Angry Little Girls! By Lela Lee

Lela Lee created the Angry Little Girls! as a little video in 1994 at UC Berkeley. She was a little afraid to show it to anyone, so after a couple years she got back into the idea and made a few more videos; making the “5 Angry Episodes”. Then, after the success of some t shirts, Lela made debuted her own website in 1998. She was able to go on many meetings to try to turn her video into a cartoon, but she no one accepted because “there’s just no market for Asians.”

This is what really sparked the idea of her site and comics, which is a place for people who don’t belong can fit in and be welcomed. Lela ended up creating a bunch more characters, Deborah, Wanda, Maria, Xyla, Pat, Patsy Pup, Percy Cat, and Chuy the Travelin' Chicken, who all add a different points of view and reactions to anger, as everyone else does.

Now Lela is happily creating more comics for her fans. Now, Lela “enjoys acting and lives happily in Los Angeles with her husband, baby boy and cat.” She is also happily creating more comics for her fans, and you can find her books in stores. (Keep an eye out for her fifth edition, out February 2009.)

I really think that all of her stuff is hilarious and relatable because I am Chinese and have experienced some of the things in her work. Some of her comics, bags, and t shirts all touch on stereotypes of Asian Americans. Like:

- English skills:
Bag Caption: Deborah: Wow, you speak English so well. Kim: I was born here you dumbass.
I think it’s so dumb when people assume things based on looks. I mean, has no one learned not to “judge a book by its cover”? Just because someone looks a certain way, like foreign, doesn’t mean they can’t speak English.

- Waste of Money:
bag caption: Kim: I got you a gift.
Mom: why you waste money!?!
Gotta love your mom's wisdom...

My mom acts the same way. Whenever I say I bought her something, she’ll say, “why? I don’t need anything; you should’ve just given me the money.” I guess lots of Asian parents are like that and feel that it’s a waste of money to buy unnecessary things.


- interracial dating/marriage … comic
Many Asian parents want their kids to marry another Asian person, and really look down upon interracial marriage. I was at an ASU meeting on campus a little while ago, and we got very in-depth about this topic. I was surprised how so many people’s parents are so restrictive on who their kids can and cannot date/marry. For example, one girl’s parents even took it a step further and said that she can only marry a Chinese or Korean boy, no one else. Even my one of my friends was talking to her mom about mixed children, one day and it ended the same way. Her mom said, “Yea, mixed babies are cute, but just marry a nice Chinese boy okay.”

- Laundry Stereotype:

Well, I really can’t prove otherwise since my family does own a drycleaner downtown, but it’s not right to assume that all Asians do laundry for a living. Just because that is what many of the Asian immigrants did, doesn't mean that is all we do. People need to look past this and see that anyone can do anything that they set their mind to do.
(and by the way this picture also comes on a T-shirt)

So, check out this site and see all of Lela’s cool items and comics.
http://www.angrylittlegirls.com/
You may be surprised that they don’t just make you laugh, they have deeper meanings. Don’t stereotype people, like Asians and Asian Americans, based on looks (or anything for that matter), and don’t believe all that you see or hear. If everyone stopped having prejudgments of others then we could all get a long a little better and be happier.