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Identi-tees: Stereotypes, Abercrombie & the Chest as a BattlefieldGot something to get off your chest? Don't. That may be just where your political and personal passions belong!
<<< Continued from Identi-tees 1: Stereotypes, Abercrombie & the Chest as a Battlefield
PRIDE. For some, merely displaying self-love is political statement enough. And some enterprises are promoting ethnic pride not through ethnic-themed images, cultural symbols, or explicit political statements, but as a brand in itself. DesiWear (http://www.desiwear.com/) specializes in casual and sports attire targeting NRI communities in North America, offering mirror sites for both the U.S. and Canada markets. Devoid of representational artwork, its "Desi Pride" line of shirts and headgear uses the brand name and logo typeface to say it all. T-shirts and hats run at $12US.; heavyweight sweatshirts are in the $35 range.
SHAME. "Say it loud! I'm mediocre and I'm proud!" Such is the insidious nature of the model minority stereotype that some of us may take a certain pride in proclaiming our failings. That at any rate is the approach taken by Phloe, a Fil-Am designer and performer who has created such self-effacing, anti-stereotype tees as "I Suck At Math" and "I Will Not Love You Long Time".
Some of the tee projects were designed to support good causes; "I Speak English," pictured above, started out life as a fundraising idea for an APA women's performance group at http://www.mangotribe.com/. Phloe's terrific tees are available online through Blacklava.com.
HEADLINE NEWS. Yque (rhymes with "E-bay") is Spanish for "so what," and reflects the defiant irreverence that underlies a huge variety of T-shirts, bags, and other satirical paraphernalia marketed by this Los Angeles-based company. With sections including "Social Satire" and "Politically Sensitive," http://www.yque.com/ heavily targets Hollywood types, but also keeps abreast of national and world political events. One timely shirt reads, "The Odd Couple. Castro Meets Carter." Under a photo of the ex-president standing with the dictator of Cuba, the words say, "The original odd couple get together one last time before they die." Yque recruits customers to "become grassroots activists for celebrity rights," armed with illustrated tees demanding to "Free Winona" (Ryder), the actress arrested for shoplifting. Another line offers assorted images of actor Robert Blake; images of Blake as a child actor and Baretta run captions such as "Blake Busted!", "Who Dunnit?", and "I Didn't Do It". In an accompanying hyperlinked news story, "Blake: 'I'm A Political Prisoner'," Blake insists he was framed by political antics resulting from the recent forced resignation of Black police chief Bernard Parks. Clearly devotees of the informercial, Yque’s designers have found their true cause celebre in liberating singer Dionne Warwick, busted in Miami for marijuana possession. Along with a number of "Free Dionne" accessory designs, one tee features a TV screen shot of the Psychic Friends spokeswoman mercilessly captioned, "Can see a court date in her future". Again, accompanying hyperlinks redirect an unaware reader to various off-site news stories, a retrospective of Warwick's career, and other related content. Reasonably priced from $10 to $20, Yque’s accessories are available at its brick and mortar store on L.A.’s Vermont Avenue, and on the web site both as mail-order and through its "I'll make my own damn shirt" service, which allows one to download an iron-on decal (the design may be used for personal use only). Yque’s "ripped from the headlines" approach is adequately successful that it plans to open a new office in Yokohama, Japan. It leads one to wonder if the slogans will be written in English and, if so, will the wearers know the meaning(lessness?) of the messages they're sporting?
Another all-time-favorite accidental identi-tee promotes the enigma that is Angry Asian of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Who is Angry Asian? What is he angry at? Why did it make him so angry? No one really knows, but one thing’s for sure: Walk down the street wearing this baby and people are likely to get out of your way! Nothing says "I’ve absolutely had it" quite like these shirts, whose logo character -- a weird hybrid of Munch’s "The Scream" and Chop-Chop of the Blackhawk comics -- is about to get medieval on your ass with a cleaver and what appears to be some kind of vicious, electrified tuning fork. Created by businessman James Huang, the logo in fact promotes his brand of high-end, high-performance, custom bicycle forks (!), which accounts for the strange weapon so angrily wielded. Actually, Huang is a very friendly fellow who invites hardcore cyclists and non-cyclists alike to "Wear the Angry Asian logo with pride and let everyone know that your fork doesn't suck!" Short-sleeve tees are available through http://www.angryasian.com/ in sizes S-XL, in either brick red or white, at $16 each plus $4 shipping in the U.S. International shipping arrangements are also available.
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Other communiqués project shame more squarely onto the shoulders of the
stereotype-holder. Some of these colorful, simple-text tees intercept the
presumptuous compliments on our mastery of the language ("I Speak English") or
defy the "out-whiting the whites" ("I Am Not White") stereotype. Others
anticipate more serious affronts, such as racial profiling ("I'm Not A Spy") and
post-9/11 xenophobia ("I'm Not A Terrorist").
PROMOTIONS.
Finally, the universe of promotional and media spin-off tees is altogether more
vast than we have time or inclination to tackle here. It’s difficult to identify
obvious political relevance (much less resistance) in the gazillions of pop
culture representations of Asian stars and phenomena (Jackie Chan mugs, Mulan
tees), import tchochkes (Pokemon stickers, Hello Kitty clocks), and so on, but
our emotional attachment can give these personal and political meaning that may
not be obvious to others. I’ve collected and cherished a number of items
promoting a small agricultural business, my unrelated namesakes at the Ikeda
Orchards in California, for example.
Another
good source of limited edition tees are APA organizations and conventions,
media, and events. One nice design we located promotes AsianWeek
magazine’s participation in the May 18-19 "Bay to Breakers Race and Footstock"
12K marathon. Bundled with the race registration, the tee sported a brightly
illustrated San Francisco-as-Toontown landscape peopled with vaguely
anime-meets-Precious Moments-style characters. These were available with the $35
race registration fee. It’s unclear whether you can still get a shirt by itself,
but those outside S.F. could inquire at 