own volition.

Sure, the Mr. Hyphen competition is a little campy, a bit tongue in cheek. But if you’ve ever read our magazine, you’d know that this extends to many things that we do. Our writers are tongue-in-cheek (not with everything, but with a lot of things). We like appealing images and a lot of white space in our visual design. What does design in the magazine have to do with Mr. Hyphen? I’m just explaining that we value pleasing aesthetics and witty writing — it helps draw readers in — but underlying these good-looking, fun-loving magazine pages are serious messages. People, most people anyways, aren’t going to pick up a magazine that seems so serious. A spoonful of sugar makes it tasty.

The same applies to Mr. Hyphen. We could hold an event honoring Asian American men and exploring community issues with panels and so on. But it’s just not as fun as an event on a stage with talent, interviews and yes, a fashion segment. It’s a good-looking, fun-loving event, but with serious messages. So, why a pageant format? Because it subverts the traditional (and often times sexist) notion of pageants, which tend to be about judging women on physical beauty. That’s part of the point: that we celebrate men in our community at the same time that we’re countering cliches of women. And for the record, Mr. Hyphen is NOT a beauty contest. The segment that weighs most heavily in scoring is the Q&A: how well the men are able to speak on community issues and represent.

Jaehwan, you ask if there would be male pageants in China. I don’t know the answer to that. You ask what’s wrong about masculinity in traditional Asian culture, and I would answer: nothing. But we’re not in China and we’re not in a traditional Asian culture. We’re people of color in the United States.

It’s curious that you say, “I’m not sure that kind of change necessarily takes place on a stage, unless it’s a rally or business meeting with defined goals” — especially since you are involved in starting a pageant yourself and regard it as an activist endeavor. This sentiment discounts actors, musicians, writers, performers and anyone else who advocates for change or educates others through the media or arts.

You say that people need to do something more. Absolutely. We all do. We don’t regard Mr. Hyphen as some kind of be all end all. Just as Hyphen the magazine is a start — a way to bring attention to issues and encourage people to take action, it is the same with Mr. Hyphen. People leave the event feeling proud of the contestants and inspired by their example.

I know this explanation won’t change some of your minds, particularly those of you who like to throw the word “gay” around as a put-down. It takes a man who is comfortable with himself, who is confident, and who is well-spoken to get up on that stage, represent his cause, and charm the audience. Those are admirable qualities in any man.

Hi Jaehwan, Yes, there is a gender divide in our community. But I hope folks are able to talk in a constructive manner, rather than yell at each other. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed threads devolving into yelling matches on numerous occasions.

I think a podcast by Asian American fathers is a great idea. Looking forward to that.

Wow! Mr. Hyphen on AP and featured in Yahoo News!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091201/ap_on_re_us/us_mr_hyphen