Author Name: BoingBoing
This story was originally published on Boingboing.net. [1]
License: CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0.
Watch this powerful short film about the awful things men say to Asian-American women in bars
Date: 2021-04-28 00:00:00
There's more to it than just the bars, of course; the video, from creator Kyoko Takenaka, is an exploration of a lot of aspects of Asian-American identity, particularly for women. I just watched the bar scene first, via Instagram, in which Takenaka secretly records the things she's overheard people saying in bars.
These are real-life audio recordings from men who came up to me in bars. I made this film, HOME, encapsulating over 7 years of recorded micro-aggressions. It's a visual + sonic collage of my experiences growing up in America as an Asian-american femme.
As I sat there in disbelief every time digesting the audacity of these men, recording and archiving allowed me the space and chi to know that one day, my anger and trauma would be used for something; it would not swallow or eat me whole then or now.
Art is such a healing medium in this way and has quite literally saved my life through many traumas inexpressible in words alone. It's my hope that asian americans turn to expression now and imagine and listen deeply to their own unique insight during this time of deep rage and grief.
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https://boingboing.net/2021/04/28/watch-this-powerful-short-film-about-the-awful-things-men-say-to-asian-american-women-in-bars.html
