There is a video embed of the commercial at the end, but here’s the text:

Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow.

Let me point out a few things:

• The Gong: It starts with a gong.  Yes.  A Gong.  Let me reference the aptly named Oriental Riff entry in Wikipedia: “The Oriental riff, also known as the Asian riff or the Chinese riff, is a musical riff or phrase that has often been used as a trope or stereotype of orientalism in Western culture to represent the idea of the Orient, China, Japan or a generic East Asian theme by Western culture. The riff is sometimes accompanied by the sound of a gong.”  Having listened to copious amounts of Chinese pop music, I can tell you based on my experience that there is a certain lack of gong.
• Wrong Setting: If Hoekstra is trying to insinuate that money is being funneled into China, why is the spokesperson a girl riding a bike in the rice paddies?  This doesn’t conjure images of affluence or wealth – it draws on stereotypes of how people view “Asia” – the continent, not the diverse groups of cultures and countries that make up that continent.  Additionally,  with her white pants, 3/4th sleeve shirt, and hat – this actually conjures more connections with a traditionally dressed Vietnamese young woman.   Despite many years of rule by China, Vietnam is not China.
• Broken English: Just because the girl is from China doesn’t mean that she necessarily speaks broken English.  English is a global language, spoken by many people throughout the world.  While some might speak it with an accent or not very well, there are also very many people capable of speaking it correctly and well.  Hoekstra argues that
  

  The fact that a Chinese girl is speaking English is a testament to how they can compete with us, when an American boy of the same age speaking Mandarin is absolutely insane, or unthinkable right now. (Politico)

  Hoekstra must have missed out on this 2007 article of As China booms, so does Mandarin in U.S. schools or perhaps the fact that there are many Chinese-Americans who are bilingual?  Or did he not think of Chinese-Americans when he was talking about “American” boys and girls?

Most of today, I’ve been saying that Hoekstra did not get the memo that we are in 2012 – not 1912.   But the more I let this run through my brain, the more I couldn’t help but consider, who else did not get this memo?  How many people saw this ad before it ran?  Pete Hoekstra did not single-handedly film and air the commercial.  How many people worked on this “script”?  Filmed this commercial?  Saw the ad, approved it, praised it?  How many people were also involved in creating the DebbieSpendItNow.com website that is worse than this commercial?  The website that features “Asian” font, the phrase “The Great Wall of Debt”, and contains images of dragons, lanterns, and tea.  (As my co-worker pointed out, tea is served in England as well.)

The fact that this went from concept to launch (and is still going…) says something to me about a lack of cultural sensitivity and, moreover, a lack of understanding about America.  We are home to so many different peoples and cultures.  I do not see that as a weakness.  Feeding into negative stereotypes about those different peoples and cultures is a weakness.  Such actions reflect a lack of depth, a lack of consideration – especially as a politician that is supposed to represent the needs of the people.

Hoekstra may have thought he was attacking a candidate in his ad, but really he was attacking a culture and its people – a great many of whom live in the United States.

-cct

My Shoe Calendar on Friday the 13th

I figured I’d squeeze in this post before the end of the first Friday the 13th of 2012 (the first of three such days this year separated by 13 weeks). Perhaps it’s my empathetic spirit, but 13 is actually my favorite number. It is partly because it has such a bad rep that I thought to make it a favorite number a long time ago. But while this is how it started, adopting 13 as a favorite number has grown to shade my perspective beyond this numeric empathy.

If I look back on my day today and my Friday the 13ths in the past, the good and bad of that history is probably mixed. Today in particular, I had a few bad things – woke up late, troublesome clients to contend with, worked even later when I got home – but there were also plenty of good things to appreciate of the day. I have great and supportive co-workers who made the day enjoyable, connected with a few friends about things going on in their lives, and one of my co-workers even helped me get a lovely (but large) floral arrangement I received the other day home.

My take on the number 13 is that while I believe superstition isn’t unwarranted, I also think it’s healthier to adopt an attitude that recognizes that bad (and not-so-great) things happen…they happen all the time. And fully recognizing that, fully embracing it, allows you to appreciate and look out equally (if not more so) for the good.

One of my New Year’s resolutions (#7 actually!) states:

Live every day focused on balance and maintain an outlook toward beauty even when things aren’t quite beautiful.

I think embracing the good and bad of 13 helps me do that. Now – the number 4 on the other hand – don’t EVEN get me started…!

-cct

I bought these earrings myself.  $25.  Church silent auction.  They’re butterflies – something anyone who keeps up-to-date with on this blog realizes is a favorite symbol of mine.

But despite the lack of cost (and let’s face it, almost lack of diamond), there’s something about being able to tell myself that I bought my first diamond earrings all by myself.  There’s something in that message that I’ve always found empowering.

I find many jewels beautiful, but the diamond has this reputation that’s hard to shake as being a gemstone of worth in society.  My earrings are certainly not like the baubles on the fingers of celebrities that roam this town.  And that’s fine.  I grasp not at the diamond as this visual object since obviously most people would likely not see them in my earrings without squinting (maybe), but rather how much this fraction of something could hold more worth than even the largest diamond.

Don’t get me wrong.  If someone wanted to give me the Cullinan diamond I wouldn’t necessarily say no, but my desire for that would be monetary.  I don’t love these earrings because they’re $25.  I love them because they remind me that no matter where I am in life and the future, achievements don’t have to be grand; they don’t even have to glimmer like diamonds in the sun to be worth more than even the largest diamond in the world.

Ultimately you define for your own self what it means to be successful and happy.  If it’s about getting the largest diamond in the world (or heck – the universe!), by all means go ahead, but remember the steps that took you there and enjoy every minute of the journey as if they were tiny diamonds you bought all by yourself.

-cct

I think this might be the first time I’ve seen a woman (Emmy Huang) as a featured presenter at a major tech event. #AdobeMax – intellichick 10/4/2011

This was nicely retweeted by Adobe SVP of Global Marketing Ann Lewnes with a “Go Emmy!”  My friend Jesse begged to differ, tweeting back to me:

Google has had several women introduce features in the past, and Apple has had female developers on stage. –jlevin 10/4/2011

While I do hope that is true, I don’t recall this.  That hopeful likelihood aside, there was definitely a great feeling about seeing a woman presenting at a major technology event.  This moment was perhaps further highlighted by the fact that Emmy Huang was the only female presenter on this second-day session I was watching. 

I’ve grown up being a techie because I love technology.  This domain name was inspired in part from being that random girl that talked tech with her guy friends in high school. 

The timeframe from Ada Lovelace to Emmy Huang at AdobeMax makes me think about a number of things. 

1. My gender is really awesome.  Lovelace existed in a timeframe where women were really limited in their opportunities outside of the home.
2. The fact that success can be garnered then and now tells me that to be a successful person is to think outside of the box and trust in what you love and want to do (see also Thanks for Thinking Differently: In Memory of Steve Jobs). 
3. While I wholeheartedly believe in the recognition of great minds and people, regardless of gender, the visibility of women in technology is very important.

On the third note, if you asked me to name the names I automatically associate as the faces of technology today, I would probably give you the names of men.  This tells me I need to be more educated and an advocate, but it also makes me think how much it would have meant to me growing up having a powerful history of women’s names and faces as part of my understanding of technology, how much it obviously means to me now writing this.   

I’m glad that we are a more educated society and the opportunity to share information across multiple mediums is done with relative ease: Forbes’ list of “The Most Powerful Women in Technology”, Facebook shares, blog posts, and Twitter lists such as “ada list – “50 ace women tweeters who have some connection sci, tech, environment and/or health.”  I am also very glad to be educated on the power of women sway online through sites like Michele Miller’s Wonderbranding.com.  But I think there’s a certain level of visibility that I haven’t really perceived, that perhaps we are at the cusp of breaking the mold of (I hope). 

Perhaps one day I’ll turn around and say “God there’s so many women in technology, I can’t keep track!” 

"Give me your Google+ name and I’ll put you in your own circle."

"If you and I become twitter friends, we could have our own hashtag."

"I’ll follow you…wherever you want me to."

“If the world was Twitter, all my tweets would be about you.”

“Friend me on Facebook, I have an awesome newsfeed.”

Girl: “Wow, you have a lot of friends on Facebook” (or “…followers on Twitter.”)
Guy: “…that’s what she said.” <wink>

“Where do you check in?  I’ll make sure those are the places I’m Mayor.”

Any pick-up lines to add?

-cct