In March of this year, Margaret
Cho dedicated a post on her blog
to her experience at a Korean spa in Los Angeles called Aroma. At the spa, Cho,
who has several tattoos, noticed some strange reactions from some of the other
patrons and the staffers. Eventually one of the women who worked there pulled
Cho aside to let her know that her tattoos were upsetting people:
She realized who I was, and she was
horrified! She said she did know me, and had seen me and was familiar with my
work, and she apologized even more profusely and tried to explain that in
Korean culture, tattoos are very taboo and my body was upsetting everyone
there. I told her I was aware of that, but that I really wanted to enjoy the
spa and my treatments and I was going to pay for them, just like everyone else
there. She asked if I could please wear something, anything -– a towel or
something –- and cover myself so that I wouldn't frighten anyone with my body.
Cho’s commentary on being a Korean woman with tattoos is especially
interesting having just read the Omi and Winant chapter and what they call “racial
projects” and “racial essentialism.” My guess is that the people at the spa weren't exclusively Korean women appalled because of their cultural taboo of body art (especially
since these places in Los Angeles are hugely popular among wealthy, white women—which is sort of its own can of worms). It’s quite
possible the negative reactions came from a certain disconnect between her
Asian body and her sprawling tattoos. The way Cho talks about the discomfort
over her tattoos suggests a different kind of taboo than the stigma about body
art in general—the kind that can keep you from getting a job and whatnot. Maybe
Cho is pointing to a very specific type of racial project—that Koreans, or
possibly even just Korean women, don’t have or shouldn't have tattoos.
This isn't the first time, by the way, that Cho has noted being on the receiving end of
racial essentialism as a Korean woman in entertainment: in her stand-up comedy she has referenced her time on the All-American Girl sitcom (only the second sitcom ever to feature an
Asian family), when the show’s producers hired an Asian consultant for her.
Read more about that here (5th question).
And watch her talk about it here (1:06-3:20)
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