Asian American Beauty - Female Body Image (Part 1 of 2)

Directed by Calvin Sun (calvin.sun@caa.columbia.edu).

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8XWQ62HdCs

***WINNER of the audience favorite "One to Watch Award" in the longest running Asian American film festival in the world; the 30th Annual Asian American International Film Festival!!!***

This is part 1 of 2 in a film discussing the Asian American opinion on female body image, beauty standards, eating disorders, and unspoken pressures to be thin in both American and Asian cultures.

An otherwise taboo subject to talk about among specifically Asian Americans, students at Columbia University are now tired of keeping mum about the issue and are speaking out.

This video does not aim to cover every single ground regarding the topic; instead it seeks to begin dialogue with a generalized approach to the problems as a first step. We want first to show that Asian Americans are like any other American struggling with issues of body image while at the same time facing pressures coming from their own respective cultures.

This video certainly focuses on the former point; We hope that the latter will be explored more in the future.

We also must reveal the contradiction of how Asian American girls are pressured in this society to look both "western" and "Asian."

This includes pressures on how many Asian American girls are supposed to play up this well-known image of looking innocent, weak, and petite as "attractive", but at the same time mainstream media depicts Asian American females as alluring, "exotic," and sexy.

We hope that the people in this video will inspire others around the world to undertake similar projects that would focus deeper into these issues regarding body image and perhaps more specifically Asian American body image.

Therefore, this is only the beginning.



Directed & edited by Calvin Sun.

Produced by Aretha Choi & Marilla Li.

For more information, please contact calvin.sun@caa.columbia.edu


Dedicated to my father,
Alexander S. Sun
1939-2006

calvin.sun@caa.columbia.edu

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Asia
• America
• student
• Columbia
• University
• body
• image
• beauty
• eat
• disorder
• woman
• bulimia
• girl
• sexy
• anorexia
• sex
• weight
• loss

[csohosun]

another problem is when you described your preference for Asian American women, you focused entirely on the stereotypical physical attributes that has been tantamount to the kind of objectifying language of the long history of men who fetishize Asian American women. If you truly believe you don't have a fetish, then I would reevaluate how you express yourself because you come across as very objectifying.

[tot7tot]

I actually wrote that for you guys to feel good about yourselves instead of the complaining that i hear in this video. Be yourself and enjoy yourself insted of being who someone else wants you to be. Its not a fetish. Southeast Asia has alot of smart, funny, caring and loving skinny Asian females and if i thats who i choose to be with then thats who im going to be with and not some Asians who were either born here or either brought here and think they have to be like females around them.

[csohosun]

If your aim was to make them feel better then you could have done a far better job instead of saying how you "dislike" them for speaking out against a culture that constantly pressures young teenagers to abide by a standard of beauty. In fact, they are being most themselves by being outspoken and not some quiet, passive stereotype of what people perceive most Asian American women to be.

[csohosun]

We think you're either an internet troll looking for attention or that you are actually a real person who didn't understand the video, enjoys objectifying women, and that you relish in your fetish because you are unsuccessful with women.

We hope for your sake and self-esteem that it is the former.

[hapaJESSICA]

i am half chinese and half white... and one time a venezuelan woman tried to teach me how to wear eye makeup so my eyes would look "less asian"

what's wrong with asian eyes... i was so pissed.

[TastyPinkTreat]

I think these women are wrong. ASians are seen as beautiful in the western world and have a lot of traits that white women and men envy such as smooth haiir that is thick. Smaller and thinnner body types, they age well, they have beautiful skin. And its not only asian women who are pressured to stay thin, its ALL women

[realsugarbabi4realz]

i was dieting and exercising down to a healthy size 6, my doctor said i was fat, and then my stepmom said i should be a size 4. i gave up and decided to be myself, even though it hurts to hear comments from girls skinnier than me. I don't want to be unhappy my whole life, straining my mental health for something that won't last anyway. ya know?

[kasuripathan143]

gud

[mimiqz097]

Having Asian parents tell you your fat constantly is hard to deal with......I would know.......it's like they want us to fall in to that same mold of all the other Asian girls!! I just want to yell "this is me!!!!! I don't give a f*** about how you think I should be!!!"

[rezaulramram]

@PINKPOLKADOTS97 ever occur that those girls are extremely thin? I doubt it's healthy and anyone would be capable of enduring that shape without the money to pay.

[PINKPOLKADOTS97]

My (Asian) parents always tell me I'm too fat. And I kinda agree...because even if I'm not "fat" by American standards, I'm definitely not as skinny as those kpop idols.

[buttercado]

i feel the "Larger Frame" part, i was so self concious about that, but not anymore <3

[MelvinDoucet]

except tila tequila i had no idea there were asian people in the US

[fushadragon]

@garamri lol i get that too im korean and whie but im reaaaaaly pale skined i look more white but got the asian bone stucture and ppl ask if im mexican mabey its cuz im in south texas idk

[RamzGT]

anooying