“. . . finally, here was another Asian woman interested in diversity. She touches on important issues, like hidden stereotypes, that usually get brushed under the rug. She isn’t afraid to voice her opinions.”
Bamboo Girl (aka Sabrina Margarita Alcantara Tan)
by Karen Kim, Village Voice of New York City, June 2, 1998
“Infuriate racist fiends and enlighten yourself in one easy step!” dares the pierced, tattooed, weapon-wielding woman warrior on the cover of Bamboo Girl #5. “I always feature a warrior in action,” says Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan, the creator of the outspoken zine that has been taking on issues of racism and homophobia for nearly three years. “People say the cover woman always looks like me, and I say so what? It’s empowering to see myself in these positions---and, hey, it’s my zine.
It may be hers, but a growing number of young Asian Americans are calling it theirs as well. Her latest issue has a print run of 1500 copies, and according to Peter Ong, director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop on St. Marks Place, “Bamboo Girl gets an incredible response from its readers, who hear about it from word of mouth. In fact, each issue sells out within two weeks of publication. It hits a nerve because it doesn’t pull any punches. It I says what we all want to say.”
Indeed, with articles such as “Racism and Anti-Asian Violence at Denny’s (Or: What Else Is New?),” “If It Weren’t for Asians, Would People Know Whom To Scapegoat?,” “Hints for the Heterosexual Woman When Meeting a Lesbian,” and “Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People,” Alcantara-Tan gives voice to a generation of hip, young, aggressive Asians
“Bamboo Girl is essential for the smart loud girl of color,” says Alcantara-Tan. “It began as a totally selfish way for me to vent- - -it was my way of lashing out at the world. But it has matured over the years, as I have.”
Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan is a complex 27-year-old. Beginning with her name: Sabrina is her nom de plume (“I picked the pseudonym because I can”); Margarita was chosen by her parents, (“I was named after the Catholic---bullshit!---St. Margaret, whose birthday I was born on”); Alcantara is her parent’s name (“whom I prefer to identify independently from”); and Tan is her newly added married name (“my husband would be really hurt if I didn’t include it”).
Born and bred in what she considers “redneck haven”---Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania---Alcantara-Tan, who is of Filipino/Chinese/Spanish/Mexican/Irish descent, had her share of difficulties. “I had all these issues,” she says. “I always felt like I wasn’t taken seriously because I was female and Asian. I had to look a certain way. I wasn’t white enough. I wasn’t Asian enough. I was confused with my identity. So I got the fuck out.
“I wanted to stop feeling like a freak, so I moved to New York and enrolled at NYU,” Alcantara-Tan says. She spent much of her time traveling, clubbing, experimenting with her sexuality, going in and out of punk phases, and concluding: “This is my identity---take it or leave it.”
Proud of her own heritage, she sprinkles the zine with Tagalog slang and flip Filipino-isms, though “the entire Asian community is important to me,” says Alcantara-Tan. “To be an Asian woman, and vocal, is crucial. I’m pissed by the fact that women of Asian descent don’t bond more in the pan-Asian connection. We still have a ways to go yet in getting our act together. Which is why I’m all for getting the Asian community riled up. We have to get to that pinnacle where Asian women, and Asian people in general, won’t be looked at as easy, submissive. take-their-shit targets.”
Her zine began as a “self-serving rant,” but she now chooses her topics more carefully “I know my readers are primarily college and high school girls who want to know more and take action. I remember being their age---everything was so black and white. Now, I realize there are gradations. But I still speak to the young girls who connect with the fuck-you attitude.”
Carolyn Chin, an 18-year-old high school senior in New Jersey, is an avid reader who experienced an immediate kinship with Alcantara-Tan. “Words can’t describe how I feel about Sabrina and her work,” says Chin. “Soon after I picked up my first issue of Bamboo Girl, I wrote to her because finally, here was another Asian woman interested in diversity. She touches on important issues, like hidden stereotypes, that usually get brushed under the rug. She isn’t afraid to voice her opinions.”
And though she hates the label “activist,” Alcantara-Tan’s Bamboo Girl combats the brutality of categorization and stereotype one issue at a time. Her regular features---”Table of Contempts,” “Angst Column,” “Stupid Stereotypes”---as well as her articles, interviews, sketches, real-life stories of injustice, and calls to action, inspire readers to question what is true and right for them. “I’m very focused on female empowerment and Asian identity, but I want to ask everyone, are you aware of what’s going on?”
More on Bamboo Girl:
. The Beauty Pageant Mentality/Obsession in Pinoy Culture, Asar Time feature of July 1998.
. Get issues of the Bamboo Girl rad ethno-activist quarterly.