...The dominant image of Asian Americans as high achievers can be traced back to 1966 when Time Magazine (Peterson, 1960) and U.S. News and World Report (1966) reported on the ability of Japanese- and Chinese-Americans to achieve success in the face of the same adversities declared by proponents of the civil rights movement (Tran and Birman 2010). Direct experiences are pervasive, with research showing that over 99 % of Asian American adolescents have had at least one encounter in which they felt like they were being stereotyped as a model minority (Thompson and Kiang 2010). Yet, despite its prevalence and commonality, the developmental implications of the model minority stereotype are not well-understood. Most of the existing research has been...
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...Asians in the American entertainment industry have been discriminated against since the silent era of film. With rare exceptions, the basic caricatures of Asians are the same today as they were in the early years of film. The lack of evolution in roles available to Asians in American entertainment perpetuates the perception that Asians are alien, foreign, and “other.” Their absence from film and television demonstrates how underrepresented Asians are in American entertainment. The scarce representations that do depict Asians, are predominantly worn-out stereotypes, yellowface, and whitewashing of roles originally intended for Asian characters. Historically, Asians have been represented as a single group of “Orientals” instead of seen as individual...
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...African-American and Asian-American examples. For instance, the problematic of “keeping it real” approach to rap and hip-hop black culture narrative clearly lacks objectivity. One of the first problems outlined by the critic is “the ever-narrowing slice of black ghetto street life.”1 More specifically, the author claims that “The black male street hustler/gang-banger and his friends, across various regions […] isn't the only reality to be told about black ghetto life.”2 These texts not only reflect one small part of the ghetto lifestyle but also makes it attractive by choosing specific events and behaviours to articulate. For example, looking at the previous citation, it is clear that the emphasis is put specifically on the criminal acts or sexual abuse of females. These two behaviours demonstrate physical power and domination. More serious issues,...
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...“African – Americans, Asian – Americans, and Latino’s have been depicted in television, sports, and films in ways that have been changed in our society” (Omi 655). Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as “a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people.” (Webster’s dictionary) Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behavior and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes. For example, African- Americans are associated with basketball, and acting. Asian – American men are made out to be the bad guys in film, women are seen as prostitutes and are sexual abused. Last but not least Latino’s are popping up everywhere, in hit TV shows like Ugly Betty, in major league baseball and in the music business. Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our everyday life through religion, politics and the media. Humans have the tendency to use stereotypes in their humour, their descriptions of others, and even in their beliefs. One may believe it is possible to rid oneself of such habits; however if one looked at the regular promotions of propaganda, it would make this objective impossible. Stereotypes, however, aren't...
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...Affects The Asian Community Just last month ABC premiered their new show Fresh Off The Boat, which happens to be one of the few shows ever to be centered around an Asian-American family on American television. Growing up in America with first generation immigrant parents has not been easy, and growing up in a culture where you can’t even see yourself in everyday media makes it even harder to adjust. I remember watching T.V. as a kid and rarely did I see any Asian Americans on the screen; and if I did, the characters were portrayed in a way I was not familiar with. Finally getting a show like Fresh Off The Boat makes it seem like Asian Americans are breaking through barriers and making their way into mainstream media. As an Asian American myself, I happen to see this as a huge deal; finally, there is something I can relate to on T.V. Even though the Asian-American community has been excited and supportive of the series, it apparently does not appeal to the majority, and there have already been rumors of the show’s cancellation. But why is a show as innovative as Fresh Off the Boat being cancelled? The show has so many fans and is considered ground braking in the Asian-American community, but that is not enough to keep the show on air apparently. -As a minority in America, Asian Americans deserve to have their culture portrayed accurately in mainstream media. However, whenever there are Asian characters on television or films, the roles do not reflect the Asian culture, but...
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...Identity: American Born Chinese Asian American students today are faced with the issue of identity in the American society. They are faced with this issue because of their unfamiliar background to the American society. They want to fit-in and become accepted in school’s diverse environment. The graphic novel, American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, exemplifies the issue of Asian American students search for identity in the American society. He wanted to target teenager that are struggling to find an identity and acceptance in school. To target Asian American students, Yang uses the stories of three different characters: Monkey King, Danny, and Jin Wang. Each character in the story faces the issue of finding an identity and acceptance. Yang mostly focused on the story of Jin Wang because his Chinese background constantly plagues him. Jin tries to do everything to fit-in with the American students. He tries to conceal his Chinese background, and tries to change his appearance. In the end, he learns to accept his Chinese background; therefore, finding his identity and acceptance. Yang wanted to show that accepting yourself is the key to unlocking your identity and finding acceptance in the American society. Yang wanted Asian American students to connect with his book by strategically converging the three stories, negative experience of characters, and negative stereotypes to show that accepting themselves will allow them to find their identity and acceptance in the American society...
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...Asian American adolescent girls have the highest depression levels in the United States compared to all the ethnic or racial groups (Noh, 2007). The pressures of the model minority stereotype and family expectations can work together to impose an ideal of success on young Asian American women. The model minority stereotype generalizes that all Asian Americans are smart, respectful, and hard working individuals who are able to work from the bottom-up in achieving the American Dream. The purpose of this study is to understand how parenting styles and the model minority stereotype shape self-esteem of Asian American women. This project defines self-esteem as an individual’s assessment of self-worth that encompasses positive or negative beliefs and attitudes about the self. “The looking glass self,” pioneered by Charles Horton Cooley, explains how individuals’ self-esteem can be formed through the eyes of family members. Depending on individuals’ assessments of how others perceive them, people feel pride or shame, which contributes to their sense of self-esteem. I will use open-ended questionnaires to interview Asian American women to explore if parents uphold values of the model minority stereotype and how these standards shape the perception of self. I hypothesize that the model minority stereotype and family members who uphold the stereotype contribute to negative images of self in Asian American Women. Furthermore, I expect that even though most students understand that the model...
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...Writing and Literary Critique of Asian/Pacific American Literature Throughout the history of the United States media, there are common stereotypes of females in films that are presented in the short story by Fong, Charlie Chan’ No More. I believe that the roles of Asian Americans are limited in films, such as gender and sexuality, by stereotyping females. Asian Americans are being portrayed as negative images through various media, from books, films, plays, and even television. “The audience would realize that media views Asians and Asian Americans as others that include exoticized women, asexual men, a yellow peril threat to the United States” (Ono & Pham, 2009). Throughout this essay, I am referencing the article by Fong, Charlie Chan’ No More, and Moon, a poem by Marilyn Chin, where they both talk about sexuality and gender. “Asian women, have often been depicted as almost completely sexual” (Fong, 177). In the short story as well as the poem, they can manipulate the messages of gender and sexuality of Asian American females that are being represented in both stories. Throughout Fong’s short story, there is a lot of controversy whether or not Asian American females are being portrayed with negative images, for example as sex objects. I also researched instances on the counter actions taken by Asian American females that protest the negative images, such as the dragon lady. I believe that Asian American females are being portrayed with such negative images, such as...
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...second-generation Asian American students at the University of Illinois feel about being Asian American, particularly those who are not of Chinese, Korean, Filipino or Japanese descent. In other words, we are focusing on students whose background ethnicity represents Southeast Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indonesian) and South Asian (Indian, Bengali, Pakistani) and so forth. We want to explore how various Asian ethnic groups identify socially and culturally with the term Asian American. We asked for written responses from Asian American students, who have these background ethnicities, to describe in their own words what being Asian American means to them. In addition, we walked around campus and interviewed several second-generation Asian Americans. In their explanations, we encouraged the students to explain if it was a struggle growing up in America, whether they have ever been a victim to stereotypes or discrimination and how they have dealt with it. We took these statements and compared them to the stereotypes placed immigrants of the 1900s. In addition to the interviews, we analyzed our finding with an article published by Jerry Park of Baylor University titled, “Second-Generation Asian American Pan-Ethnic Identify: Pluralized Meaning of a Racial Label” who did a similar study in four public universities, along with other readings from class. The term, Asian American, was formed as a significant symbolic move in constructing an ethnic identity for the pan-Asian community in...
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...Why Asian Americans are facing unfair treatment from U.S society? Xuchen Cheng The Ohio State University Why Asian Americans are facing unfair treatment from U.S society? The term, hyphenated American, is initially used to disparage people who came from a foreign region but were born in America. Asian Americans, which occupy about 4.8% of US population (Wikipedia), are often defined as those Americans who emigrated from Far East, such as China, India. In recent years, it has become common to see Asian American typically as technicians in U.S advertisements and this trend leads to a controversy of Asian American’s stereotype and portray among U.S society. It is not fair to Asian American of being portrayed as a limited and singular cliché for such highly diverse group. In this case, Asian Americans face an unfair judgment from their “hyphen” that should certainly be removed. The more appearance of Asian Americans in visual culture can be a double-edged sword, indicating the consumption and repercussions among U.S society. On the one hand, it’s encouraging to see Asian American faces in the mainstream media being associated with positive traits — intellectual, well-educated, knowledgeable, etc. (P.Farhi, 2011, p14). For example, in Verizon’s 2011 commercial, Belt of Technology, a kid walked in a Verizon store and showed off his amazing hardware, such as PSP, E-reader, and his smirk vanished after the salesman pulled out a smartphone with more than 200,000 apps available...
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...Wesley Yang discusses his own experiences as an Asian American, tying them into the larger picture of Asians functioning in American society today. Yang’s argument is that even though Asian Americans are one of the most successful ethnicities in the country, stereotypes that Asian Americans are exposed to affect the way other Americans view them. Because of personal bias and racism, human society fails to see other people for who they are and put too much emphasis on what they are supposed to or not supposed to be in America today. Stereotypes cloud people’s vision and judgment and keep some from achieving their goals because others have a pre-created idea for who or what one person of a certain ethnic background. Through community building and diversity, stereotypes can be put to rest so that a new understanding of who individuals really are can begin and success can be achieved. There is a common stereotype that Asian Americans are naturally smarter than everyone else on this earth. While some Asian Americans may be smarter than the average human, it is more than likely not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Asian Americans do not support or believe in the idea of intrinsic, or natural, intelligence. What they do believe in is that “constant practice of test-taking will improve the scores of whoever commits to it (535).” It’s not about natural ability, rather the amount of effort one is willing to put into a goal. Asian Americans are not born more intrinsically intelligent...
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...Religious and Ethnic Groups Paper Religious and Ethnic Groups Paper Researching Reform Judaism and Asian decent I was able to learn about their hardships, contributions and beliefs. Reform Judaism beliefs * The Carrol (2010-2012) website defined: Reform Judaism began in the 19th century as a movement designed to bring Judaism into line with the ideas of the western European enlightenment. Reform Jews reject outright what they see as the dogmatic, outdated practices of Orthodox Jews and focus on the ethical dimensions of the faith instead of the traditional rituals, commandments and practices. Reform Jews moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sundays, often read scriptures in the vernacular language instead of Hebrew, set aside the kosher dietary codes and the distinctive ways of dress, and often discarded circumcision as well. The guiding sensibility here is that in order for the religion to be relevant and authentic, it must be reformed and reinvigorated from time to time, which sometimes means changing the fundamental ways in which the religion is practiced. Reform Judaism is the largest form of Judaism in the United States. * Reform Judaism contribution to American culture * * In the field of medicine alone, Jewish contributions are staggering and continue to be so. It was a Jew who created the first polio vaccine, who discovered insulin, who discovered that aspirin dealt with pain, who discovered chloral hydrate for convulsions, who discovered...
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...truth of racism, but we only see the black and white of this situation. We sometimes forget that other colors exist in the world. African Americans and Hispanics are not the only ones that suffer racism in the United States. As an Asian American we not only suffer from racism but neglect as a race, high standard stereotypes and discrimination. When it comes to racism, Asian Americans are always forgotten. It’s always issues between the African Americans and the Caucasian Americans. To them, it’s only black and white there is nothing in between. There are always side glances and a certain hatred towards Asian American. Growing I was raised with a mindset that my parents had to give up everything in their life in Vietnam in order to give me the life I live now; that I must work hard to keep that. I feel like there has always been a jealousy by other races towards Asians and Asian Americans. As I went through grade school, I came across many offensive phrases one would call “stereotypes.” Though stereotypes of Asian Americans are what people would call positive, It’s not all that it cracks up to be. It’s tough growing up with people having such high expectations for you. When I was younger, I loved all the attention I would get for being “Asian” but as I grew older, I realized it wasn’t all that it cracked up to be. Many stereotypes for Asians include being good at...
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...Z. Parker and the poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes all deal with stereotypes and how the characters in each work deal with them. While differently illustrated by each author, the theme is the same: overcoming the obstacle of stereotypes. In “Trying to find Chinatown”, the main character, Benjamin, is trying to find his roots and feel a sense of belonging. On his way he stops and talks to Ronnie a street musician of Asian descent to ask for directions. Interestingly, Ronnie greets Benjamin with less than stellar enthusiasm because he calls Ronnie’s instrument a fiddle instead of a violin. Ronnie blasts Benjamin with, “If this was a fiddle, I’d be sitting here with a cob pipe, stomping my cowboy boots and kicking up hay.” (page 1825). The anger evoked in this line is strong and little does Ronnie know that he and Benjamin share similar heritages. Benjamin is not only faced with dealing with an ignorant stereotypical slur but ironically so by the very heritage he has come to embrace and is looking to find solace in. Benjamin calls down Ronnie and tells him that “it’s very stereotypical to think that all Asian skin tones conform to a single hue”. (page 1827) Despite being told he doesn’t fit the mold of an Asian American, Benjamin goes on to find his place in Chinatown and “felt immediately…a world where all things were finally familiar” (page1829). Similarly, “Brownies” deals with overcoming stereotypes but does so by the character dealing with her feelings of how her...
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...Asian Pacific Americans are portrayed in the media in a variety of contradictory stereotypes, ranging from the "model minority" at the head of his or her class in school, to the non-English-speaking welfare recipient who is a "drain on the system." Asians are also characterized in film as unscrupulous businessmen and cruel mobsters, or as compliant, submissive and exotic. One-dimensional portrayals, coupled with the absence of accurate images and positive role models, obstruct public understanding of the Asian American community, which can contribute to an anti-Asian climate. Despite the diversity among Asian Pacific Americans, they are often misperceived as a monolithic group. Thus, even though an act of anti-Asian sentiment might be perpetrated with a particular ethnic group in mind (e.g., Indian, Filipino or Korean), a failure to make distinctions between Asian Pacific American ethnic groups causes members of all groups to become potential victims of hate crimes. Hate incidents are expressions of hostility based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Hate incidents are not illegal. They may take the form of name-calling or using racial slurs, hate speech, the distribution of racist leaflets or other disrespectful behavior. Hate crimes are defined by federal or state statutes. A hate crime occurs when a person commits an act such as assault, battery, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to property or mob action because of the victim's...
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