Asian America Unabridged

What is Asian American? According to Wikipedia it is people from East Asia, Southeast Asia an South Asia countries.

Being Asian American, (Filipino Descedent) it is rare to see many of us in the media spotlight. When I was younger, I found it difficult to be able to relate to any movie stars or models in adveristments, simply because, speaking in a culturally sense, they were not like me. Although there have been great improvements, still in my opinion there are a lack of Asians in the industry. But why? Is America not ready to see an Asian American mainstream television show? Yes, there may be not as much Asians in our country, lets say for example compared to Whites or Hispanics, but isn't the media suppose to reach out to everyone? Shouldn't viewers be able to see another side of Asians besides playing the typical roles such as ninjas or a taxi drivers? For those who feel left out, I might have the answer for you, let me introduce you to Hyphen.



This magazine is a local nonprofit magazine in San Francisco. According to Hypen, it is "a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy." It touches various topics such as politics, art, health, and music. Unlike mainstream magazine publications, not only does it recognize mainstream Asians, but also the "underground" side of Asian Americans. The target audience is definitely Asian Americans ages 18-30, but in my opinion the magazine is so versatile that anyone can read and enjoy it. If not, at least it'll give you some insight into Asian Americans.

In that note, I'll end this post with a quote from the Hyphen website, which I feel when I was first introduced to this magazine.

"Because when we scanned the newsstand, we couldn't find ourselves. Now we can."