Hibachi Yourself

khancrete: Dark Girls: Preview. I think I may have watched...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:03:58 -0500

Dark Girls: Preview.

I think I may have watched this trailer over 5 times at the very least. Who knows what will happen once the actual documentary is released toward the end of this year.

Those who know me, also know how passionate I am toward this issue of ‘colorism’ and its prevalence in South Asian and South Asian American communities. The preview above is an incredibly powerful look into this same issue among African Americans. There are so many parallels that illustrate the universality of this complex and how they socially manipulate individuals, mostly women, to believe a certain way about beauty.

The most powerful theme of these stories is how this prejudice is perpetuated internally by the very own communities we call our own. One young woman in reference to her skin says “I thought it was dirt and I tried to clean it off”. In Urdu/Hindi, sometimes the phrase “rung saaf hai” is used to describe someone’s light skin which literally translates to “clean skin”. The most discomforting part is that no one will question the language we use to describe appearances.

Cleary, I can’t wait for this documentary to be released. Everyone around me is going Lady Gaga over Hangover 2 and I’m sitting in my room repeatedly watching this preview over and over at odd hours of the day and night, memorizing the pain on the faces of these women and the subtle relief they feel expelling their thoughts that were probably hidden for way too long.

Going back to how language is used to substantiate this prejudice, one woman in the clip gives examples of some of the words used to describe darker women such as “exotic” and “fascinating”. How come Bipasha Basu, one of Bollywood’s darkest actresses, is always described as India’s sex kitten or the object of men’s fantasies? How often do fantasies reflect the real world? The quote that really hit me hard was when a woman said “the darker you are, it’s more of a sexual approach. It’s more of a relationship without much meaning sort of approach than it is ‘I can get married to that woman and have a few kids’”. Obviously, there are exceptions but why are they exceptions?

It’s so funny, no matter how many tumblr posts, fb posts, tweets or articles I send out concerning color, I never get the responses I’m hoping for. Let me break it down for you. There are three types of audiences I’ve had the pleasure and displeasure of experiencing in efforts to raise awareness of colorism. Ready for the breakdown?

1. The not-so-subtle subject changers: these individuals, some of whom include those closest to me, for some reason feel really uncomfortable when I point something out or try to start a conversation about dark versus light skin. It’s like they would rather be getting a root canal over listening me talk about the plight of dark girls. Their discomfort is quite obvious when they use awkward humor or transitions to change the subject to something more in tune with their interests and of course safely within their circle of safe space.

2. The slightly ignorant talkers: I actually prefer interacting with this group over #1 because at least they say something. For example, people have compared this issue to the American obsession with tanning and others believe colorism “isn’t that big of a deal”. The most difficult part for me is to professionally manage my frustration in these conversations. I have to constantly keep in mind that several years from now, these experiences are going to help me be an unbiased, respectable researcher. But of course, now and again I still let some of that anger come out over heated tweets or wall posts. No one’s perfect.

3. The future change makers: Only a handful of people I’ve come into contact with fit this category. These are the individuals who have taken a genuine interest in learning more and have taken some time to dissect this mentality with me. Like I’ve said before in my older posts, it’s all about raising awareness, sparking conversations that I truly do believe will lead to gradual positive change.

Pop quiz: what would you do in a family setting if someone were to use derogatory language to categorize men or women based on their skin tone? Do you ignore it and pretend it was never said? Do you agree with what is being said or even more frightening, do you simply not hear it? If not, then fucking start listening because it’s real, even if you don’t identify with it. Believe me, your ignorance is painfully blatant.

Thanks, Sarah, for sending this preview my way. And I appreciate those of you who read my post :) I apologize for the lack of structure but it’s 2 am right now.

oatmeal: What I think Obama is meeting with Jobs, Schmidt, and...

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:10:22 -0600

oatmeal:

What I think Obama is meeting with Jobs, Schmidt, and Zuckerberg about

CNNMoney Tech Tumblr: "Cheers -- can't wait to tweet/tumble/Facebook this later!"

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:06:56 -0600

CNNMoney Tech Tumblr: "Cheers -- can't wait to tweet/tumble/Facebook this later!":

cnnmoneytech:

photo via White House Flickr stream

As we posted yesterday, Mr. President had a little party last night in San Francisco to chat with leaders in the tech space. And the White House Flickr’d party pix today!

Out of all the (mostly) old white dudes (oh yeah, and Carol Bartz plus a…

Next Big Sound: Arcade Fire and Esperanza Spalding win big at the Grammys, spike on Next Big Sound

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:58:08 -0600

Next Big Sound: Arcade Fire and Esperanza Spalding win big at the Grammys, spike on Next Big Sound:

nextbigsound:

We captured some incredible data after Grammy winners were announced Sunday night:

Album of the Year winner Arcade Fire recorded a 661% increase in new fans through Monday evening after the Grammy awards. This data is compared to the amount of fans that Arcade Fire had on January 24th, the…

http://ismubarakstillpresident.com/

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:18:03 -0600

http://ismubarakstillpresident.com/

BREAKING: AIM convo b/w Huffington and ex-Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin uncovered!

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:33:28 -0600

AriannaHuff: Hey, Jerry, can you keep a secret?
JLevs613: Um, who am I going to tell? Every1 h8s me. LOL.
AriannaHuff: Good point. AOL wants to buy HuffPost! $$$!
JLevs613: ROTFL
AriannaHuff: No, srsly, what do u think?
JLevs613: Good 4 u. Did you get a free 5,000 mins of AOL on CD as part of the deal? :-)
AriannaHuff: LMAO. But srsly, AOL wants 2 buy a media company. What could go wrong?
JLevs613: Can't think of n-e-thing off top of my head.
AriannaHuff: Me neither. Going to call Tim to OK it. ttyl! kthxbye!
JLevs613: n-e job 4 me there?
This user has signed off. IMs will be delivered when the buddy signs in.

Mark Zuckerberg meets his doppelganger

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:13:52 -0600

cnnmoneytech:

The rumors were true! Mark Zuckerberg made a cameo on SNL last night to kick off Jesse Eisenberg’s hosting stint — supposedly the first time Facebook’s founder has met the actor who just scored an Oscar nomination for playing him. And yes, it’s every bit as awkward as you’d expect. But on the up side: Zuck remembered to blink!

Skip to the 2:30 mark to get to the relevant bit. -Stacy

An 8-year-old breaks it down for Mubarak.

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:27:46 -0600

An 8-year-old breaks it down for Mubarak.

More incredible photos of Egyptian women supporting the...

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:21:57 -0600

More incredible photos of Egyptian women supporting the uprising: Women of Egypt.

sandrinadi:

Egyptian protester kissing riot police

cnnmoneytech: Created by Arbor Networks’ chief scientist Craig...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:11:23 -0600

cnnmoneytech:

Created by Arbor Networks’ chief scientist Craig Labovitz, spotted by eagle-eyed CNNMoney reporter Hibah Yousuf.

Here’s an excellent visual of what happened after Egypt cut off Twitter access to its citizens.

Also see: Social networks seen going dark in Egypt.

Muslim population in the U.S. will double by 2030, topping 6 million

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:45:19 -0600

Muslim population in the U.S. will double by 2030, topping 6 million:

In the United States, the population projections show the number of Muslims more than doubling over the next two decades, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030, in large part because of immigration and higher-than-average fertility among Muslims.

The Muslim share of the U.S. population (adults and children) is projected to grow from 0.8% in 2010 to 1.7% in 2030, making Muslims roughly as numerous as Jews or Episcopalians are in the United States today.

Although several European countries will have substantially higher percentages of Muslims, the United States is projected to have a larger number of Muslims by 2030 than any European country other than Russia and France.

via Pew Research

This may be your life starting next fall, but it’ll be so...

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:29:30 -0600

This may be your life starting next fall, but it’ll be so worth it. Congratulations, Hareem!

Obama talked about the economy/jobs, energy, the deficit, China,...

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:30:41 -0600

Obama talked about the economy/jobs, energy, the deficit, China, and various other topics during last night’s SOTU, but America loved that smoked salmon joke, according the the word cloud generated by 4,000 NPR listeners’ description of the speech.

A quick history lesson and an inside look at the making of...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:56:50 -0600

A quick history lesson and an inside look at the making of President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address.

Get yr mob nicknames here!

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:23:08 -0600

Get yr mob nicknames here!:

The Gimp…uh, what?

cnnmoneytech:

In honor (?) of the 127 mafioso swept up in a huge FBI sting this week, find out what you’d be called if you were a made man. I’m Twenty Eyes (wtf?), which is at least better than Boyfriend getting “Frankenberry.” Get your own at the link above! - Julianne

Top 10 Bollywood Songs of 2010

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:47:24 -0600

Top 10 Bollywood Songs of 2010:

I’ve been pretty disappointed with everything coming out of Bollywood lately, but some in-the-know friends over at Divanee did a great job of finding the gems.

nextbigsound: Next Big Sound is hiring! We need help designing,...

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 07:19:42 -0600

nextbigsound:

Next Big Sound is hiring!

We need help designing, testing and supporting our software now that it touches thousands of users and customers around the world, from the biggest labels and distributors to individual bands and managers.

Click to view the job descriptions for Support Engineer, Customer Advocate, and Lead Designer.

The Ten Most Expensive Gifts President Obama Was Given in 2009

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:47:36 -0600

The Ten Most Expensive Gifts President Obama Was Given in 2009:

The King Saudi Arabia was definitely the most generous. He gave the president some random things worth $34,000, but none of them sound very cool.

But the king does get some points for giving the First Lady a string of pearls in addition to a diamond/ruby jewelry set totaling $150K. He also gave Sasha and Malia diamonds totaling more than $7,000.

And he didn’t forget White House staff: Axelrod, Rahm and a dozen other staffers got cufflinks, pens, watches, and diamond jewlery sets for a grand total of $107,715.

Just as a comparison, President Zardari of Pakistan give Obama a rug worth $2,500, and Michelle a $500 leather bag. He skipped the girls and the staff.

Rule 1: Just Call Her

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:30:59 -0600

Rule 1: Just Call Her:

go:

Last week we asked how you ask someone on a date in 2011. Many of you were okay with texts or Facebook messages; some of you said you’d want someone to walk right up to you in person and ask.

This fellow — justcallher — has an interesting take. He even includes an infographic for your edification.

reblogged via justcallher:

Ah, the good old phone call. There’s nothing like it, even in this tech-diarrhea age. Of course, you can always email, text, tweet, facebook wall post, facebook message, chat or video chat. But nothing will replace a phone call to a girl. Nothing.

You just met a girl, and you want to ask her out on date. How? Let’s review the Communication Stairway.

The premise of this Communication Stairway is to make sure you are going UP, not going down, being stuck on one step or jumping too many steps in one stride. You don’t have to go up the Stairway exactly as shown, and you probably won’t have to. Just remember that the closer you are to the top step — Meet In Person — the more likely it’s going to happen. Duh.

As great as Email, Facebook, and Phone Text are, nothing determines a potential relationship like the Phone Call. Even if you’ve skipped that step — like asking the girl out via Facebook, which can be weaksauce but still accepted — you still have to step down once the Meet In Person and give her a ring, making sure she got home okay. Why?

The Quantity and Quality of Phone Calls directly correlates with the Duration and Quality of the Relationship. You can email strangers. You just wrote some lame comment on your friend’s Facebook status. You text your co-workers that you’ll be late to happy hour. But the people you call most often are the ones who are the most important to you.

You can’t fake the funk on the phone. So be a man. Do the right thing. Just call her.

Do you agree with justcallher? Tell us here or at go@latimes.com.

Wait, email is below Facebook? My email, particularly my gmail, is kind of like my phone number…I don’t give it to just anyone.

Mark Zuckerberg's new house

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:24:00 -0600

Mark Zuckerberg's new house: