No longer offended

In its April issue, Details Magazine has a feature titled "Gay or Asian?" which points out physical and fashion similarities between stereotypical Asian and gay men. The author describes the T-shirt a model is wearing in the picture: "V-neck nicely showcases sashimi-smooth chest. What other men visit salons to get, the Asian gene pool provides for free." She also points out his "Ladyboy Fingers" as "soft and long. Perfect for both waxing on and waxing off, plucking the koto or gripping the Kendo Stick." \nThere was a time when such portrayals of Asian men as effeminate would have upset me to tears, but nowadays I just don't give a crap. People are going to make racially insensitive remarks and gestures, and it's not worth my time to fret over every single one.\nAccording to Asia Pacific Arts magazine, an online petition has already acquired at least 25,000 signatures to demand the firing of "Gay or Asian?" author Whitney McNally. The petition also asks for a boycott of all products advertised in Details. Though I commend Asian groups for speaking out and taking action on the issue, I don't believe a boycott or a firing is fair, nor is it going to accomplish anything. Representatives from the magazine claimed the feature was meant to be a satire poking fun at Asian and gay stereotypes, and I can buy that. McNally should not be fired for accidentally offending people.\nShe should instead be fired for writing a feature which contained no humor whatsoever. I have asked at least 10 people to explain the point or the humor of this piece, and no one has yet adequately explained either. Her job is to be funny, and she failed miserably.\nThough I don't support the petition demanding McNally's firing and a boycott, I certainly understand the outrage of Asian Americans. While growing up Asian in this country, many suffer from low self-esteem. Asian Americans learn to feel ashamed of their heritage, while Asians from Asia feel pride in it.\nWhen basketball star Shaquille O'Neal said to reporters "tell Yao Ming 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh,'" with a mocking Asian accent and kung-fu moves, many Asian Americans were offended, but Yao shrugged it off. Sports commentators around the country took Yao's indifference as proof that no one should have been offended by O'Neal's little performance. They made remarks like "If Yao Ming isn't offended, why are all these Asian people making such a big deal over this?" Well, the deal is Yao grew up in China and probably isn't as sensitive to the mocking as someone who has experienced it since childhood. Yao Ming doesn't fully understand the Asian-American experience, and he probably never will.\nIt's always frustrating when others fail to recognize the prejudice I see and experience. People always ask, "Have you ever experienced prejudice?" or "Why are people so offended by that?" Rather than lash out at them like I used to, my inclination now is to laugh at them.\nSome people are never going to fully understand prejudice no matter how smart they are or how many sensitivity training courses they've taken, because they never experience being a minority. Some are going to make offensive racial epithets without any intent of harm. We can try to punish them, we can try to educate them or we can make fun of them. I prefer the last option.\nI hope one day demeaning characterizations of minorities lose their power. After one of my professors recently did a "squinty eyes" in class to depict an Asian person, my immediate reaction was not outrage, but laughter. That was a bit disconcerting at first, but now I feel liberated knowing such gestures no longer have an effect on me.