...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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...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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...“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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...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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...explains how Asian American women in Hollywood have been portrayed as scandalous women. From being thought of as prostitutes to being dark and evil people with an ulterior motive, these stereotypes don't really hold true outside of the silver screen. In our society today, Asian American women are very respectful, kind people that are intertwined into our everyday culture here in Orange County. The article states, "You know, because Suzie Wong was a prostitute a lot of Americans got the wrong idea and they thought that all Asian women were prostitutes" (58). This clearly is implying that Americans think that Asian American women are a sex object. However, I see it as the complete opposite around the Fullerton Campus. Sure, some are more outgoing and social than others, but the vast majority of Asian American woman that I have observed are generally more quiet and reserved. On top of that, they do not really seem to wear any revealing clothing or do anything that seems provocative. That being the case, this specific stereotype does not seem to hold any water. The article also mentions the 'dragon lady' and how she asserts herself to get back at white men. "The dragon lady uses her "Oriental" femininity, associated with seduction and danger, to trap white men" (59). While this is used far too often in Hollywood films, this stereotype also does not exist in our society. No women are looking to 'trap' another man with the thrills of sex and danger, let alone Asian American women specifically...
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...on cheap labor, so many people from Asia began to immigrate to the country in hopes of finding jobs. But as the number of Asian American immigrants started to increase, so did the discrimination and racism towards them. Actually, they were divided into three identities, first generation Asians who traveled to United States, the second are those who were born in America, and the third late generation whose identity is neither fully Asian nor fully American. The discrimination that many Asian Americans had faced often...
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...around her boyfriend, saying things like,’ he hates it when I talk back or argue with him’ or ‘he always says that I should be more feminine and cute’. In the end, I advised for her to break-up with him because this man did not see her as an individual but instead saw her through the lens of ‘Yellow Fever’. ‘Yellow Fever’ or having a fetish for Asian women is a long standing problem for women in the Asian community. In Youtuber Anna Akana’s video, she states that a man with ‘yellow fever’ will “look at you and … only see school girls or sexual geishas”. But is ‘Yellow Fever’ just the fault of white men? Or do Asian women also help perpetuate this idea to society? By looking into the history of the sexualization of Asian women, we can pinpoint where the fault lies, if there is any, and how it affects the women of the Asian community. So who is to blame for the problem of ‘Yellow Fever’? I believe that the problem lies within the media. Though the media is a huge part of the problem, there is also the issues that lie between the white man and the Asian woman. Firstly, there truly is plenty of exotification of Asian American women by white American men. I believe that most...
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...Asian American’s have been dealing with discrimination since the Gold Rush. Hollywood, as well as businesses, have been degrading the Asian community by giving undesirable roles and unequal opportunities for partners to be promoted. Men and Women have the stereotyped as quiet, shy, submissive, and treated as an outcast. After years of humiliation, the community takes a stand. Adopting WEB DuBois’s 4 point theory as well as turning to outlets like Spoken word and beauty pageants, the Asian community is able to find a voice for themselves or paint a picture for themselves. Instead of assimilating into American culture, they decided to build up their culture for themselves. Through Spoken word, Asian american’s are able to fight off hegemonic standards that characterizes them as well as creating their own voice. People that are so fed up with...
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...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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...segregation based off differences in both culture and appearance, flourishes amongst the ignorant and is prevalent throughout both America’s distant and recent history, as well as in the archives of world history. A parent to ignorance and the culprit to the divisive vices of racial prejudice of all creeds, a lack of sufficient education, along with blatant disregard for one’s global community, is the underlying reason why Orientalism is a recurring theme in history that has yet to be abolished entirely. However, there exist scholars and filmmakers, such as Le Espiritu, Sucheng Chan, Wakako Yamauchi, etcetera, who give hope to the fight against such ignorance by using their work to inform and educate the public in order to challenge such stereotypes and atrocious ways of thinking. In order to effectively and efficiently push against orientalism in today’s age of information, and secure a future for future generations in which no one racially profiles one another, discriminates against anyone else based on racial profiling, or constructs social barriers that belittle and...
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...study, reviewers had found more stereotypes of Asian Americans than valid and neutral descriptions or explanations of different Asian American cultures. Because white American had dominated every aspect in this country, it was very easy for the majority people to condescend other minorities; however, it was very hard for the minorities to fight back stereotypes because of white domination and prejudices of Asian American ethnicities, especially in area such as Asian American children’s and adolescent literature in the past where there were more white writers comparing to Asian American writers. Reviewers had found that most of the books contained stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminations of Asian Americans because those authors of Asian American books had manipulated tones such as imprudent, conclusive, derisive, condescending, and derogated to identify Asian American cultures. Reviewers found that some authors were using imprudent and conclusive tones to conclude what a group of Asian Americans and even one ethnicity of Asian Americans should be based on their own perceptions. For instance, Fire Dragon, a book by Barbara Benezra, was stated by the reviewers that it used misconceptions and outdated information to depict the social status of Chinese American women that readers might be confused with the conditions in the past with the present. (Interracial 9) Other stereotypes that occurred frequently in the stories were that Asian American ethnicities were pertained to...
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...regard to representation of Asian and Asian Americans are handled with little attempt at creating authentic, three-dimensional characters and the humor surrounding Asians are written in poor taste. In this essay I argue that through the depiction of North Korean civilians, Sook, and Kim Jung Un, the film promotes fear of North Korean culture, “othering” of Asians, and strengthens prominent stereotypes of hyper sexualized Asian women and emasculated Asian men. In the opening scene, a Korean girl dressed in traditional Korean clothing is seen singing a song about wanting the United States to “explode in a ball of fiery hell”. Though North Korea is known for songs promoting their support of Kim Jung Un and hatred of Western capitalism, this opening scene seems to project xenophobic fears of American audiences rather than add to the plot. Attempting to find humor in songs about rape and killing almost comes across as a political message about North Korea rather than a comedic portrayal of the nation’s propaganda. The lyrics dismiss any common humanity of the North Korean civilians and the masses gathering around in support make it seem as though the topics being discussed are condoned or at least widely accepted. Throughout the film the common theme of “othering” Asians from Americans and portraying North Koreans as unobtainable, foreign and distant to American viewers is carried without the afterthought of what it might mean for representations of Asians in general. Though one...
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...Define the following terms: Term Definition Stereotypes Unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account Prejudice A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority Labeling theory The act of the majority negatively labeling the minority and influencing them to adhere to the label Part II Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: • Race • Ethnicity • Religion • Gender • Sexual orientation • Age • Disability Category Stereotype 1 Stereotype 2 Stereotype 3 Gender Women belong in the kitchen Women can’t drive All men love sports Race Blacks are criminals Blacks like living on welfare All Asians are smart Ethnicity Mexicans only come to the U.S. to work on farms Germans hate Jews French people are all snooty Part III Answer each question in 100 to 150 words related to those stereotypes: • What are the positive aspects of the stereotypes, if any? I can’t really think of too many positive aspects, but one positive aspect of stereotypes is that some people listen more and trust what Asians say rather than someone of a different race because they believe that all Asians are smart. Using this knowledge, the media could use Asian people (and men specifically because of the stereotype that they are smarter than women) to get news out about a new virus, an emergency...
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...an Asian character, who is inhumanly awkward, has terrible broken English, is extremely nerdy, or is weird-looking or ugly? Many Americans would say yes. This is not necessarily their fault; it is the result of the way American pop culture views and portrays Asians that influences the wider public. These stereotypical Asian characters are often over exaggerated, and created to satisfy solely one purpose: to make people laugh. While many Americans might find it amusing and as a “light” joke, a lot of Asians are affected negatively. American pop culture dehumanizes Asians through stereotypes, leading to problems of monoculture and the lost of identities for Asians in America; in order to confront these problems, Asian...
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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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