July 26, 2006
Filipino American Porn Star Running for Governor
I’ve written before about how Asian Americans are increasingly entering politics and government as a profession and about how many non-Asian politicians are spending more time and money courting different Asian American ethnic groups. Here’s the latest example of Asian Americans in the political arena: former porn star Melody Damayo (aka “Mimi Miyagi“) is running for the Governor of Nevada as a Republican:
Last May, she surprised many of her followers when she announced her decision to run for governor of Nevada. She is running as a Republican, and under the campaign slogan “For the bare and honest truth.” As an “alternative candidate,” she has been getting a lot of mainstream press.
Damayo was featured in Tucker Carlson’s MSNBC show, and she has been endorsed enthusiastically by an influential political blog site www.wonkette.com. . . . Damayo is hopeful that with more people finding out about her, her chances of making a good showing at the polls would increase. She is also hoping for endorsements from Filipino groups.
There’s so many ways to look at this story — where do I begin? How about I describe the things I like about her candidacy:
- It is another example of Asian Americans not being afraid of the public spotlight and entering the field of politics.
- She serves as an example of how Asian Americans from “non-traditional” occupations can attain a high profile in American society.
- As a woman, she also helps to break down the stereotypes of Asian women as docile, quiet, and submissive.
Now onto the things about her candidacy that I find a little disturbing:
- A former porn star isn’t exactly the type of public image I would like associated with Asian Americans.
- She’s running as a Republican instead of as a Democrat.
- She doesn’t seem to have any special talents that would qualify her to be a worthy political candidate (unless you count having the potential to get into sex scandals as a special talent).
I guess the bottom line (no pun intended) for me regarding Melody Damayo/Mimi Miyagi is that she’s nothing more than a sideshow freak who doesn’t really seem to have much connection to the Asian American community. As such, although I wish her well, I won’t be shedding any tears when she fails to make the cut in her party’s primary.
On second thought, maybe I should hope that she becomes the Republican candidate so that the Democratic candidate can more easily trounce her in the general election. Hmmm, that’s a tough call.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Politics Make for Strange Bedfellows
- Jeff Yang’s Profile of an Asian Male Porn Star
- Gary Locke’s Legacy
- New Book: Filipino Americans in Daly City, CA
- Bobby Jindal: New Governor of Louisiana
- John Liu: Asian American Politician on the Rise
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Suggested reference: Le, C.N. . "Filipino American Porn Star Running for Governor" Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America. <http://www.asian-nation.org/headlines/2006/07/filipino-american-porn-star-running-for-governor/> ().
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