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Dear BPSI Community and Friends:
We are pleased to share the Resources and Video from BPSI’s Spring 2023 Special two-part BPSI READS series on Asian Identity. BPSI READS is an initiative to facilitate regular conversations within BPSI, the larger psychoanalytic community, and the public on issues of Race, Equity, Diversity, and Otherness.
Part I:
“Asian American Experience: The Illusion of Inclusion and the Model Minority Stereotype”
Dr. Kris Yi
May 7, 2023
Part I focused on the work of our invited special guest, Dr. Kris Yi. As she summarizes in her paper: The stereotype of Model Minority is often applied to Asian Americans, whose educational and economic achievements are held up as a sign of successful inclusion into American society. Yet the deadly anti-Asian attacks following the coronavirus pandemic have shattered this illusion of inclusion. Using trauma theories, Dr. Yi explores Asian Americans’ belief in the American Dream, alignment with whiteness, and the illusion of inclusion afforded by the Model Minority stereotype. In particular, Dr. Yi examines how the illusion of inclusion has obscured recognition of an Asian fetish, the sexualized objectification of Asian women and feminization of Asian men. Clinical examples illustrate the workings of racialized stereotypes and mutual dissociation of racial traumas in Asian therapist and Asian patient dyads. Finally, Dr. Yi adds a plea for Asian American psychoanalysts and therapists to write and speak about their experiences from their own frame of reference for fuller recognition of Asian American subjectivity.
Click here to read the paper
Part II:
“Endurance Streets: Resilience and Response in Boston's Chinese Community - Peiwei Li & Diane O’Donoghue”
June 13, 2023
Part II focused on arts and community in Boston’s Chinatown, discussing how cultural experiences can raise awareness of a neighborhood’s past and present struggles, as well as its capacity to maintain and expand its identity. We discussed the creation and content of the current exhibition, “Endurance Streets: Resilience and Response in Boston’s Chinese Community,” alongside a recent article on the ways in which the neighborhood’s arts center has been able to address immigration stress and gentrification.
We invite those in Boston to visit the exhibition on the exterior of Two Boylston Street and 116 Harrison Street (at the corner of Kneeland). The panels can be viewed here
You may watch the video here:
BPSI Reads: Endurance Streets: Resilience and Response in Boston's Chinese Community - Peiwei Li & Diane O’Donoghue
Books
Articles
As part of BPSI’s Anti-Racism Commitment, (Click here for Commitment Memo), we have also created the BPSI Resources web page, that intends to make readily available psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary scholarship resources on Race, Equity, Diversity and Otherness, for colleagues and the public. The site is updated regularly with more readings and resources. Please see what is new: BPSI Resources - On Race, Equity, Diversity, and Otherness; Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Voices (linked here) .
Thank you to all who have shared your experiences, questions, and ideas for how BPSI can fulfill our commitment to Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We welcome your ideas for future BPSI READS, BPSI RESOURCES, and your feedback, contributions, and participation in BPSI’s ongoing work. You may contribute ideas here.
We hope to see you at the next BPSI READS evening.
Donna, Catherine, Holly, Mary, and Carole
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