Please Explain: Asian Women, Pop Culture, and Beauty

September 30, 1:19 PMSF Art ExaminerMarisa Nakasone

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Sandra Oh

This is not the first nor the last time you will hear about the growing popularity of plastic surgery amongst Asian women (men too) and the question of whether we weigh standards of beauty against the western ideal.  As an Asian American inundated with western ideas and values, I am inclined to think that this holds true a lot of the time.  In a world increasingly globalized and connected through the internet and media, popular (and often times, doctored) images of people reach millions of viewers and alter our self perception, values and aesthetics.

What the h, tokidoki?

Yesterday, I was appalled when I stumbled upon this article posted by the sharp-witted editor at the blog, Angry Asian Man.  Apparently someone has decided it would be funny to create a site called, SandraOhisugly.com.  Har har har...completely tasteless, weak, and slightly reeking of racism.  Regardless of whether or not Sandra Oh is photogenic, she is talented and one of few visible Asian American celebrities who seem comfortable, embracing even, of their Asian looks and more importantly, their bodies.

Image courtesy of Kearnystreet.org.  Art work copyright Kathy Aoki

What does this have to do with SF Bay Area art?  A lot--San Francisco has a vast (and multi-ethnic) community of artists as well as a host of galleries that address issues of female beauty and feminism (among the most popular: The Altered Barbie show, Femina Potens Gallery).  Bay Area artist, Kathy Aoki uses a critical, feminist eye to address the expectations of contemporary women and girls in her series "Modern Girlhood."  Using the hyper-cute (Kawaii) visual language of anime, Aoki's prints and installations tell the story of an alternate universe in which a group of female construction workers build large "monuments to girlhood" (i.e. lipstick, and high-heeled shoes) and in the meantime, capture innocent teddy bears and transform them into sexy worker-bears who are then forced to labor on the construction sites.  I also think Aoki's use of the kawaii look puts a spin upon the craze for Asian women to look cute and adorably helpless (and like saucer-eyed aliens with small mouths).  Given the popularity of Anime, Gwen Stefani's entourage of pet Harajuku Girls (...don't get me started on that one) and the foxy, more or less nude, long-legged women of TokiDoki accessories, I think that we need an artist like Aoki to subversively critique the images of Asian women circulating in popular culture.

*Info about Aoki's work found on SprayBlog*