There's a lot of responsibility involved in sharing a very personal story with a lot of people, and it's easier for others not to know about things - and I know that. But in terms of the general climate, socially, these are things people have to deal with on a daily basis. We hear so many negative stories but rarely do we get positivity. We have memes of cute cats and puppies and things like that, but if they didn't exist, people would be a lot more unhappy. We need more things like that.
Jennifer LeeChinese cooking is noisy - a multitasking activity that requires constant vigilance. There is no downtime.
Jennifer LeeI am obsessed with Chinese restaurants. Like many Americans, I first discovered them in my childhood.
Jennifer LeeI'm aware of what I am, but I focus so much on myself as a musician and as an artist that I don't even notice that I'm the only female on a festival bill. I'm just like "oh I'm playing this festival."I haven't been very deeply involved in this greater outreach because my approach to equality is integration. I'm not into separatism, or an all-female festival. It's good and empowering but it doesn't allow for the bigger picture to get accomplished. We all need to be at the same festival - that's always been my approach.
Jennifer LeeI'm always open to questions asked, and it will be up to me at that moment to decide if I want to answer or not. I've always been the kind of artist that wanted to focus so much more on the music than all these other things. For example, "what does it feel like to be a female in a male dominated industry"?
Jennifer LeeWithin the model minority rhetoric, Asian Americans are represented as โgoodโ minorities and African Americans are represented as โbadโ minorities. Here, the achievements of Asian Americans are used to discipline African Americans. As model minorities, Asian Americans achieved the status of โhonorary Whitesโ. Again it is important to point out that the honorary whiteness of Asian Americans was granted at the expense of Blacks. It is also significant that as โhonorary Whites,โ Asian Americans do not have the actual privileges associated with โrealโ whiteness.
Jennifer Lee