Fringe Becomes a Public Charity

Last October, Fringe Magazine incorporated as a nonprofit in the state of Delaware. Since then, we have been awaiting our federal approval, and it has arrived.

I am please to announce that Fringe is now a tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

This means that any donations you make are tax-deductible!

We are currently trying to raise money to cover our costs for AWP 2008 , as the price of a table at the book fair has jumped from $120 to $350 in just a year.

Kwik-E-Mart

As a promotion for the Simpsons Movie, 7-11s around the country have been turned into Kwik-E-Marts. My first thought was "how cool," but after reading both Angry Asian Man's and Ultrabrown's blogs about the promotion, I'm not so sure. Both bloggers think the character of Apu is racist, or at least that the promotion focuses on the racist aspects of his character (Too Sense applauded the Simpsons for complicating Apu's character, but noted that the Kwik-E-Mart promotion included none of this complexity). One particular objection was that actual desi owners of stores participating in the promotion are having this racist caricature thrown in their faces -- they have to dress up in a uniform modeled after Apu's.

Well, color-me educated! As a clueless white chick, I didn't realize that many South Asian folks were offended by Apu. For all the other clueless white folks, here's why Apu is/might be racist(please add reasons I may have missed in the comments):

• He has a poorly done Hindi accent, and is voiced by a white dude. Some have likened this to white dudes who put on blackface for minstral shows. Desidreaming has an interesting post on this -- the discussion in the comments is also intriguing.
  
  
• His catchphrase, "Thank you, come again" has evidently been used to taunt Indian convenience store workers across America.
  
  
• The broken english on the signs in Kwik-E-Mart stores, or for that matter, on the show, is condescending and ignores the fact that many immigrants speak English well. In short, it's a cheap shot.
  
  
• Apu is the stereotype of the hardworking immigrant business owner.

The potential racism of the accent seems self-evident to me, but from reading the various blogs linked above, I'm seeing a subtler line emerge: some Indian folks think Apu is racist, some don't. Everyone agrees that he represents a stereotype, and it seems to me that there are a lot of racist folks out there who use the Apu stereotype to make racist comments to Indian-Americans. So the question becomes, "Is a stereotype that is sometimes used for racist purposes racist in and of itself?"

See Jane Fold

Word in the fishbowl is that Jane magazine is folding. Jane was founded by Jane Pratt who also founded the defunct Sassy Magazine--a cult favorite among 80s teens. If Sassy was the edgy, sarcastic girl who developed before all the other 8th graders at the sleepover, Jane was the equally sarcastic, slightly jaded, tell-it-like-it-is best friend to the more mainstream women's magazines out there. With Jane gone, there leaves a hole in the market, and a need for a fresh new voice from the modern American woman.

To me, this is the voice of a woman who enjoys kick boxing as much as salsa dancing, reading postmodern fiction as much as shopping for party dresses, and creating great art as much as appreciating certain pop culture guilty pleasures (SexyBack, what?) She's the type of woman who will check her lipstick in the glass ceiling before smashing it with the stilettos she got on sale.

Who is this woman to you?

Out of the loop? Catch up on current events

While you’ve been on vacation, here’s what you’ve missed

-J. Goodrich wrote a meaty article for The American Prospect about how the media portrays Republicans as the “Daddy Party” and Democrats as the “Mommy Party” by strategically using masculine and feminine terminology in their descriptions of candidates like Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton.

-South Dakota state rep Joel Dykstra has entered the race for the Republican nomination to the senate, according to this article in The Hill. Dykstra is known to pro-choice activists as the man who called “rape and incest” a buzzword:

"I think 'rape and incest' is a buzzword. It's a bit of a throwaway line and not everybody who says that really understands what that means. How are you going to define that?” --South Dakota state Rep. Joel Dykstra (R-Lincoln County) on why the state legislature didn't include those exceptions in its abortion ban, April 20, 2006.

-Money Magazine’s Senior Editor Marlys Harris advised women to marry into money in order to get rich.

“Work hard, take risks, maybe build your own business. That's the traditional route to financial success. Of course, there's another highly traditional path to acquiring wealth that isn't talked about quite as much these days: Marry money.”

And also:

“To worm your way into a billionaire's business, and eventually his heart, you need the right career. An M.B.A. will give you the most flexibility.”.

Um…vomit!

Funny how so much can happen while you’re off celebrating this wonderful nation.

Independence Day Musings

At the end of a long, lovely day yesterday, I, my boyfriend, and another couple sat in the yard, remarking on how we’d had the perfect Fourth of July – we’d canoed a river all day, complete with a small American flag stuck to the head of one of the canoes, then headed back to the house for grilled steak tips and corn on the cob. Then we lit sparklers (the few we could get lit, that is, as they were old enough to have been in a forgotten corner of the garage). Proud Americans celebrating Independence Day – absolutely.

It’s hard not to think about our government when we think about being American; after all, it was the form of government we choose when we grabbed our independence from the British that made us different - revolutionary. When we celebrate the Fourth of July, we celebrate revolution.

Too bad we’re not really revolutionary anymore.

It makes me a bit sad to think that our most American of holidays is marked by barbecuing a few hamburgers, watching a few fireworks, waving a flag or two. Perhaps we make some big purchases during Fourth of July *blowout* sales. Maybe watch a show on Thomas Jefferson on the History Channel. It’s our culture, and we’re proud of it, but I wish Americanism had less to do with consumerism. And unfortunately it’s the consumerism that we’re so well known for. That, and our deplorable foreign policies.

I hope this is just my cynicism showing through, and that the country is filled with hopeful Americans who can and will make a significant difference in our world. If you’re out there, tell me about what you’re doing, and I’ll light a sparkler in your honor.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a good place to rent a canoe in eastern Massachusetts, check out the Foote Brothers’ Canoes – floating through the wilds in a self-powered craft is a good way to channel your inner-colonial American.

The Inheritance of Loss: A Review by Lizzie Stark

This is the first of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.

Since I'm about to start an intense grad program in journalism, I've been making the best of my time by reading fiction at every opportunity. And since I've spent most of my life reading (and appreciating) the white dudes, I decided to only read non-white dudes for pleasure reading for the next year or two. And what better place to turn than the Fringe Pool?

I recently finished Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss. And wow, this was a beautifully written book set in the tumultuous area of northern India. The main narrative belongs to Sai, an orphaned Indian girl who lives with her eccentric grandfather, an ex-judge. Almost equal narrative time is given to her Grandfather, their cook, and the cook's son. At times, these perspective shifts were frustrating, breaking up the fluidity of the narrative, especially since the plot lines didn't interact so much as develop the major theme of the book -- post-colonialism.

In particular, Desai is concerned with the emotional toll of colonialism, which she approaches through various takes on immigration -- the isolation that Bidu, the cook's son, feels as an illegal immigrant, coupled with his father's alternating sorrow and joy that his son is in America. Similarly, Sai's grandfather recounts his past, the way that his English education made him a misfit at home and abroad, and in doing so, made him close his heart to love and compassion. Set against the backdrop of alienation, Sai's story -- that of a young girl's first heartbreak -- puts the rest into perspective.

This incredibly complex web of plot lines and narratives left me in awe; I am still sorting through my feelings. I cannot say that it was a happy book, for the story revealed a seamy underbelly to immigration in the US, as well as the emotional toll that colonialism continues to take on India. After putting the book down, I had one of those wonderful post-art-experience-exhalations that let me know I had absorbed something rich and complicated. If you want an easy beach read, skip this one, but if you want a contemplative book full of characters and issues that stay with you long after you've put it down, read on!

BlogHers Act -- Vote Now!

A few weeks ago I wrote about BlogHer's amazing project of mobilizing their members toward political action.

They tabulated all suggestions, and have produced a poll, so vote now!

And a few more items of interest:

Know a breast cancer survivor? Sponsor Fringe Copyeditor Karen as she participates in Race for the Cure, or better yet, sign up yourself!

Young soccer players head to Africa as part of a cultural exchange. Viva Title IX!

And RIP Elizabeth Claibourne. You will be missed!