MiHi Ahn seems to be wishing for the days when Asian girls hid their curves and did so in the kitchen. Gwen Stefani's only crime here is that she has done something nobody else has dared to do: let Asian girls onstage.

Black and white girls with "funk in the trunk" have been rap singers' backstage eye candy for decades. I don't hear Ahn drawing any connection between these Asian dancers and other backup dancers. Why is it so bad for Asian girls to show their butts but not for black girls? Ahn fails to bring this obvious comparison up for discussion.

And one of the lamest points of Ahn's was that Stefani's "harajuku girls" are acknowledged by Stefani only as a figment of her imagination. Doesn't Ahn get the "Alice in Wonderland" motif?

-- Michael

Although I've long enjoyed Gwen Stefani's music, I find this description of her entourage to be highly dismaying. But sadly, I've discovered that this kind of stereotyping is not atypical (and it is sadly rife among many normally progressive Caucasian women).

I am engaged to a Japanese woman whom I love dearly. After bringing her to the United States half a year ago, I've learned the hard way that many self-described "strong" women here assume that my fiancée is subservient and weak (she isn't) and that that is the primary reason I love her -- when nothing could be further from the truth. The smug underlying attitude seems to be that I can't handle an obviously advanced white woman; they frequently take the stance that my fiancée needs to graduate "up" to their level.

There was one woman with a Ph.D. who met my fiancée and acted genuinely surprised at how "independent" and "smart" she is. This kind of smiling stereotyping would be considered unacceptable if it were to be directed at any other interracial couple. I find it incredible that many otherwise anti-racist women get away with making assumptions like this and no one objects to it or notices. If white supremacism can get wrapped in a feminist package, then I guess it's perfectly OK.

-- Gabriel Bonnard

I would like to say that Gwen Stefani has inspired me to start collecting my own little ethnic pets.

I have already completed A.R.A.B., and as per their contract stipulation, these women are only allowed to say "Kill Americans" in response to all questions and can only glower from behind their burqas.

I'm still working on my M.A.I.D. group. There are so many ethnic women to choose from, I can't decide. And think of the costume possibilities. Black women with head rags? Asian women with those blue maid uniforms? Latinas in the housekeeper uniforms?

As for Gwen Stefani, I think I'd put her in my D.U.M.B. group. She wouldn't have to do anything different from what she's doing now.

-- Maloy Luakian

Thanks for printing MiHi Ahn's article on Gwen Stefani's embarrassing portrayal of "Harajuku Girls." All this time I thought it was just a terrible song; I had no idea the level to which Gwenchan was bastardizing Tokyo's coolest. That shit is bananas.

-- Charles Kanuh

Someone should explain to the author that Gwen Stefani and her troupe of femme poseurs are not, in any way, intending to reflect real life as we regular folks know it. Nor are they out to make a social or political statement. Nor to cynically mock Asian women. Whether from Harajuku or Terre Haute, most people know not to take pop music and its attendant theatrical shenanigans very seriously. Look, these are just some girls trying to have fun. Call it satire or call it shtick, but don't call it shocking...

-- David Rush

[Read "The Other Peterson Trial," by Heather Havrilesky.]

Heather Havrilesky's review about the Sundance Channel's eight-hour documentary on the Michael Peterson trial, "The Staircase," needs a small adjustment. She writes that it was "most remarkable" that the documentarians had access to the defense team and Peterson himself, and she also praises the director's camera work as being "so beautiful and sad that it's easy to forgive his angle -- we all have our prejudices, after all."

Perhaps Havrilesky doesn't realize that there is a new cottage industry of filmmakers and TV outlets that let biased "documentaries" be made and air, as long as the key individuals are on camera. That's not justice; it's advocacy -- or more precisely, public relations.

In the Peterson matter, of course the defendant is going to want to talk. Besides conveying his view of the case, the man is a raging egomaniac, which is made clear in the film and other interviews he gave during his trial.

The Sundance film casts aspersions toward Court TV, which isn't surprising given the film's pro-defense bias. But the public is better served by the gavel-to-gavel coverage Court TV gave the trial, which was the same information the jury of 12 citizens used to arrive at its verdict.

This film, along with several done at the behest of the defense team behind John and Patsy Ramsey, who remain the still-unindicted top suspects in their young daughter JonBenet's murder, proves that spinning tales and manufacturing evidence appeal to TV networks who are more interested in ratings than accuracy.

When the hard facts of a case are too damning for a defense team, find a filmmaker to concoct an alternate reality and sell the "crockumentary" to TV. A future appellate court or jury pool may remember the efforts and reward the guilty party with undeserved reasonable doubt.

Any well-versed court follower knows high-profile trials extend from the time of the accused's arrest until after the final appeal is determined. "The Staircase" is simply elongating Michael Peterson's 15 minutes.

-- Dawna Kaufmann

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