31 May 2007

seoul homos march

buddy: korea's first queer mag.

hi cwl aka gjl:

thanks so much for thinking of me. i didn't know the queer parade (english site) was this weekend so i'm grateful for your email. i came here with my american bias and plenty of warnings about anti-gay korea, but i'm frustrated by gay korean mens' internalized homophobia. despite being in asia, which is supposedly more family and collective-focused than the individualist west, i've noticed no sense of responsibility among most gay koreans to improve the situation for other queers now or in the future. there's this palpable selfishness and paranoia that's disappointing, but i guess it's also a typical stage of any identity group's development. anyhow, i'm curious to learn more. where/when should we meet?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

aloha!
just a random message from a Singaporean reader... thoroughly enjoy reading your daily musings and ramblings... you're funny..*giggles* ... *manly cough *
i'm an amatuer design geek too... into typography and graphics...idolises Mark Ryden (www.markryden.com) and into Japanese mags (love the feel and smell of their paper...i suspect its laced with opium)...must confer on hideous Korean Sparkling logo... i could do better with me eyes closed and hands tied behind my back... hmmm...i think many Asian clients still have what I term a colonial mentality ...white = good ...haven't they heard? Yellow is hot for Fall ...

it happens lots in Singapore too...I think the problems you face in Korea are pretty much inherent in most post-colonial Asian countries (we got colonised by the Brits way back...thank goodness they left behind some delish recipes...good ol wankers...) ...cept for Thailand (read:never been colonised)...very nationalistic country where local talent is given glorified above all... ho ho ho..wadaya know...i'm off tangent and rambling yet again... if this is weird to you...just laugh it off..otherwise do feel free to add me on msn (snowasphalt@hotmail.com)

cheerios
kien

Jonith said...

in a bit of a dry spell?

matt said...

in so many ways. ;)

matt said...

thanks for the note kien. i love singaporeans who use "aloha". um... i dunno about thailand... i think all those western tourists having sex with thai children with the government's blessing is evidence of colonial mentality.

anyhow, tho your little island-city-state is horribly humid 365 days per year, you're quite right about the splendid cuisine, and as long as your indonesian neighbors stop slashing and burning, the views are nice ;)

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