“Yo, Is This…?” Podcast: Bianca Patel

“Yo, Is This…?” Podcast Audio and Transcript 

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, everyone. Welcome. And thank you for joining today. We will be discussing everyday examples of
discrimination. More specifically, focusing on examples of racial and gender injustices that have been
experienced or witnessed either in daily life or in the media. I will be looking at examples that I’ve
witnessed personally, and that my colleague has witnessed personally to start. One instance is that my
mother called me to catch up one day on our lives as I’m not home right now. And I asked her about her
day at work, and she told me that someone mispronounced her name in a meeting she was in, and she
did not do anything to correct the person because of the sheer amount of times that she had previously
tried. I thought that this was not fair to her to have someone care. So little about their colleague, that
they couldn’t correctly pronounce their name, because that is a sort of respect for them.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
That is being overlooked by this mere act. What do you think of this example and how do you think my
mother could have? Or what do you think my cut, my mother could have done in order to prevent this
determinant, this discrimination against herself?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I think that no matter how many times the coworker, like mispronounces your mother’s name, I think
that she should definitely still correct them because it’s way better to say something. Then it just take
things complacently. Like, um, my little brother, um, when he was in elementary school, um, his name’s
spelled weird and people would call him Vishvi his name is actually pronounced “Vish-va”, but he was
always like too scared or just like something like that. And he never like ended, ended up correcting
anyone. So everyone in the school would refer to him as Vishvi, even though that wasn’t his name and
that wasn’t helping, he said his name at home. So I definitely think she should have corrected him. And
how would you in that situation have reacted, um, and felt about somebody mispronouncing your
name. How would you have felt about your name being degraded in this, in this way.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Personally, I feel that I would not have done the same thing that your brother or my mother would have
done because of the lack of respect that I would feel by not having my name pronounced, to pronounce
correctly, to me, especially the, the sheer amount of times that it has happened. And I would relate this
to speed back and that both of these could be deemed as being the sub altered in a way. And that,
because they have been determined as the being the subaltern and they have to rise above their given
circumstances and speak for what they deserve, because that’s the definition of what that means. Also, I
would say that in the example of my mother, um, it’s an example of intersectionality because of her race
and her gender. And because both of those were being discriminated against in a sense because her
colleague made her feel inferior by ignoring her, probably because she is a woman. And even more
specifically, because she’s a woman of color, another idea, or another injustice that I have seen more
generally is in that of the media, the media does not accurately represent, um, Asia or Asian cultures,
specifically South Asian culture, because that is what I’m most familiar with specifically. The show
“Never Have I Ever” is a good start in having shows that are relatable to more people, especially Indian
Americans than just the majority of people that live in the United States, because there are more types
of people that live here and their stories should be shared as well as those of the majority so that they
can feel as though that they’re being, they’re being represented and also show other groups of people
what it’s like in a different culture. But the show is an issue because it does not accurately represent the
general South Asian experience and the United States in the United States because of the discrepancies
and unrealistic storyline, I will be showing, um, or I will be playing a clip of the video of the show.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Hey God, it’s Devi Vishvakumar, your favorite Hindu girl in the San Fernando Valley. What’s a-poppin?
It’s the first day of school. And I thought we should have a check-in. I think we can all agree that last year
sucked for a number of reasons. So I thought of a few ways you guys can make it up to me. One, I’d like
to be invited to a party with alcohol and hard drugs. I’m not going to do…
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right off the bat. The way that she is talking to the Gods would be seen by somebody who is also Indian
American, or just Indian in general, as disrespectful and not accurate in the way that we would be going
about praying to our Gods. Also the way that she asks for very illegal things is also another thing that
shows that our values are not being looked at properly in media. To continue the clip,
Speaker 3 (05:08):
The opportunity to say no cocaine for me. Thanks. I’m good too. I’d love for my arm here at the now I
know it’s an Indian thing, but my form looked like the frigging floor of a barber shop.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
This example is also an issue because they show, it shows that, um, Indian Americans or Indians in
general are, um, thought of as being more hairy. And even though this is most, most times a correct
assumption, it is very stereotypical and it doesn’t accurately represent the way that people want to be
portrayed through media. It doesn’t accurately show how, um, how people feel towards these. And it it’s
almost degrading in a way,
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Lastly, most importantly, I really, really like a boyfriend, but not a nerd from one of my AP classes, like a
guy from sports team. He can be dumb. I don’t care. I just want it to be stone-cold hottie who could rock
me all night long.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Lastly, in this clip, she says that she wants a stone-cold Hottie that could rock her all night. That to me is
disrespectful on so many different levels. And the writers of the show did not accurately or at all think
about what they, what putting that little clip could be to somebody who doesn’t feel the same way as
she does, or somebody that is like her, but doesn’t share these values because they’re unrealistic and
not accurate towards the South Asian or Indian, um, experience in the United States after watching
these or after listening to these codes Prachi, have you seen any examples of representation of Asians or
any groups in general that are similar to this?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Um, yeah. Um, another TV show that I feel like might not have represented Indians in the best light was,
um, the big bang theory, um, on the show, there’s a character named Raj and he was in, he was an
Indian. And, um, my biggest problem with him was just like how he talked like his accent was like, it was
just like, um, misrepresentative of like how Indian people with Indian accents actually do talk. I feel like
it was, they were just like trying to make fun of us. And I just didn’t appreciate that. Also, he was just
like, his job was very stereotypical of an Indian. He was like the super smart scientist. Um, his dad on the
show actually was also a pretty stereotypically Indian guy. He was a doctor and I feel like when a lot of
people think about what, um, Indian people do when they get older, a lot of people probably think
about them becoming doctors. I just felt like they could have done more to portray the South Indian and
just like the Indian population in general, a lot better than they did on that show.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
That’s a very good example. This also relates to something we were talking about in class with the story
that we read. Um, and I can see how the stereotypes portrayed around Raj from the Big Bang Theory
can be related to another character named Changez that we have, we had previously learned about in
that he is exotic and different, so he is seen as being an other. And although it’s not that his friends or
his acquaintances are seeing him in a menacing or threatening way, it shows that he’s still different. And
he is, um, he almost does not fit into the group because of his differences.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
A lot of people on media need to change these stereotypes and give these stereotypical narratives, um,
a more accurate representation. This can be changed by giving more people, creative rights over scripts
and such, especially to, in these cases, Indian American script writers, because they have personal
experiences that they can use to relate to other people on the same level as them and the same, they
share the same experiences as them, and also use accurate, um, ideas to, um, show the show, our
culture and values to other people on, um, in, in other, in other groups that are not South Asian.
Specifically having these conversations with our friends who watch these shows and ask us about if this
is what Indian people do is, Oh, another good way to try and change this narrative of Indian people,
being a certain way. And the stereotypes involved with being South Asian and change the narrative at
home where it hits the most because it’s already in people’s minds. And the next generation has to fix
these issues to be more accurate as time goes on because it’s a slow process, but bias is always present
in this world and we definitely need to do better to work against discrimination. So I thank you Prachi
for coming and talking to me about discrimination and injustices faced on our daily lives.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
No, it was no problem. I had a lot of fun here today. I thank you for telling me about all of these
interesting facts.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Thanks again. We’ll see you next time.

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