Saturday, December 01, 2007
decaffeinated stimulation
Coffee shop franchises like Starbucks, Pete's Coffee, Coffee Bean, and Coffee Lovers got NOTHING on the Vietnamese coffee shops in San Jose, CA. Granted I'm not in San Jose at the moment, this is some serious stuff and this is in my own backyard.
Some argue that it may be easier to be more concerned with issues and social problems that are farther away from our cities and ourselves. Easier to be concerned with natural disasters displacing communities of color because it's 3 states away, easier to be concerned with the psychology of an Asian American gunman in Virginia because he deviates away from the normal psychology of an "average" college student, easier to be concerned with the juxtaposition of images running for President of the U.S. as opposed to actually noticing that Obama & Hilary (I did that on purpose) have been taking stances on mainstream issues, easier to care about and conquer Iraq, easier to ignore domestic racism, easy to watch shit like Tila Tequila without critical eyes and even easier to not give a fuck.
Tully Road in San Jose towards Eastridge Mall is filled with a couple of plazas composed of small businesses, mom and pop shops, Asian supermarket centers and music stores where you can purchase the latest in K-pop, J-pop or the leftover soft rock CDs from major retail stores - whatever your craving, all are serving the Asian/Asian American population.
I hope, that after having posted several blogs concerning the body politics of Asian women and calling for more respect from the media's tainted lenses and denouncing the ways in which we are seen and see each other from a patriarchal perspective, that I won't have to explain why it's wrong to have women degraded and commodified for commercial purposes. I don't want to tout my opinions as more analysis on why it's nonsensical, violent and disgusting, probably unsafe for these women, to serve coffee in unsuspecting places wearing lingerie and get paid for it.
Remember Chinese women in the early twentieth century who had to sell their bodies on San Francisco streets to survive? Ever heard of Silicon Valley immigrant women who labor over electronic assembly lines? Or taxi dancers in 1920s/30s in Stockton? Or picture brides?
These were not just women trying to put money in the bank. These were not women who are inherently or innately inclined to sexual behavior. These women were not naturally predisposed to desperate actions in tough times.
This is because we are worth more.
x_magsalita.
Some argue that it may be easier to be more concerned with issues and social problems that are farther away from our cities and ourselves. Easier to be concerned with natural disasters displacing communities of color because it's 3 states away, easier to be concerned with the psychology of an Asian American gunman in Virginia because he deviates away from the normal psychology of an "average" college student, easier to be concerned with the juxtaposition of images running for President of the U.S. as opposed to actually noticing that Obama & Hilary (I did that on purpose) have been taking stances on mainstream issues, easier to care about and conquer Iraq, easier to ignore domestic racism, easy to watch shit like Tila Tequila without critical eyes and even easier to not give a fuck.
Tully Road in San Jose towards Eastridge Mall is filled with a couple of plazas composed of small businesses, mom and pop shops, Asian supermarket centers and music stores where you can purchase the latest in K-pop, J-pop or the leftover soft rock CDs from major retail stores - whatever your craving, all are serving the Asian/Asian American population.
Metro visited three Vietnamese coffee shops on Tully Road. All were identical: Loud thumping music; big screen televisions; petite Vietnamese waitresses with ample breasts; young Asian men smoking cigarettes in violation of the state's anti-smoking law (2004).This Metro article mainly focuses on a coffee bar on Santa Clara Street, the next cross street over from my high school (located on 24th & Santa Clara Street). After looking on yelp.com, turns out that there are several coffee bars in my hometown. These days, Vietnamese coffee bars often have Asian women clad in lingerie, waitressing and serving a primarily male clientele. It's 2007, almost 2008, and these businesses are still running.
I hope, that after having posted several blogs concerning the body politics of Asian women and calling for more respect from the media's tainted lenses and denouncing the ways in which we are seen and see each other from a patriarchal perspective, that I won't have to explain why it's wrong to have women degraded and commodified for commercial purposes. I don't want to tout my opinions as more analysis on why it's nonsensical, violent and disgusting, probably unsafe for these women, to serve coffee in unsuspecting places wearing lingerie and get paid for it.
Remember Chinese women in the early twentieth century who had to sell their bodies on San Francisco streets to survive? Ever heard of Silicon Valley immigrant women who labor over electronic assembly lines? Or taxi dancers in 1920s/30s in Stockton? Or picture brides?
These were not just women trying to put money in the bank. These were not women who are inherently or innately inclined to sexual behavior. These women were not naturally predisposed to desperate actions in tough times.
This is because we are worth more.
x_magsalita.
Labels: womens issues
// posted by Janice @ 11:41 PM 
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