Created in collaboration with Gracelynn Wan, Isabel Liang, and Lydia Ko, this project is an exploration of the ways in which our senses of self as non-male Asian Americans are shaped by the characters and/or narratives that we are exposed to in childhood. To what extent do degrees of representation in terms of gender, race, plot narrative, personality, etc. inform one’s understanding of their position in the world? In what ways did limited representations of non-male Asian characters drive us towards a longing for the perceived ideal of whiteness in order to fit the mold of the protagonist of a story? Our format for conveying these ideas is two-fold: First, we created an open call for submissions (distributed through social media, flyering, and direct outreach) asking other non-male Asian Americans to answer one central question, and a series of optional follow-ups. The central question was: “Growing up, were there any character(s) in media that you idolized or identified with? If so, what qualities about that character(s) did you idolize or identify with?” 

As responses came in, we sifted through them and looked out for particularly poignant lines, areas of overlap, and both converging and diverging perspectives. The resulting publication is a curated collection of those responses, in which we’ve used imagery, typography, intentional juxtaposition and the like to produce a zine.

We titled this project and publication Mirror Mirror.