Hyphen

Place Hyphen magazine next to some of the more established Asian publications in the United States and several things immediately distinguish it: First, it’s in English, which identifies its audience as primarily American-born. Second, it sports an artsy, unconventional design that further defines its audience as young and hip. Finally, the content—which spans pop culture, politics and social commentary—is doing more than simply selling an image and its advertisements like so many identity-driven niche publications today.
The staff of Hyphen Magazine

The target is younger Asians who speak English as a first language and are as familiar with punk rock as they are with bok choy. Yes, we’re Asian. But we’re American too, and these are the issues that we think about. Hyphen was released in early 2003 partly due to the folding of A. magazine—a glossy lifestyle monthly that was aimed primarily at an educated 35-and-under Asian American readership, preferably with disposable income to boot. With its image-driven emphasis on celebrity, fashion and trends, A. magazine lasted for an impressive 13 years before shutting down in 2002.

Hyphen emphasizes news oriented, more critical, more focused on social justice issues. This is a publication out there that reflected progressive Asian Americans. Hyphen’s all-volunteer staff has the persistence to raise money on its own to spread its Asian American ideas. They run as a non-profit venture rather and most of the staff also have experience in “progressive” areas like community organizing, teaching, and underground arts. People in the magazine seem to be doing it because they really want to do the magazine. On a societal level, they seek to combat complacency and redefine what it means to be Asian American. On an industry level, they seek to be a thought-leader in the mainstream media. On another level, they seek to produce revelatory journalism that profiles, explores, and illuminates the lives, culture and politics of Asian America.”

Some might find the tone of the magazine harsh and confrontational compared to other Asian media in the United States. It’s important to examine things that aren’t always going to be pretty. There’s a tendency among older Asian Americans to only expose what’s nice. Ironically, the most popular pieces in are on looking back on political and cultural awakening.

In addition to probing political and social justice questions, Hyphen places heavy emphasis on its pan-Asian scope. It is part of a small, but growing number of media that transcend the divisions of separate Asian ethnicities. Multiculturalism is very important. It is important to present a united Asian front that translates into more power politically.

Rather than focus strictly on issues of politics or ethnic identity, however, they try to appeal to the broader tastes of popular culture. The goal behind all this is that we want to be a catalyst for change in the community. There are a large number of young people out there who are apathetic about things and the world Asian Americans live in. While this could be said about mainstream Americans, it’s particularly annoying to me when that person is Asian, considering all our community has been through historically.