Re: Foods and Ethnic Identities

Barry Garcia wrote:
"Well, i recently heard a white gay man on a message board call himself a
"Rice Queen", because he has a very strong affinity for Asian men."

    Ugh.  Probably a very bad sign... means he's been there, knows the
lingo... and anyone who would describe himself as possessing a "very strong
affinity for Asian men" is probably out to exotify Asian men.  Or possibly
he imagines that he himself is Asian, somehow.
    One of the older men in my Chinese class told me that he thinks he looks
Mongolian.  Well, he's about 6'4", has greying blonde hair and blue eyes.  I
get the feeling that the only contact with Mongolia is through the old movie
"Genghis Khan," which starred John Wayne.  This same person also told me
today that "algebra" was invented by "the Arabs in *Algeria* so that they
could keep track of their complicated geneaologies."  I had trouble keeping
a straight face; I did, however, tell him that he should consider going on
Jeopardy.
    AFAIK, "rice queen" is a rather derogatory term; perhaps the rice queens
are adopting the term to empower themselves.  Well, I wish them all the
best.
    About three years ago, a documentary on this very subject was shot in
San Francisco; the title was "Rice and Potatoes," and I imagine that you can
probably get a copy of the videotape off the Internet if it isn't at your
local Blockbusters.
    Another food- and ethnic- related factoid:  the meat rack in "Boots," a
dance club in Toronto, is known as "The Great Wall of China!"

-Chollie
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