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Joelle Min

Professor A. Granillo

English 101

February 2 2020

Brash, Bold, Brilliant: Margaret Cho and Her Impact on Asian American Women

Asian Americans have been historically used as a wedge, creating infighting amongst

communities of color who are all disadvantaged by a white-dominated society. More specifically,

Asian American women have struggled to move past their cultural expectations as quiet

caretakers, a sentiment pushed by cultural conditioning and stereotypes. However these roles are

evolving as bold ‘outliers’ like comedian Margaret Cho defy the traditionalist standards set by

cultural norms. In contrast to the stereotype of Asian American women being a model minority,

comedian Margaret Cho reinvents, rather than being pulled by, the often silencing

representations of this community through the intersection of politics and comedy, creating an

unapologetic wedge within a culture that associates apologies with respect. Specifically, through

her bold critiques of race and sex within comedy, Cho’s powerful impact is rooted in her

turbulent and authentic identity, stripping away the curtain of cultural norms that many Asian

American women hide behind.

With a bright red lip, thin eyebrows, Margaret Cho’s facial features are similar to those of

Korean church aunts. However, set apart by her intricate tattoos on both arms and V-cut crop

tops, she is redefined as a cool, queer Korean aunt. As an Asian American woman beginning in

comedy, Cho faced situations where she “was playing some restaurant and they didn't have a

photo of me, [because she] had not had headshots taken. So they had drawn a Chinese caricature
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— big buck teeth, eating a bowl of rice, thinking that [it] was going to help sell tickets to the

performance” (Cornish). Even though she faced discriminatory situations early in her career, Cho

gained popularity by becoming a trailblazer on race, sexuality, and gender, carving out a loud,

spearheading brand on stages and screens. Her unapologetic nature flips the narrative of

conformity and the political silence of Asian American women.

With comparatively high educational attainments and professional success rates, Asian

Americans are often depicted as the ‘model minority,’ distracting from the grave issues that the

community, specifically women, face. Take, for example, the report “U.S Honors Asian and

Pacific Americans” includes remarks from President George W. Bush, who praised the

"commitment to educational excellence" shown by many of the more than 14 million

Asian/Pacific Americans. He also hailed their efforts at "entrepreneurship and innovation,"

which help strengthen the U.S. economy” (U.S. Honors Asian and Pacific Americans (Special

Report). Although some may view this statement is an achievement, the model minority

sentiment erases the differences of individuals, ignores the diversity of Asian Americans,

continues the narrative of Asians as perpetual foreigners, and harms the struggle for racial

justice. Because this sentiment exists, public figures like Margaret Cho are necessary within the

entertainment industry in order to dismantle the political silence that Asian Americans have been

pushed into and to emphasize the normalcy of individual identities.

Cho’s uniqueness revolves on her approach to comedy, employed with the experiences of

a bisexual Korean American. In the article, “MAYBE I COULD PLAY A HOOKER IN

SOMETHING!: Asian American Identity, Gender, and Comedy in the Rhetoric of Margaret

Cho,” the author explains that “In this contradictory context, Cho’s stand-up offers insight into
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the contingency of the inside and outside of identities since she emerges as a figure that is both

subject to and yet external to the liberal American subject position” (Meyer). Through this, Cho’s

presentation as an Asian American woman as well as her American liberal ideals makes her both

an insider and outsider to the world, similarly how Asian American women are accepted within

white-dominated industries but still face prejudice within those spaces. Due to the fact that Cho

expresses her experiences as a queer Asian American woman, her comedy has become a means

of representation but has also been criticized by her own community.

Through celebrating achievement rather than expression, the Asian American community

tends to foster competitiveness and judgment, striving to compete against each other instead of

banding together against white-dominating institutions. In the instance of Margaret Cho’s

transparent comedy based around her identity, she explained that “Korean Americans were so

angry about the fact that I was this comedian who was incredibly foul-mouthed, and they had

seen my HBO special and they were really freaked out by me anyway. So they were protesting

against the show, and doing these op-ed articles in different magazines and newspapers . . . it was

heartbreaking to not have the acceptance from my community” (Cornish). Margaret Cho’s

importance is rooted in her authentic identity, taking along the positives and negatives of her

expressing herself. The power of her defiance caught the attention of Korean traditionalists,

taking a personal toll on her identity, but also inspired a generation of young, activated Asian

American women to seize their own agency.

As a Korean American teenager growing up in a White suburbia, my perception of

acceptable was blue-eyed and blonde. When I inherited my ethnicity, I inherited shame,

constantly seeing women within my community take the role of a silent caregiver. As a
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second-generation Korean-American, I quickly understood how the weight of stereotypes

crushed individualism within my community. When I watched Margaret Cho’s brash, un-ladylike

stand-up comedy on Youtube, I was inspired by a specific part of her I identified with but had

never seen portrayed: a loud Asian American woman. By seeing someone who exemplifies what

can accomplish, it creates a culture of validation and progress. No longer do I cower instead of

confronting, standing up to, or debating my peers, as I essentially was gifted with a ‘warrant,’

also known as Margaret Cho, to look to. The power of comedy is not only rooted in who cracks

the best jokes, but epitomized by how people can relate to jokes and find a community within

them. After all, one way to learn is to laugh.

Arguably, the most influential stand up that I watched of Margaret Cho is “I’m The One I

Want.” Through this special Cho has become “popular both in mainstream culture and in the

fringes” and “well known for her imitations of her middle-aged immigrant mother and her gay

male friends” (Lee). Essentially, Cho’s performance combines her identity within an

environment that challenges the silent rhetoric of Asian American sexuality and gender. Not only

is Cho’s comedy disruptive within its content, but also because of its strategic value.

Cho creates a strategy of unity by putting starkly different communities into a singular

group, many times one that she belongs to. Within her comedy special, Cho begins narrating a

story about an instance where her “parents were there, and then my fan club—a bunch of leather

daddies who call themselves the Ass Master Fan Club—were sitting next to them. They were

looking at my parents and laughing, and my parents were looking at them, laughing” (Lee). By

crossing the assumed lines of generation, race, and sexuality, Cho cultivates an environment

where audience members feel uplifted because although this odd duo of groups may not exist in
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actuality, it still creates a sense of recognition that she makes possible. By creating a space of

odd duos, Cho creates comedy that celebrates unity, but also highlights the struggles she faces as

a marginalized individual. As such, Cho’s work creates a platform that provides representation to

Asian American women by performing comedy that includes queer aesthetics but also includes

the materiality of Asianness. Margaret Cho’s methodical and representative approach to comedy

has created an inclusive chasm for previously silenced Asian American women to step into and

own.

Equipped with the skills of advocacy, Margaret Cho uses her platform to share her

important, political voice within female comedy. In an interview with TIME, Cho stated that

“I’m psyched about this emergence of a tremendously important feminist voice that is incredibly

intelligent, incredibly free, and very vital. It’s like a totem pole. We all stand on each other to get

to the next place, and I feel like women in comedy are really doing great” (Feeney). With Joan

Rivers being one of Cho’s mentors and Amy Schumer being Cho’s mentee, the support system

within comedy is articulated through Cho’s interview. Cho epitomizes the best form of feminism:

one that creates space for other women rather than fighting for the limited spaces that men seem

to own. Due to her multi-faceted and intelligent approach to comedy, she expresses a special way

of speaking to and connecting with marginalized groups of people who embrace the impact she

has had through her comedic activism. To Asian Americans, Margaret Cho’s open mindedness

and willingness to help other women defies a cultural norm of competitiveness within the

community. Not only has her political activism played a large part in her one-woman stand-ups,

but also within her interactions in the Asian American community.

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Although the Asian American community within the entertainment industry is small, it

has been injected with activated individuals, most of which Cho has worked with. Specifically,

for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Margaret Cho and actress Awkwafina

created a satirical music video called “Green Tea.” The song pokes fun at stereotypes while still

celebrating Asian American women. More importantly, Awkwafina states the purpose of the

comedic song is to “empower other women ‘to embrace their quirkiness, their sexuality, their

inner-child and their creativity with passion”’ (Lasher). Margaret Cho’s feminism reaches further

than herself, continuing to empower her own community both through content and

collaborations.

Moreover, when examining comedian Margaret Cho’s defiance of the model minority

sentiment, she creates an unapologetic boldness within a culture that associates apologies with

respect. Specifically, through her bold critiques of race and sex within comedy, Cho’s powerful

impact is rooted in her authentic, political comedy that many Asian American women identify

with but have been historically afraid to express. Through the background of Cho’s relationship

to the idea of Asians as a model minority, the nuanced community impact of her identity; the

comedic strategies employed for her political platform; and the activism of her views on

feminism, her role within the Asian American female community provides proof for a possibility

of a different path. Through inspiring other young girls, like myself, that they can be funny,

brash, queer, strong, and a woman, she has become the honorable outlier, making the cultural

unacceptions accepted. Margaret Cho is living proof of a certain phenomenon: that creating

alternative paths and lives that do not fit the status quo only opens the opportunity for the

normalcy of these avenues for women.

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Works Cited

Cornish, Audie. “Comedian Margaret Cho: 'I Invented The Cancellation'.” NPR, NPR, 20 Dec.

2019,

www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790201044/comedian-margaret-cho-i-invented-the-cancellation.

Feeney, Nolan. “Margaret Cho on Caitlyn Jenner, Outrage Culture, Amy Schumer.” Time, Time,

25 Sept. 2015, time.com/4048150/margaret-cho-psycho-special/.

Lasher, Megan. “Margaret Cho's New Music Video Celebrates Asian Womanhood.” Time, Time,

1 June 2016, time.com/4353406/margaret-cho-awkwafina-green-tea/.

Lee, Hyun Joo. “Imagining beyond the Here and Now in Margaret Cho's I'm the One That I

Want.” Criticism, vol. 55, no. 3, 2013, pp. 423–446. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110/criticism.55.3.0423. Accessed 31 Jan. 2020.

Meyer, Michaela D. E. “‘MAYBE I COULD PLAY A HOOKER IN SOMETHING!’: Asian

American Identity, Gender, and Comedy in the Rhetoric of Margaret Cho.”

Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric, edited by LUMING MAO and

MORRIS YOUNG, University Press of Colorado, 2008, pp. 279–292. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgqmc.18. Accessed 31 Jan. 2020.

"U.S. Honors Asian and Pacific Americans (Special Report)." Issues & Controversies, Infobase,

May 2006, https:// icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=13229. Accessed 31 Jan.

2020.