James Hovan
James Hovan is a cultural and media critic living in Manhattan.
The disturbing recent trend of casual anti-Asian racism continued yesterday when FishbowlDC’s Betsy Rothstein cracked wise about Dr. Jennifer Lee, number 25 on The Hill’s 50 Guaranteed Clicks Per Friend Or Family Member slideshow, who is also Special Assistant at the Veterans Health Administration, a part-time ER doc, and a White House fellow. In their sendup of The Hill’s “Most Beautiful” list, FishbowlDC’s panel assessed the good doctor this way:
Peter: I’ve been instructed not to touch this one.
Anonymous: Okay, but only if she’s wearing a glove.
Eddie Scarry: Dermatologist, right? That is some porcelain skin.
In case you’re wondering, it’s unlikely that Betsy Rothstein will apologize, mainly because she said so in the intro to their piece:
Here we offer our raw reviews of the beauties – FishbowlDC style. Warning: To the easily offended (you know who you are) you might want to skip this because we won’t apologize.
They will, apparently, stealth-correct, as the entry in question now reads:
Justin: Dermatologist, right? That is some porcelain skin.
Eddie Scarry: I wonder what kind of moisturizer she uses.
The change is not noted on the page at this time. Betsy Rothstein hasn’t returned a request for comment as of this writing.