28 Jan, 2025

Conference Grant Reports: Evan Sakuma at ASA 2024

We are pleased to support our students sharing their work at the premiere conferences in their field. Evan Sakuma presented “Good Shot, Babe!-- Guns n’ Glamour Reimagining Asian American Womanhood" at the American Studies Association Conference in Baltimore. From Evan:

It is with great pleasure that I share my experience presenting my paper, “Good Shot, Babe!-- Guns n’ Glamour Reimagining Asian American Womanhood" this past Fall while also attending a pleathora of other amazing panels at the American Studies Association Conference in Baltimore. This paper represented the seeds of a larger section of my dissertation, which examines how American aesthetics of masculinity define Asian American identity. Specifically, “Good Shot, Babe!” begins with the hyper-feminized, fetishized image of the Asian American woman and argues that these stereotypes take on a “nonsense” quality when juxtaposed with historical and contemporary depictions of Asian Americans in gangs and wielding guns.

In my presentation, I examined how the image of the "strong Asian woman" complicates dominant narratives of Asian American femininity by exploring popular visual culture with the guns as weapon, as prop, as political performance—such as circulating photos during the Vietnam War, the 1992 LA Riots, and even VP Kamala Harris claiming gun ownership in the 2024 Presidential Debate. Similarly, I found this "strong Asian woman" in the aesthetic prosthetics of the Asian Baby Girl (ABG) subculture, characterized often by 1990s-inspired heavy makeup, acrylic nails, and a blonde balayage. As part of my research practice, I also showcased my video art project, "Augmenting the Oriental," which dresses trans, queer, and cis Asian women in this makeup style. I argued both the gun and ABG glamour become prosthetic extensions of unregulated agency, flirtations with an undeniable presence that extends the flesh and claims stake in the nonsensical for an unscripted Asian woman.

I should also mention that this conference paper was greatly inspired by the work I had done this past year which was also funded through BCNM! My Summer Research fellow, Lauren Chang, and I investigated the online behaviors of Asian American Instagram personalities who actively promote and reinforce their identity in connection with firearms.

As a first-time attendee of ASA, I approached the conference with a mix of excitement and wariness, given its reputation for rigorous (sometimes even combative) academic exchanges. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find an environment of collaboration and community. The interdisciplinary nature of ASA allowed me to focus on panels most relevant to my research, rather than overextending myself. I was particularly captivated by sessions such as “To Carve is to Care: The Wound as Site of Possibility” and “Convergence of Thought and Action: Bridging Academia and the Arts,” both of which emphasized research that eschews the politics of acceptability. The conference’s theme, Grounded Engagements, also inspired offsite events with local bookstores and community kitchens which I had the pleasure of attending.

Most importantly, I formed community with scholars from Tufts, UC San Diego, and UCLA who were up-and-coming scholars like me. We danced, sang karaoke, and read each other’s outfits (a queer form of intimacy). I even got to see my best friend from undergrad who is now pursing a PhD at UCLA, Kayne Doughty. Both of us were Mellon Mays Fellows and transfer students. It was incredible to see how despite academic communities being esoteric, we find moments of resonace with the community that has always been.

Huge thanks again to BCNM and all of BCNM’s donors who make attending conferences like this possible. This opportunity provided me with critical feedback on my polarizing research dealing with gun culture among Asian American communities and gave me the opportunity to experience much of what ASA offered.