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Filipino Writer's Memoir Takes On Asian Male Stereotypes

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 (Intl. Center for Journalists)

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex Tizon emigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines as a child in the 1960s. In his memoir, “Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self,” Tizon reflects on the immigrant experience of shedding his language and culture in acts of “relentless self-annihilation.” As a Filipino male, he felt he was viewed as weak and feminine and, searching for a more masculine image, he tried on other identities including “swivel-hipped Latin lover, a Puerto Rican hipster, a Mexican street fighter, [and] a Native American soothsayer.” We talk to Tizon about how he tried cracking through Asian stereotypes.

Guests:

Alex Tizon, author of "Big Little Man: In Search Of My Asian Self," journalist formerly with the Los Angeles Times and The Seattle Times and assistant professor in journalism at the University of Oregon

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