Posted on 04/05/2004 9:57:49 AM PDT by presidio9
A spoof in the latest issue of Details has provoked a fierce reaction from area Asian-Americans furious over what they perceive as a scurrilous jest by a national magazine. The April issue of the magazine - which features fur-clad singer Nick Lachey on its cover - instructs readers how to discern whether a model is a homosexual or an Asian male.
The full-page feature, titled "Gay or Asian?" is loaded with double entendres that poke fun at stereotypes of Asians and gays.
"One cruises for chicken; the other takes it General Tso-style," writes Details staffer Whitney McNally.
Details magazine has a circulation of 400,000 and is carried in bookstores across the nation.
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) denounced the magazine's tongue-in-cheek racial characterizations.
"People are outraged by this," he said. "I suppose someone thought it was funny to equate the Asian male with the so-called stereotypical gay man - which is ridiculous."
An online petition against Details started a week ago, and it had more than 22,000 signatures as of Friday.
Matte Chi, a 27-year-old Web developer from Carroll Gardens, said that at first he thought the article was an Internet hoax.
"I couldn't believe that a real magazine would publish something so blatantly racist," Chi said.
"This type of thing sets us back in the American consciousness," added Daniel Lee, 22, of Searingtown, L.I., who set up the online petition.
Details spokeswoman Andrea Kaplan said editors rushed to put a statement in their May issue after they were flooded with angry phone calls.
"We regret the fact that anyone has been offended by this article, and we're sorry a piece of satire has been interpreted this way," Kaplan told the Daily News.
"Unintentional hate still hurts," responded Caryl Stern, associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League. She called the Details piece "horribly offensive."
The magazine's May statement, which dubbed the item "a humorous swipe at social stereotypes," was inadequate to those planning an April 16 protest at Details' midtown offices.
"It's not an apology - they just say they regret some people are offended by the feature, not that it was wrong," said Doris Lin, spokeswoman for Manhattan-based Asian Media Watchdog.
Lin said she hoped the Asian-American community would rally against Details magazine, in a bid similar to one two years ago to have retailer Abercrombie and Fitch remove T-shirts with Asian caricatures.
"We want a full-page apology, and we want Whitney McNally fired," Lin added.
It was pretty good in the early days when I had a subscription. It has turned into a Gay/Metrosex journal for all intents and purposes.
the follow-on to Gay or Eurotrash?
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) denounced the magazine's tongue-in-cheek racial characterizations.
"People are outraged by this," he said. "I suppose someone thought it was funny to equate the Asian male with the so-called stereotypical gay man - which is ridiculous."
Oh, you start whining because Asians are included in a old game which those of European descent never bothered to complain about. And peopel aren't supposed to think of you as a Jessie?
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