Ben




           Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine, explores Ben’s outlook on personal and romantic relationships as he goes through his relationships criticizing the Asian American culture. Throughout the story, Ben remains very negatively critical of the representation of the Asian culture. He criticizes the headlining film at the Asian American film festival stating, “why does everything have to be a big statement about race? Don’t any of these people just want to make a move that’s good?” Ben refuses to acknowledge that the systems of oppression that Asian Americans face. He states, “I mean… maybe I’d care more if I ever felt like I’d been the victim of some kind of… discrimination or something, but…” Ben chooses to blame any act of discrimination on the fact that he was a nerdy kid.  Although he thinks he is not the victim of discrimination, the negative and critical mentality that he has been socialized to have makes him a victim of the systems of oppression.  He does a great job at doing the media’s dirty work by oppressing himself and his own people. The irony! In “FOB” and “Whitewashed”: Identity and Internalized Racism Among Second Generation Asian Americans, the authors argue that, “by accepting and internalizing mainstream racist values and rationales, known as “sincere fiction,” subordinates, often without a conscious aware of doing so, justify the oppression of their group, with a belief in their own inferiority.” Basically Ben in a nutshell.
           There is a pressure placed on people of color to become Americanized citizens.  Not only do they want you to drop those chopsticks and pick up a fork, they want you to drop that dragon lady and find yourself a Georgia peach.  But please, don’t think this is a match making session going on here. It is all an illusion to make Asian Americans disassociate themselves with their ethnic cultures and submit to the so-called white beauty. Lets look at the facts: Ben’s porn collection. Blonde white women.  Ben’s series of rebound girls. Blonde white women. Ben’s description of his ideal woman. Blonde…… White……. Women. And Ben did not just come to the realization that he suddenly likes blonde white women. He has been socially constructed as an American citizen to associate beauty with images of……… blonde white women, which floods the media everyday, especially in magazines. 
            In The American Image of Beauty: Media Representations of Hair Color for Four Decades, Melissa Rich and Thomas Cash’s research shows that the overrepresentation of blondes in the media, specifically in the centerfolds of Playboy magazine, encourages men to “associate female blondeness with sexuality and beauty.”  They also clarify that blondeness is only associated with sexuality and beauty, not personality.  I guess we can finally all agree that blondes don’t necessarily do it better, however the media is still blonde-stained. The very specific image of blonde white women sparks erotic fantasies for Ben who seems to want to assimilate more with his American culture rather than with his Asian culture, especially when he “takes a break” from his Asian American girlfriend, Miko, and begins dating Sasha, a white “fence-sitter.” These media representation of Americanized beauty is the basis where Ben’s beauty standards come from when pursuing both Autumn and Sasha.  He wants the perfect woman, like the ones in his porn collection, but through his dating process, he learns that they are not what he expected them to be.
             Ben’s desire for white women brings out the insecurities of Asian American stereotypes that he claims he does not have and brings out further disassociations to his Asian culture. He is extremely excited to know that Sasha is a “fence-sitter.” Ben tells Alice, “If I’m gonna try to be with a white girl for the first time, maybe it’s a good thing if shes lesbian. Maybe she wont be so uh… size-conscious. That’s just, like, a bonus. I already thought she was great. I mean she seems smart, funny…” Classic. Just when Ben thought he was not affected by negative stereotypes portrayed in the media, he exposes the insecurities that he has about his man junk and his inability to measure up to his competitor.  But, whatevs. Ben’s not going to let a little assumption like that stop him from getting the girl of his dreams. In Ethnocentrism in Dating Preference for an American Sample: The Ingroup Bias in Social Context, the authors argue that concepts of status and beauty create outgroup favoritism. Because Ben wants to be a white, privileged individual who is not subjected to inequalities, he pursues white women. 
            However, neither Autumn nor Sasha please Ben, and he is stuck holding on to Miko.  When Ben goes out to New York to visit Alice, he finds out that Miko is dating and living with another man.  Multiple photographs of her are seen in the new boyfriend’s photography shop and when Ben sees a picture of Miko lying on his bed, he confronts her. It is evident that Ben still has feelings Miko when he asks for one more chance, but Miko refuses to settle and Ben is left heartbroken.  

Alice



           
           Alice, my favorite character and Ben’s best friend, is the complete opposite of him.  She is more optimistic and humorous Korean lesbian with a slight temper. 

           Alice uses her outgoing personality and social skills in order to talk to women and get laid.  She hooks up with a couple people and is known to make a pass at anything in a skirt.  However, her temper and bluntness causes her romantic relationships to remain short, but not always sweet.  For instance, when she hooked up with the waitress at the diner and began avoiding her because she was getting a little too attached. Or when she got into an argument with a girl at a party and got into a fight with her school, which results in a suspension.

            Alice also hides her sexual orientation from her parents and conforms to their wishes by going to grad school.  She brings Ben to church with her so that she can make them believe that she has a boyfriend.  Alice puts on a show for her parents by bringing Ben around, but rebels against their expectations of her when they are not around. In Understanding Asian American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Experiences from a Poststructural Perspective, Mitsu Narui argues that people decide to reveal their sexual orientation based on the relationships that they form within certain discourses.  This shows especially when Alice moves to New York and has an epiphany in which she decides not to go back to school and stay in New York to build a relationship with Meredith.  In Striving For Comfort: “Positive” Construction of Dating Cultures Among Second Generation Chinese American Youths, Luo Boazhen’s research shows that youths “cope with discomfort and attempt to present a “positive” image of themselves.” Alice does this when she moves to New York, and this becomes her way of growing and her way of escaping the lifestyle that she was held down to because of her parents.





Bibliography
Baozhen Luo. "Striving for Comfort: "Positive" Construction of Dating Cultures among Second-generation Chinese American Youths." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 25.6 (2008): 867-88. Print.


Liu, James H., Susan Miller Campbell, and Heather Condie. "Ethnocentrism in Dating Preferences for an American Sample: The Ingroup Bias in Social Context."European Journal of Social Psychology 25.1 (1995): 95-115. Print.

Narui, Mitsu. "Understanding Asian/American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Experiences from a Poststructural Perspective." Journal of Homosexuality 58.9 (2011): 1211-234. Print


Rich, Melissa K., and Thomas F. Cash. "The American Image of Beauty: Media Representations of Hair Color for Four Decades." Sex Roles 29.1-2 (1993): 113-24. Print.