Talk About Linsane

I heard some college girls sitting in the bar the other night talking about their bad cases of Linsanity. They just thought jumping Jeremy was about the sexiest thing they’d ever seen. What a story! The NBA’s first Asian! Harvard Grad! And look at him, playing with all those Big Boys!

Now, I’ll get back to these ladies, and what I find so Linsipid about their Linfatuation, in a moment. But first, let me confess – I too have a bad case of Linsanity. No, not for Jeremy Lin, though he’s all fine and well, but for several other Lins who, in my opinion, proved that Asian men can be awesome, powerful and sexy long before generous Jeremy took to the court.

There’s Cho-Chiang Lin, one of the planet’s most acclaimed violinists, who’s appeared with almost every major orchestra in the world and whom Musical America named “Instrumentalist of the Year” in 2000. The sound of his finely trained hands flowing over those sensitive strings really makes me drop all my Linhibitions.

There’s Henry Lin, Associate Professor of Hydropedology/Soil Hydrology (is there anything sexier than a man who’s dedicated his life to keeping soil wet?) and author of a recent article in Science entitled “Sowing the Seeds of Soil Conservation.” Henry, call me up some time and you can Linstruct me on such fascinating, important activities!

And there’s Tao Lin, novelist, poet, and founder/publisher of MuuMuu House. He writes a weekly column in Vice Magazine called “Drug-Related Photoshop Art” and is co-founder of MDMA films, which puts out feature link releases all shot on MacBooks. He’s a complicated, passionate artist and entrepreneur, and I find him absolutely Lintriguing.

See, despite Deanna Fei’s glee that Jeremy Lin has somehow proven that Asians are real men too and can hold their head high in the face of jeering jocks, I have never been lacking for proof. In fact, I find it completely Linsulting to men of any color that we are linking manhood with sports and its elbow-rubbing with the cult of the violent male at all! Why should dribbling and hurling balls make you any more manly than playing the violin, studying soil conservation, or writing poetry? Let’s give men a break and stop telling them that the necessary condition of machismo is simply playing physical games!

So, a word to my Asian brothers out there, especially the ones cramming away in college. Don’t buy into the Linanity of Linsanity and trade your books for balls. Despite what you’re told by the majority of your culture, being good at sports has nothing to do with being a stud. You have been succeeding in a wide variety of professions for decades, and it’s your many successes on music stages, scientific panels and more, not the singular success of Jeremy Lin on the basketball court, that makes you utterly irresistible as specimens of powerful manliness. So forget about feeling Linferior because you’ve chosen to be an academic instead of a point guard. After all, it’s your Lintellect that we Lindependent-minded ladies find so Lintoxicating!