Essay about The Media as a Mirror of the Asian-American Women

The stereotypical misrepresentations of African-American women and men in popular culture have influenced societal views of Blacks for centuries. The typical stereotypes about Black women range from the smiling, a sexual and often obese Mammy to the promiscuous Jezebel who lures men with her sexual charms. However, the loud, smart mouthed, neck-rolling Black welfare mother is the popular image on reality television. These images portrayed in media and popular culture create powerful ideology about race and gender, which affects daily experiences of Black women in America. With few healthy relationships portrayed in the media, Black women are left to make decisions based on the options

Asian American actors and actresses are portrayed in Hollywood movies as always being the silent and yielding foreign victims to social injustice and prejudice. Whether or not these depictions are true, they are nonetheless stereotypes that Hollywood producers have come up with. According to the US Census in the year 2000, Asian Americans make up 4.2% of the entire American population, and knowing that most Asian Americans live on the west and east coast of the United States, many Americans living in central parts of this country have not really been exposed to any Asian Americans. Because of this fact, it is highly probable that most Americans get their exposure to the Asian American lifestyle only through television and movies. Even if

Whether it is on TV or movie screens, the faces of white actors and actresses have always been prevalent in the media. For generations, many teenagers have been exposed to countless movies with white people in major roles. Moreover, the few roles that are cast to minorities feature the characters in their stereotypical personas (Bonilla-Silva 179). Even in advertising, Asians are placed in business settings, upholding the hard-working Asian stereotype (Taylor and Stern 50). As Taylor and Stern mention in their paper, the “model minority” has made the issue of stereotyping seem less important for Asians. The majority of these actors that are examined, regardless of race, are typically middle-age and well established in their acting careers. However, there is a lack of research behind Asian youth acting and their perceived roles. To account for this knowledge deficit, I examine how whiteness influences the media to portray youth actors as individuals that stray from their stereotypes in an attempt to achieve whiteness. My research site centres around Fresh Off the Boat (FOB), a comedic television series featuring a Taiwanese family. The title of the show Fresh Off the Boat or “FOB” is also a term used to describe a person that is considered too ethnic and as a term of denigration. I utilize Pyke and Dang’s categorization of “FOB” and “whitewashed” to analyze the narrator, Eddie Huang. I chose to limit my research primarily to the first “pilot” episode where the audience is

The Western world’s conquest and domination of Asia is the driving source of sexual desire for East Asian women. To understand how the objectification and fetishization of East Asian women is harmful, one must traced it roots and understand how it began. The stereotypes assigned to East Asian women are rooted from the violence of wartime. The stereotypes live through the mass media’s re-imagination by books, movies, musicals and operas. East Asian women will find no peace for as long as these hyper-sexed stereotypes live.

The first documented Chinese woman to arrive in the United States was Afong Moy, in 1834. She was brought by white people to be displayed in the American Museum. Dressed in Chinese clothing, she was meant to display Chinese customs, manners, and lifestyles, showing the Americans how different a “celestial lady” looked from a Western woman. This spirit of Westerners viewing Chinese people as separate from themselves would go on to isolate Chinese immigrants as they continued to immigrate to America. The Chinese would continue to be thought of as inferior, or part of an “other” group by white settlers. Chinese women in particular were fetishized and demeaned -- looked upon as a whole as prostitutes -- when in reality they played many different roles in society and in

Across cultures, many times similarities lay within them that go unnoticed. It is true that obvious differences set them apart; but if a closer look is taken, it is surprising what can be found. The Chinese culture is obviously different from the American culture, but underneath the surface there are similarities. One of them is how the treatment of women has evolved and changed. Anti-feminism in China has been present since ancient times, and has just recently decreased. Anti-feminism in America has never been as severe as it was in China; however, instead of the value of women gradually increasing over the years - it has reversed. The value of women in America has decreased. There are many similarities between the ancient Chinese women

Despite the fact that Asian Americans have been in Hollywood for decades, there are very few positive representations of them in film. More often than not, they’ve been depicted as stereotypical caricatures, and more specifically, as foreigners who can’t speak grammatically correct English. Moreover, the negative representations of Asian Americans in film has perpetuated certain misconceptions about their culture. Chan is Missing (1982) calls for more genuine representations of Asian American identities through its cast of complex characters and defiance of Asian stereotypes. The film also urges its viewers to critically think about their own notions of identity through the use of several recurring themes and filmmaking techniques.

Although Asian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Americans are a “model minority”. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will become a successful individual able to achieve the “American dream”.

Throughout history, the media has been known to be influential towards how individuals of society perceive the world and their environment. This influence can lead to people creating prejudices towards those who are highlighted by the media. It also has the ability to change the attitude of one person towards another class of people and stereotype them in positive, but mostly negative ways. One population that has played victim to the repercussions of the mass media is Asian Americans, who have been oppressed and deemed a minority by Americans. The media’s portrayal of Asian Americans has had detrimental effects on one’s opportunities, performance, and their perception of the world.

Asian Americans (AAS) are diverse ethnic group’s origins from the Far East Southeast Asia and Indian continents. More than 800 languages are spoken among AAS. They are one of the fastest growing populations in the US. 43 percent increase between 2000 & 2010. There are 15.5 million Asian Americans living in the United States (2012 Census Bureau population). Even if all Asian Americans have the same traits, such as strong family values, importance in educations, following tradition and valuing personal relationship, still there are many differences in language and culture among Asian American groups as well. In 2012, the total private insurance coverage for Asian Americans was 68.8 percent, as compared to 74.4 percent for the non-Hispanic White population. 15 percent of Asian Americans were uninsured, as compared to 10.4 percent non-Hispanic White Americans.

Can you imagine living in a world in which your beauty is not seen as beauty at all? Many black women wake up to this reality every morning. Living the life of an African American female is difficult because you do not fit into the Eurocentric paradigm in which you are forced to be reminded of daily. Media shows us as a people who we are and how we are supposed to be. Media affects black women in a negative way because it portrays black women in a negative way.

For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and

For centuries the Native American people have been portrayed and stereotyped through different media sources some are from the past and some are present ideas that people in our society still hold to be true. They were and or are seen as savages, doomed warriors, princesses, and wise elders. American Indian men are often eroticized and portrayed as the object of white women’s Illicit lust and Native American Women are seen as beautiful, erotic, noble, and fully dedicated to her white lover. Both have the primary focus of serving white interests-by providing sexual satisfaction. The impact of the media through the 18th, 19th, and 20th century helped create the stereotype of these qualities today. Media such as movies and television shows were major contributors to the impact of race on Native Americans. With the majority of the population consuming films on a regular basis, it is likely that the stereotypes portrayed in films also

The media is often the only form of culture that many Americans are subjected to. Consequently, many stereotypes are formed from that medium. These stereotypes include the interfering Asian American woman that cannot keep her nose out of other people?s business. The Asian woman is also supposedly sexually active, exotic, overly feminine and eager to please. This character is termed the ?China Doll,? and appears countless times in popular movies. Hollywood tends to characterize Asian women as prostitutes, yet fails to portray the hardships these women face such as trying to support their families. Asian American women are also depicted as passive and indecisive, and often times are treated as though they want to have sex with white men, even when they are verbally not agreeing. ?Dragon Lady? refers to an Asian

Skinny, blond, ditzy, annoying, un-educated, easy, and considered a typical women. If you’re a women and you hear these words, does it make you think of who you are, or your mother or sisters? I think not…but I do think about the people I see on television and in magazines or in movies. What I want to know is who is writing the scripts for some of the television shows that I watch. I would like to hope that it’s not women putting these stereotypes on their fellow “sisters”.