MONKHOOD IN 3 EASY LESSONS
Lisa Kron
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Consider, for example, the inordinate focus on penis size as a measure of virility and manhood. Kwong tells us in several stories that there’s a perception that Asian and Asian American men don’t measure up–he even tosses in a quote from former Penthouse adviser Xaviera Hollander, the “Happy Hooker,” saying they were the only men who didn’t satisfy her. And though Kwong makes it clear that this stereotype is upsetting to him, the stereotype itself is never transcended.
Kwong shouldn’t be expected to drop his pants, of course, to disprove the stereotype, and he doesn’t. (Although, frankly, there are all sorts of incisive, funny ways he could disprove the stereotype and still protect his modesty.) But you’d think he’d do more than state the case. Why is there such a stereotype? What in heaven’s name is it based on? Do Asian and Asian American men have stereotypes that call Westerners’ masculinity into question? What do Asian and Asian American men use as measures of their manhood instead–and are those values any less ridiculous?
Unfortunately, that moment is the only one of its kind in Monkhood in 3 Easy Lessons. Most of the pieces are simply political statements, and most are too long. Even the humor, though welcome, is fairly cliched. And often, when Kwong comes to vital and provocative moments–twice he mentions homophobia (surprising for a heterosexual), once he refers to “the oppression of men,” and at the end he obliquely mentions that he’s put down some new roots in his travels to Asia–he fails to follow up.
A polished performer, Kron has a sure presence and a fine delivery. The problem with 101 Humiliating Stories is less with her performance than with the script. It’s simply unfinished, so much so that even the performance veterans in the audience last Friday didn’t have a clue when it was over. And though the laughs came more easily for Kron than for Kwong, they were perhaps a little cheaper too. Reminding us again and again that she’s a “big lesbian” doesn’t intensify the effect, it wears it out.
