On Asian America: Sex, gender and the 'exotic other'

From dragon ladies to geeky sidekicks, being Asian in America comes with complicated and contradictory expectations.

Over 6,600 incidents of anti-Asian assaults have occurred in the last year, with over 2,800 of those incidents reported in March 2021 alone—a 164% increase over the same period last year. However, discrimination against people of Asian descent living in the U.S. is nothing new.

In an effort to amplify Asian voices and experiences, for this special episode of Speakers Forum we’re passing the mic to KUOW’s Kristin Leong and her co-host Joe Kye. Their program highlights issues of gender, sexuality, and shifting images of Asian representation today.

In this episode you'll hear from Make Love Not Porn founder Cindy Gallop on how the adult film industry is disrupting stereotypes of Asian women.

Then, Professor Douglas Ishii of the University of Washington shares a look into the surprising history of the Asian American movement, and also what it's like to date as an Asian man.

You'll also hear from storyteller Simon Tran who joins photographer Andrew Kung to unpack how Kung's portrait series The All-American is re-imagining Asian masculinity.

And lastly, you'll hear I See In Color, the latest release from our guest co-host Joe Kye featuring artist Austin Antoine. I See In Color was produced for #AZNxBLM, a project of ROCK PAPER RADIO and The Slants Foundation.

Please note: This episode contains unedited language of an adult nature.

This episode of Speakers Forum is part of the On Asian America project, a collaboration between Humanities Washington, KUOW Public Radio, Spokane Public Radio, and Northwest Public Broadcasting. The goal of the series is to amplify Asian voices and spark an ongoing dialogue about the experiences and contributions of Asian communities in our state.

Note from Kristin: Identity is a complex topic, and I welcome your feedback. You can email me at kleong@kuow.org and find me on Twitter @kristinleong. I also welcome your ideas for stories from our Asian communities that KUOW should look into next. Reach out. We're listening.

You can also submit feedback and questions about this episode by emailing engage@kuow.org, leaving a voicemail at 206-221-1926, or texting the word “feedback” to 206-926-9955 to send a text.