5/22 Rodriguez

            In the excerpt “Asian American Auto/Biographies” the Asian American image is redefined against the model minority stereotype. With the invasion of Japanese automobile, the whole auto culture of masculinity began being challenged. As Asian car manufacturers undermined the hegemonic integrity of masculine automobiles, young Asian Americans, labeled “rice boys”, challenged the imperialistic auto culture. For example, Asian Automobiles were typically smaller, economically feasible, affordable, and speedy with a smaller engine, challenging the standard norm of American Autos. Another example, the rice boys acting as civil disobedient individuals, blasting music from their cars, driving fast, racing, and acting like gangsters, these are all traits that resembles resistance against the norm of American Drivers identity. These examples remind me of Gandhi’s resistance against English hegemony where the Indians passivistically declared themselves capable to reign themselves from oppressors; Indians who drove out imperialistic rule by asserting their own dominance over the land is a relative example of how the Japanese inserted themselves into the Western dominated automobile market. Also, the rice boys reminded of the Laotian young girls, from Bindi Shah’s excerpt, who resisted against their native conservative culture; whereas both are cultural hierarchies that defined the norm and expectations for young people, the rice boys resisted against White Americans with epistemic authority, and the Laotian girls resisted against their familial figures also with epistemic authority over them.