It horrifies me that within the tiny percentage that the Asian-Americans represent in the media, all of the roles consist of her being either an exotic, mysterious and sexual character, or a straight-A computer science nerd. It's no wonder why the Asians suffer from the endless nerd jokes. And not to mention the submissive, "geisha"-type bed habits are expected of Asian-American women. All because the same type of image for the AAW (Asian-American women), are played over and over again in the media. (Here is a link to a funny role-reversal between a white man and a Asian woman in a bar.)
African-American men and women are also often misrepresented in the media, as angry or dangerous, leading for the rest of America to believe that this is how they are in real life as well. In areas that are highly populated by white-Americans, media plays a huge role in presenting an image of a certain population or group and that image can be easily skewed by how the media decides to portray it. Living in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, it is hard to admit that media plays a huge role in the way we perceive things, but on a larger scale, the rest of America is not as "progressive" as we are privileged to be. And thanks to "progression" (more like people coming to their senses), women of color are more than ever, seen on magazine covers, movies, TV shows, and commercials. However this is not the case for Asian-American women.
The problem doesn't end with being misrepresented, but the LACK of representation itself. I grew up in Korea (South, lol) and I moved to the States in 2000. My first ever (celebrity) role model was Britney Spears in 4th grade. She was so beautiful, the blonde hair and blue eyes mesmerized me. She was everything I wanted to be, and everything I wanted to look like. However as I grew older, I knew I would have as big of eyes as Britney, and I would never have blonde hair like Britney, or better yet, pull it off like Britney. It was frustrating that I could not look like my favorite celebrity, when my best friend, Sophia*, who was Greek, could somehow do so. I searched for someone else to want to aspire to be. But no matter how hard I looked, there was no one on TV who looked like me. It was discouraging, that I could not identify myself with anyone who was "fabulous, famous, and desired."
And this is the message we are sending to our Asian-American youth today. We are damaging the ability to identify oneself in the industry where only the desired is praised. And with the lack of Asian women in the media, one can only conclude that Asian women are not. There is lack of representation for not only those who wish to be rich and famous, but for those who wish to be leaders, role models, and influential people. The lack of any Asian-American woman in power can also affect the confidence level in a young Asian woman, and in her ability to even dream to be such a person.
So not only for the negligent (non-Asian) Americans who ask ignorant, racist questions, but for our Asian-American girls, let's put more Asian-American women on TV. And in the movies, and commercials, and magazines. Let's expose our culture and community, so people can gain knowledge on the fact that we are from New York. Let's help the world see that Asian-American women are JUST LIKE YOU.
Citations:
Chan, C. (1988). Asian American women: The psychological responses to sexual exploitation and cultural stereotypes. The Politics of Race and Gender in Therapy. Ed. Lenora Fulani. Haworth, 31-38.
Is Lucy Liu a heroine or a curse? (2003, January 29). Gold Sea Asian American Daily. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from
http://goldsea.com/Air/Issues/Liu/liu.html.
Hagedorn, J. (1994). Asian Women in Film: No Joy No Luck, Facing Difference: Race, Gender and Mass Media. Baigi, S. & Kern-Foxworth, M (Eds.),Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge, 32-37.
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium. (2005). Asian pacific Americans in prime time: Lights camera and little action, 1-13.
Stroman, C., and Jones, K. (1998). The analysis of television content. Research Paradigms, Television, and Social Behavior. Asamen, J. & Berry, G.(Eds.), London: Sage Publications, 271-285.
Maya A. Poran. December 2006, Volume 55, Issue 11-12, pp 739-755 The Politics of Protection: Body Image, Social Pressures, and the Misrepresentation of Young Black Women
No comments:
Post a Comment