Performers
Growing Up Without My Mother, I Found Strength in Olympic Skating Heroes
I lost my mother when I was young. So women like Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, and Sasha Cohen taught me about femininity and fierceness.
Looking for a Reflection as the Only Asian Actor in a Production of ‘Mulan’
I felt humiliated singing a song about honor when I could only feel shame. As I stood in yellowface, I had finally fulfilled my quest to become white.
Take a Number and Get in Line If You Have Dreams of Fame and Fortune
The truth is, not everyone can be famous and unless you were born with a famous last name, getting into show business isn’t always walk in the park. In the eyes of the decision makers of the entertainment industry, you’re essentially a needle in a haystack looking to get your big break just like everyone […]
I Thought Figure Skating Wasn’t for a Girl Like Me
Skating was for graceful girls, pretty girls. Girls with money. Not a girl like me.
Body Armour: From Gymnastics to Scoliosis
“He traced my spine. It turned out to be curvy, a little snake made of bones.”
Piano Women: The Artists Who Helped Me Subvert the Music Industry’s Obsession With Categorizing My Body
The day-to-day negotiation I faced as a mixed-race woman made me resist the idea that classifying myself and my body was the only way to get my music heard.
Seeking the Fairway, But Caught in the Rough: When You’re Not the Golf Prodigy Your Father Hoped You’d Be
“The first set of clubs arrived when I was seven, cotton candy-colored in pink and blue.”
Swimming to Joy; or: How the Water Saved Me
On inherited traumas and joys in an immigrant family, and swimming as an antidote to despair.
Running from the Dark
“I run to silence the voices that haunted my brother and sister.”
A Bed of Fists: On Playing Soccer in Moscow
“Flying into Putin’s Russia on a tourist visa with my soccer gear hadn’t seemed utterly daft.”