"Titled “Not Your Puppet” is a digital illustration that depicts my response to discrimination and fetishization. Racism and the sexualization of women towards Asians have always been prevalent in history. However with the pandemic in 2020, the rise in Asian hate crimes has increased drastically. In order to combat my emotions during this time, the depiction of myself as a young child maneuvering a puppet is to emphasize a desire. In which I take control and authority away from those who used misogyny and racism as an excuse to defend one’s own harmful action towards minorities. From a young age, I and many of similar descent are taught to face racism and discrimination by keeping our heads low, to not react, and to stay silent, but when our elders who are the same people who ingrained this thought into our heads are the ones being tortured - staying silent and obedient can no longer be an option. As a result, in our progress to move forward we fight back and contribute by taking on roles of activists, marchers, healers, or in this case creators and storytellers to represent those who have been silenced."
