Alien Citrus Squeezer: Love It Or Hate It?

July 7, 2007

Last week, when I was looking for citrus juicers to feature in the ultimate home bar, I stumbled across this little reamer that resembles an alien. I can't decide what I think of it. It seems functional: the bottom is a suction and the top is the juicer, but when I look at the alien face I wonder, cute or weird?? And is it just me or does it resemble a stereotypical portrayal of an early 20th century rice field working "Chinaman"? Created by the Italian design firm Alessi, this citrus juicer is a little too expensive at $39.00. For that much you could almost buy an electric juicer! What do you think: Is it adorable or freaky? Alien citrus squeezer: love it or hate it?

36 Comments

Vuduchick 5 years 23 weeks

My kids will go crazy over this....definitely getting it! :D

gladiatorkitten 5 years 32 weeks

I own one of those in blue :), they are sooo cute!

pintsized 5 years 43 weeks

You're right, I'm not really that mature, I'm only 17. But I damn well know when to open my mouth and whatever comes out of it isnt ignorant. Just because your Asian friends might like it doesnt make it acceptable. They are no less ignorant than you are. If THEY wear something with "got rice" on it with an Asian man on it. What make you think YOU can wear it? Would it be alright if you saw a black person say the N word and suddenly its acceptable for YOU to say it? Lets see you give a racist statue to a black friend and see what they think.

CaterpillarGirl 5 years 43 weeks

calling someone out for spelling errors...just immature. I have many asian friends, even one that wear shirts with little asian slant eyed guys saying "got rice" i would give them this product for a gift.....

facin8me 5 years 44 weeks

CaterpillarGirl, I do know words when I use them, and both words mentioned above are considered offensive. Heck, it says right in the dictionary that these words have offensive connotations. Perhaps you should take your own advice- racism doesn't have to be blatant- it can be subtle as well, as much discrimination is. Furthermore, I wonder if you went around dropping the N-word if anybody would buy your line that you weren't "blatantly showing aggression" and excuse your behavior. Something tells me that wouldn't be tolerated.

pintsized 5 years 44 weeks

^ Um thats totally different. Aunt Jemima has been around...for quite a while. This guy whipped up this ^THAT^ just recently. And if you would buy it and put it next to Aunt Jemima I'm going to assume you either have no friends who are aware of "coolies". And secondly, it IS racist. You can still, and I quote YOU, "blatantly showing aggression or discriminatory behavior towards a member of a certain race" when you MAKE SOMETHING AS RACIST AS THIS. Perhaps you should know a word before you correct someone else? And spelling too? Its not "agression" its, "aggression."

CaterpillarGirl 5 years 45 weeks

First, know a word before you use it, Racist doesnt describe this. To be Racist, is to blatantly show agression or discriminatory behavior towards a member of a certain race. That isnt the case here. It is an example of a stereotype for sure, Slanty eyes, yellow skin, the hat...But its not a negative one in my opinion. I would totally buy this, and put it right next to my aunt jemima syrup.

facin8me 5 years 45 weeks

How did "chinaman" and "coolie" not get flagged by teamsugar? Other slurs are automatically flagged, so why not these??

shini 5 years 45 weeks

looks like the neck might snap any minute... scary!

pk9000 5 years 45 weeks

Not only is it offensive, but it gives other users the impression that it's okay to use in their comments. It isn't.

pk9000 5 years 45 weeks

Partysugar, I really don't appreciate your use of the word Chinaman. Putting it in quotes does not make it okay. I realize you are referring to the slang of the early 20th century, but you don't need to use the actual word. In the early 20th century people used the N word as slang, but it's still unacceptable today.

bandages 5 years 45 weeks

I think it's really cute as a chinese dude or an alien. I wouldn't spend $39 for it though.

LaLaLaurie06 5 years 45 weeks

it does sort of look like an evil chinese dude. i'm undecided. i would never purchase one, but i know people who would totally use this.

crispet1 5 years 45 weeks

Haha, its pretty funny. Id prefer to use a normal squeezer though, this one looks a bit messy.

yabbiyum 5 years 45 weeks

it really does resemble a 'Chinaman' or more specifically, a 'coolie', which started as a descriptive term for low-level Asian laborers, but over time became a negative term, bordering on racist. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolies) I think the Coolie hat looks too shallow to do a proper job of reaming citrus. I much prefer my narrower, deeper hand reamer, even to a stationary or mechanical reamer. With a handheld reamer, you can better control the pressure, and get more from the fruit, especially if you microwave the whole fruit for 15-20 seconds at the highest level before slicing and juicing.

Schaianne 5 years 45 weeks

Cute ... too expensive ... and not very useful fore more than 1 thing.

MEXICANBUTTAFLY 5 years 45 weeks

i rather get a juicer!

msshellokitty 5 years 45 weeks

I would not buy that.When I saw the picture I thought it looked nothing like an alien.I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

j adore2 5 years 45 weeks

omg that is so racist. i wonder how the company thought it was ok?

jennifer76 5 years 45 weeks

It's called the Alessi Mandarin Citrus-Squeezer, so I'm pretty sure it's *supposed* to look like the "Chinaman" stereotype and doesn't actually have anything to do with aliens. I think it's pretty tacky. An alien might actually be cute. This...not so much.

zc 5 years 45 weeks

very cute, if you have kids.

gigiopolis 5 years 45 weeks

I actually find that REALLY offensive, and so blatantly racist! Alien, my ass. I would never buy that in a million years. I can't believe Alessi thought this was a good idea.

JessBear 5 years 45 weeks

Yeah, ummm...that's not an alien. That's not an alien at all. Alien faces (well, the typical cute portrayal of aliens, at least) have long faces and big round eyes. If it actually looked like an alien and not a racist depiction of a chinese person, I might purchase it at the dollar store...I mean, it's not HIDEOUS, but it's def not worth even half that price tag. Is it just me, or does it look like it has it's hands clasped in front of it, furthering the "chinaman" look?

blushingmilk 5 years 45 weeks

uuuugly.

catty114 5 years 45 weeks

The moment I saw the "squeezer" I thought two things, tacky and racist, and most definitely not an alien. if others immediately saw an alien, that's fine, but honestly I don't know how people can see anything other than a racist portrayal of Asians. the blatant elements are there and extremely hard to overlook. what would happen if a racist depiction of African-Americans or a sexist imagery of women were to be popularized into a "cute" kitchen utensil? people would not stand for it. the same applies here. the overlook the obvious and don't support a racist designer.

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