Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Just Furious

I am writing to protest the inaccurate and demeaning representation of me ["The Fast & the Furious," Helen i-lin Hwang, Nov. 13, 2003].

It has always been my understanding that, in the exercise of ethical journalism, deliberate distortion is never permissible. By portraying me as " a woman slowly descending into borderline pornography," Ms. Hwang has deliberately distorted statements of mine to minimize my commitment to school and my future law career.

At no time did I ever imply any conflict between my identity as a prelaw student and "the potentially lucrative career as an import model." Modeling is an occasional hobby for me, enabling me to indulge my enthusiasm for import cars while socializing with other import fans. My income from pictures sold at the shows is minimal and I have never considered leaving school to model full time.

In casting me as a quasi-prostitute, pressured into exposing my body for popularity, publicity and free services, I feel Ms. Hwang has imposed upon me her own conservative Asian cultural values, in which a woman cannot be considered both intelligent and achievement-oriented and comfortable in her own femininity. I find her imposition of these values somewhat suspect and hypocritical in light of the fact that my "centerfold-worthy pin-up photos" are conspicuously used to draw readers' attention to the article. Ms. Hwang also evidences a fascination with Asian female breasts and their relative size, particularly mine. This induced her to browbeat one of her sources for the article, showing him pictures of me and repeatedly asking him to tell her if he "thought they were real." Surely this is in extremely poor taste, pandering to lurid curiosity.

The article also included several factual inaccuracies, most notably where she states that I am "the only bread-winner in her household." I never told her this; in fact all members of my household contribute to the family upkeep. She states that I am "not dating anyone now" when in fact I am in a stable relationship. According to Ms. Hwang, at the car show, "everywhere Nguyen goes she is accompanied by one or two non-Asian guys." I was in fact only accompanied by two of my friends, whom she labeled as "pimps." At no time did either of them tap rudely on the table or "pushily" interrupt our conversation. During most of my brief conversations with Ms. Hwang, they were busy touring the car show venues and were not "possessively" hovering over me. I never told her that "the fans are more interested in her poses than signature." She never questioned me about this nor to my knowledge did she question my fans. Fans always request signatures prior to purchasing a photo. She states that "Nguyen makes appearances as the featured import model at a few parties," as if this is an ongoing activity of mine when in fact I made only one appearance at a nightclub party. A responsible journalist should test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid error, inadvertent or otherwise.

Anh Nguyen
Philadelphia