South asian guys in comparison have negative stereotypes ( though most are completely untrue) because western people have had so LITTLE interaction with them, and the only thing they know about south asian men is the little they see on western TV (where they are portrayed mostly as nerds and losers, although that is changing) and what they see from Bollywood movies ( where most actors are from northern india and most movies there dont take themselves seriously).

in addition to that western people will read stupid stuff on the internet to generalize south asian men, which is natural because they have seen so few in real life, and many times when they actually see a south asian they wouldnt know it, because south asians vary incredibly much in phenotype, some can look like southern europeans. some can look like latinos, some can look like middle eastern people, and some can look like various mixes of other races.

because of this it is impossible to generalize south asians in any meaningful way, and that means it will always be possible for them to improve their image in western media and western society.

Thanks Timofey, we’re working on it

Zachary L., I was counting on somebody to link to Desi Girls. Thanks

Matthias, the new commenting system is designed to encourage users to register so as to encourage accountability for comments.

boston_mahesh, I think your stats just inspired me to write more.

And oh yeah, delurker, if this were Facebook, I would “like” your comment a bajillion times.

I have also noticed this. Moreover, the SM authors have been much more inactive. According to my analysis, there has been much fewer articles written in the last 12 months when compared to April ’08 – March ’09. It was 552 from April ’08 – March ’09, but only 305 in the last 12 months from April ’10 – March ’10.

Hopefully, SM isn’t a financially distressed organization. There have been other South Asian blogs no longer in existence, such as Ultra Brown, and I sincerely hope that SM doesn’t share the same fate.

2008 April 45 2008 May 52 2008 June 40 2008 July 37 2008 August 70 2008 September 43 2008 October 56 2008 November 46 2008 December 31 2009 January 41 2009 February 40 2009 March 51 Total from 2008 April – 2009 March 552

2010 April 17 2010 May 42 2010 June 42 2010 July 37 2010 August 25 2010 September 28 2010 October 19 2010 November 15 2010 December 16 2011 January 15 2011 February 23 2011 March 26 Total from 2010 April – 2011 March 305

Unless you look like Ron Jeremy?!

Yeah, one dude I know who looks like that is purported to get so much unwanted attention that he’s constantly looking behind his back:

http://totallylookslike.icanhascheezburger.com/2008/07/28/ron-jeremy/

Unless you look like Ron Jeremy?!

I try to be understanding because manners are perceived differently across culture. For example, when I went to Pakistan there were situations in which I though I was being well-mannered (by American standards) but I was perceived as rude by locals in Peshawar. I quickly learned: it’s rude and insulting to decline food as a guest in their culture (whereas in America women usually decline food to be polite if they don’t know the person well) and it’s also rude for a young woman to approach men – what is considered a normal interaction here might be perceived as more sexual there because of cultural differences, etc…

So I don’t think those Indian Grad students you mentioned are being rude on purpose. For example a lot of Desi international students in my school are SO damned loud in the libraries, literally yelling into their phones. But it’s because in places like Pakistan the reception is so shitty you have to talk ridiculously loud in my experience so they do that here too. Another example is they’ll stand freakishly close to you but that’s because what’s considered “personal space” varies across culture.

But sometimes their mannerisms are so odd, I just don’t understand it. Like recently an Indian student came up to me in the dining hall, literally started eating food off my plate without asking or even saying anything – WTH? That would be rude in India too. Also I’ve notice it’s usually Desi men who exhibit this sort of behavior, not the women.

This type of thread in the past, would easily get 100+ comments in a few days. Sad to see, I once loved reading SM.

Like with any good product, you guys need to be creative and reinvent yourself with innovative ideas. Good Luck!