5/23 - Rodriquez

Rodriquez’s article discusses how cars “carved out an important niche in the formation and imagination of American identity… a marker of the American Dream archived” (250). So much of the American Dream fixates on luxury items. But how realistic is it to have these luxurious goals? I think the role of cars have been framed as a way to achieve the American Dream since people can learn and customize their own cars. This gives them a sense of agency and as well as fulfillment.

 An another interesting point was interconnection of imported Japanese cars and the sexualized images of women. Both are similar in the ways that they are objectified and fantasied, but realistically unobtainable. I thought this connection helped challenge me to consider things in a more critical lens.When I first read this section, it reminded me how Asian women are exotified more than people realizes. The stereotypes of a submissive “mail- a- bride”, “red dragon lady”, or “geisha girl” are mythical generalization of Asian women set to simplify and sexual us. I think it’s important to note how stereotypes of Asian girls continue to grow, as we consider those that are part of this imported car and party scene culture are labeled as “Asian Baby Girl” (ABG). A more modern category that demonstrates the progression of how Asian women are viewed within Asian American culture.