Midterm Source Description

    I attended the Listen to the Silence conference at Stanford two Saturdays ago, where I went to a workshop entitled “Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire.” During this workshop, the workshop leader played a spoken word piece entitled, “Not Your Fetish (Remix).” This will be the primary source I will be analyzing.
        "Not Your Fetish (Remix)" is a spoken word piece done by two women, subverting the stereotype that Asian/Asian-American women are docile, submissive, and meek. I want to talk about the form of spoken word, how it’s democratic and liberating, and in some ways more transformative than other types of speech. I also want to look at the piece itself, what stereotypes it speaks to/assumes the audience believes or has heard of, and how the women find empowerment through a counternarrative. I also want to examine who the intended audience was (white men who objectify asian women) and the actual audience (spoken word events are usually affirming experiences, and from personal experience, it has never been the case that there were many white men in the audience to begin with).

        I also want to complicate this piece, which is supposed to empower Asian/Asian-American women. What happens when empowered Asian/Asian-American women are defined to be outspoken and angry? How does this create new Othering for some women who don't fit this mold? And what happens when this spoken word piece is deemed to speak for the general Asian/Asian-American women population? What narratives are put in the spotlight? What narratives are ignored? I will do so by reflecting on the ways in which I experienced hearing this piece in a room full of mostly Asian-American women in high school and college, and how I kept quiet on the ways I disagreed with the piece, in a space where many of the women loved it without question, because I didn't want to be the party pooper to push back a little.