Goldsea Asian American Daily
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Goldsea.com covers social, economic, political and lifestyle news and trends from the Asian American perspective. Its status as the most visible content site with an Asian American focus has made Goldsea a lightning rod for both those who support its mission and those who would like to see its focus expanded. Some critics argue that its perspective is exclusively East Asian American, focusing only on those of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent. Goldsea has consistently played up the achievements of Asian Americans in the fields of business, sports, entertainment and the media. While this has attracted many loyal supporters who feel that the site fills a glaring void in the U.S. media, some resentful members of other Asian ethnicities have sought to undermine Goldsea as not being truly representative of all Asian Americans. Goldsea is perhaps unique among ethnic websites in attracting such intense attention from those who claim to scorn its alleged exclusivity.
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[edit] Goldsea's demographic focus
Goldsea's status as the first and leading Asian American content site (est. 1995 under the name of tmiweb.com, changed in 1998 to goldsea.com) has attracted criticism from Asian Americans who feel excluded by its coverage. For example, in some articles Goldsea has not included South Asian Americans in its discussions. One notable article [1] suggests that Southeast Asian Americans are included only because "they are frequently members of the Chinese diaspora" [2]. The article appears to refer mainly to Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans and Filipino Americans in its use of the term Asian Americans.
This article appears to have offended some South Asian Americans with its claim that because India is largely Hindu and Pakistan is Muslim, their cultures are distinct from that of East Asia and Southeast Asia. It seems to overlook the Hindu and Muslim populations of Southeast Asia and that, historically, the Indian Subcontinent is connected to Southeast Asia and the Far East through religious and cultural influences [3].
However, as Goldsea has evolved over the years from its early focus on Asian American lifestyle and identity to a broader-based daily, it began regularly featuring news items on India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mongolia, among other nations. However, there remains a visible skew toward China, Korea and Japan in the vast majority of its articles.
[edit] Possible editorial biases
[edit] Perspective toward interracial relationships between Asian men and White women
Goldsea has attracted some notoriety for promoting equal coverage of interracial relationships between East Asian American men and White women, as well as the discussions about White men and Asian women which are more prevalent on other so-called Asian American sites. Goldsea's supporters came to believe that the site promotes a strong, masculine, and caring image of East Asian American men. Some posts and articles have pointed out that the United States media belittles East Asian American men by portraying them stereotypically as evil characters or wimps. Some posters (but not the site's articles) argued that some white men have a perverted and often demeaning fetish for East Asian American women.[4] Some Goldsea's forum participants have argued that East Asian American women sometimes date White men who are below them in socio-economic status. [5] However, much of the controversy stems from Goldsea's goal of providing equal coverage to relationships between Asian men and white women. For example, movies that show East Asian men in interracial relationships with White women are deemed "Asian-Friendly" [6] One poll even provoked discussion of the perception that East Asian men have "sexual secrets" women do not know about. [7] Goldsea's forum posters often boast about how East Asian men are better looking, wealthier, and more highly educated (e.g. graduating from the most prestigious colleges) than any other race (including other Asians of non-East Asian descent).
[edit] Policy toward of racially-mixed East Asian Americans
Some racially-mixed Asian Americans were put off by one poll that asked whether Asian Americans who are in part some other race are really Asian Americans. It used Keanu Reeves as an example [8]. Another asked whether Kristin Kreuk is really an Asian American, because her ancestry is not exclusively Asian [9]. By contrast, Goldsea has profiled many celebrities with Asian surnames, including Russell Wong [10] , Kelly Hu [11], and football star Timmy Chang [12].
[edit] Discussions of traits by racial and national origin
Some critics have suggested that Goldsea has promoted divisiveness among Asian groups with polls (now frozen to new input) which rated various nationalities for traits like friendliness to other Asians [13]. Some polls even explored the positive physical traits of various Asian nationalities [14] and races [15]. These "intra-Asian" relationship polls only included Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese nationalities. Among them was a poll that sought to rate Asian nationalities for looks [16]. Unlike the intra-Asian relationship polls, this poll for Asian beauty included Asian-Indians. One Goldsea articles features an extended analysis of the facial features of Asian men and women in the context of western and universal beauty standards. A facial features comparison table suggests that in certain respects like jawline and cheekbones East Asian men compare favorably with White men but less favorably in features like the nose and chin. [17] Similarly, another chart suggests that East Asian women rate favorably against White women in features like nose, lips and youthfulness [18] but less favorably in the eyes.
One of Goldsea's most distinguished features are its extensive compilations of the most successful Asian Americans in numerous fields. Among them are the top 20 Asian American athletes, the 12 most brilliant Asian Americans, 70 most inspiring Asian Americans, 20 most successful corporate executives (which does include South and Southeast Asians), and the most successful Asian American women. Yet Goldsea's focus on Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans creates the impression of overlooking the accomplishments of South Asian ethnicities and nationalities.
[edit] Changing "Korea" to "Corea"
Goldsea has come out in support of efforts to have the spelling of Korea revert back to its pre-colonial spelling of Corea [19]. This is perhaps the site's quirkiest feature. The article suggests that the spelling was changed by Japan so that its name would precede that of its new colony in international listings of nations: "For one of Japan's prospective colonies to precede its master in the alphabetical lineup of nations would be unseemly, Japanese imperialists decided." The website considers the term Corea to imply that "Corea lacks sophistication".
[edit] Economic dominance of East Asia
One of Goldsea's Issues pieces (meant to spark discussion) asks whether a unified North and South Korea could become "the center of the global economy" [20]. Goldsea has suggested that Japan may become relatively less powerful in the future and that China, Taiwan and the Koreas will become more powerful [21]. It seems to suggest that Japan has hurt the East Asian global image by having "little testosterone" and it "has only reinforced every insulting stereotype" unlike China and Korea, which a Goldsea Issues piece claims improve the East Asian image. "South Corea exports people who take hooey from no one" and "North Corea showed balls in standing up to the west" [22]. One Issues piece suggests that a strong China reinforces the strength of East Asia[23]. One of Goldsea's Issues pieces asks whether "the U.S. [should] provide upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars" for slaughtering Korean civilians during the Korean War [24].
[edit] See also
- Asian power
- Supremacism
- Korea under Japanese rule
- Names of Korea
- Media portrayal of Asian American men
- Dharmic religions
- Indosphere
- One-drop theory
- Asian fetish
