Transcript:
Hope Liptak:
Welcome back to yo is this intersectional I’m your host Hope Liptak and today we’ll be talking about the most recent massage parlor shootings in Atlanta, Georgia.
Joe Biden Audio:
I’m gonna make a brief opening statement about a current thing going on in the United States here. And that is the shooting down in Atlanta. Right people were killed seven women, six of Asian American background. And I was just on the telephone briefed by the Attorney General of the United States and Director of the FBI. And the investigation is ongoing. And the question of motivation is still to be determined. But whatever the motivation here, I know that Asian Americans are in very, very concerned because as you know, I’ve been speaking about the brutality against Asian Americans for the last couple months, and I think it is very, very troublesome. And, but I’d make the no connection at this moment for the motivation of what the of the killer, I’m waiting for an answer from, as the investigation proceeds from the FBI, and from the Justice Department. So and that’s, so I’ll have more to say when the investigation is completed.
Hope Liptak:
The injustice in this story is evident, a white man targeting an Asian woman as a result of his own addiction, racism and misogyny. However, there are multiple layers of injustice in this story, which clearly defines this instance as an issue of intersectionality. The media can easily be defined as a catalyst in the discrimination against Asian people in America. The conversation of whether or not these women were sex workers has played the overall conversation of this tragedy since the beginning. And guess what, it doesn’t matter. The over sexualization of these women by Robert long, who’s what led to violence, not a single thing any woman has or has not done to support herself can be justified as reason for injury and certainly not depth. The narrative developed by the media in the wake of this tragedy is laced with overt sexual innuendos and microaggressions towards the Asian community on a broader scale. We have to do better by these women, and we have to do better by all Asians American by all Asian Americans.
Local Atlanta News:
11 alive is where Atlanta speaks, and many of you have expressed outrage over remarks a gunman allegedly made that he was lashing out because of the sex addiction. Six of the victims are Asian women and members of the AAPI community have been adamant that you cannot separate race from what happened and the issues of hyper sexualization of Asian women, loving the lives of Tosh and given shares three women’s perspectives. I’ve definitely experienced the marginalization and sexualization of Asian women in America. Linden works as a diversity Equity and Inclusion manager. So it’s the idea that an Asian woman is a possession to be handed. Mary Morrison is the editor for the journal for gender and social policy and the law at American University. Both say they are heartbroken by the shootings at three metro Atlanta spas and outraged by what the suspect Robert Aaron long allegedly told police but he does claim that it was not racially motivated. He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction. It can be both an issue of race and sexism and misogyny at the same time.
Hope Liptak:
So how is this specific instance defined as an issue of intersectionality? Well, I’ll tell you, Robert long targeted the specific victims in this hate crime as a result of gender and race, which are two issues that commonly connect in American social structure and social injustices in general. But specifically, here we’re talking about Asian women, which have a history of over sexualization and fetishization in the American media and by the American public in general. These two issues meet in in the middle in regards to his motive.
Atlanta Local News:
Black straight hair, white pale skin, and you know, the slanted eyes that people are sexualizing because essentially, you look like a doll. They say some of it comes from colonialism and wartime prostitution. When I was 13 years old, a self proclaimed a Vietnam veteran, attempted to grope me at a beach club, because he said he had won just like me in Vietnam and as a child, seeing my mother be objectified by men and how she felt the need to laugh at all. Out of fear of physical retribution. Alexandria Pham says this is such an issue. She says parameters even before going on dates. One of the questions that that asked we do ask when I’m meeting someone new, it’s like, we don’t have an agent status to you because nine times out of 10 Unfortunately, they are intrigued because of that. While spas are a big part of Asian culture, the woman talked about the stereotypes associated with the spots in the US, I believe that came about because a lot of sex workers do happen to work in massage parlors. And there is there isn’t Ben direct there is an overlap between the two and it is a legitimate business is just devaluing the hard work that Asian American women have to go through to just be able to survive.
Hope Liptak
Robert long is accused of a mass shooting in Georgia’s capital. The violence was specifically directed at the Asian community occurring across multiple massage parlors in the area, allegedly long killed eight people, six of which being women of Asian descent. Robert long has a history of addiction issues with sex and pornography targeting targeting the massage parlors because of their assumed sexual nature, as well as his overt over sexualization and fetish fetishization of Asian women.
Sandra Oh
Here with all the organizers, for organizing this, just to give us an opportunity to be together and to stand together and to feel each other. For many of us in our community. This is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger. And I really am so grateful for everyone willing to willing to listen, I’m going to be very, very brief for one minute. I know many of us in our community are very scared. And I understand that. And one way to kind of go through and get through our fear is to reach out to our communities. Reach out everyone here, I will offer I will challenge everyone here. If you see something Will you help me. Understand as Asian Americans, we need to reach out to our sisters and brothers and say, help me and I’m here just for one thing. I have to be Asian. Just wanted to give up an opportunity to be able to shout out