Stereotypes of Asians
Encyclopedia
Stereotypes of East Asians are ethnic stereotype
s found in Western societies
. Stereotypes of East Asia
ns, like other ethnic stereotype
s, are often manifest in a society's media
, literature
, theater and other creative expressions. In many instances, media portrayals of East Asians often reflect a dominant Eurocentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors. However, these stereotypes have mainly negative repercussions for East Asians and East Asian immigrants in daily interactions, current events, and governmental legislation
. East Asians have experienced discrimination
and have been victims of hate crime
s related to their ethnic stereotypes, as it has been used to reinforce xenophobic sentiment
.
, orientalism
refers to the manner in which the West interprets or comes to terms with their experiences and encounters with the foreign or unfamiliar Orient
, or the East. Said claimed that "the Orient" was a European invention to denote East Asia as a place of exoticism, romance, and remarkable experiences and also as a concept to contrast (commonly negatively) against Western civilization.
The effects of orientalism in Western culture
s includes the "othering" of East Asians and East Asian Americans; their cultures and lifestyles perceived as "exotic", in stark contrast to "ordinary" Western customs. While Western cultures are perceived or believed capable of change and modernization, East Asian cultures are considered (in contrast) ancient.
The term "Yellow Peril" refers to a White apprehension, peaking in the late 19th-century, that white inhabitants of Australia
, Canada
or the United States
would be overwhelmed and swamped by a massive influx of East Asians; who would fill the nation with a foreign culture and speech incomprehensible to those already there and "steal" jobs away from the white inhabitants. During this time, numerous anti-Asian sentiments were expressed by politicians and writers, especially on the West Coast
, with headlines like "The 'Yellow Peril'" (Los Angeles Times, 1886) and "Conference Endorses Chinese Exclusion" (The New York Times, 1905) and the later Japanese Exclusion Act. The American Immigration Act of 1924
limited the number of Asians because they were considered an "undesirable" race. Australia
had similar fears and introduced a White Australia policy
, restricting immigration between 1901 to 1973, with some elements of the policies persisting to the 1980s. On 12 February 2002, Helen Clark, then prime minister of New Zealand
apologised "to those Chinese people who had paid the poll tax and suffered other discrimination, and to their descendants. She also stated that Cabinet had authorised her and the Minister for Ethnic Affairs to pursue with representatives of the families of the early settlers a form of reconciliation which would be appropriate to and of benefit to the Chinese community." Similarly, Canada
had in place a head tax on East Asian immigrants to Canada in the early 20th century; a formal government apology was given in 2007 (with compensation to the surviving head tax payers and their descendants).
or duration of residence in the United States. A similar view has been advanced by Ling-chi Wang, professor emeritus of Asian American Studies
at the University of California, Berkeley
. Wang asserts that mainstream media coverage of Asian communities in the United States has always been "miserable." He states, "In [the] mainstream media's and policymakers' eyes, Asian Americans don't exist. They are not on their radar... and it's the same for politics."
According to Jose Antonio Vargas
, writer for the Washington Post, there's a game he likes to play called WTAG: Where's the Asian guy? In 2007, there were hardly any apart from Daniel Dae Kim, co-star of ABC's "Lost." Never mind that he speaks only Korean on the show. A study by UCLA researchers for the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian Pacific Americans in Prime Time, confirmed that there had not been a tremendous amount of progress for Asian-American actors, on network TV. While Asian-Americans make up 5 percent of the U.S. population, the report found only 2.6 percent were primetime TV regulars. Shows set in cities with large Asian populations, like New York and Los Angeles, had few Asian roles. One out of five people in the New York City borough of Queens is Asian, but CBS's "The King of Queens
" had no Asian characters through its nine-season run. This is a series that had over 13 million viewers at its most popular and had been released in over 29 countries.
Actress Ming-Na
, who plays an FBI agent on the Fox show "Vanished
," noticed that about Orange County, California
, where the show "The O.C.
" is based. In an interview with "20/20": "I don't know what Orange County that show is representing. But there is not one single Asian in that show. And I am sorry, that is just wrong. It would be like having a show take place in China and not having one Asian represented."
It has been noted that, in reality, while Orange County has traditionally been one of California's richest, whitest, and most conservative counties, demographic trends suggest the County's white population is downright geriatric. Some 875,000 Orange County residents are Latino, according to Census 2000—just under a third of the total population of 2.8 million. The county also hosts the nation's largest Vietnamese population (145,000) and attracts significant populations of Filipino, Japanese and Indian Americans. Collectively, Asian Americans are the County's most affluent segment, buying homes valued at twice the county average. It is also home to UC Irvine, a prestigious university in which Asians actually outnumber Whites 2-1 (54% to 28%). Including white Hispanics, White Americans are nominally 64% of OC population but it fields barely 44% of public school enrollment. This was never reflected in the series.
However, many Asian Americans believe the model minority stereotype to be damaging and inaccurate, and are acting to dispel this stereotype. Scholars, activists, and most major American news sources have started to oppose this stereotype, calling it a misconception that exaggerates the success of Asian Americans. According to those trying to debunk this belief, the model minority stereotype alienates Asian Americans from other minorities and covers up actual Asian American issues and needs that are still not properly addressed in America today. For example, the widespread notion that Asian Americans earn higher-than-average income obscures issues such as the "glass ceiling
"/"bamboo ceiling
" phenomenon, where advancement into the highest-level managerial or executive positions is blocked, and the fact that Asian Americans must acquire more education and work more hours than their white counterparts to earn the same amount of money. The "model minority" image is also seen as being damaging to Asian American students because their assumed success makes it easy for educators to overlook Asian American students who are struggling academically.
For example, 25.2% of Asian Americans over age 25 hold a bachelor's degree
compared to only 15.5% of the general American population, thus giving the impression of Asian American success. However, only 6.9% of Cambodians, and 6.2% of Laotians in this age group in America hold bachelor's degrees- albeit attributed by researchers due to poverty and severe mental health issues due to these nations' civil war.
Despite this stereotype of supposed Asian American success, there is a high 80% unemployment rate among the Hmong Americans and other Asian Americans groups from refugee backgrounds.
However, examples of criminal and unethical behavior are in contrast to the model minority construct. In 2007, Asian Americans were implicated in cheating scandals, shooting sprees, and political corruption. Most notable is the Virginia Tech massacre
by Seung-Hui Cho
, which led to the deaths of 33 individuals, including Cho himself. The shooting spree, along with Cho's Korean ethnicity, stunned the Asian American community. Other scandals which made headlines were the arrests of Norman Hsu
, a former campaign donor to Hillary Clinton, Ed Jew
, the former San Francisco Supervisor, and Kim Kyung Joon, a former Los Angeles City Commissioner who served as a business partner to current South Korean president Lee Myung-bak
. Also in 2007, 34 MBA students, primarily of East Asian descent, were caught in a major cheating scandal at Fuqua School of Business
of Duke University
. Of those 34 students, 9 were permanently expelled, 15 were suspended for one year, and the rest received failing grades.
and Charlie Chan
are two important and well-known fictional East Asian characters in America's cultural history. Both were created by white authors, Sax Rohmer
and Earl Derr Biggers
respectively, in the early part of the 20th century. Fu Manchu is a sardonic, intelligent, yet evil Chinese murderer with plots of world domination, an embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious East Asian people. Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian
detective who solves cases while politely handling the many racist insults hurled at him by white American characters, and represents America's archetypal "good" East Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and films.
, who is essentially the "Yellow Peril
incarnate".
Sax Rohmer inextricably tied the evil character of Fu Manchu to all East Asians as a physical representation of the Yellow Peril, attributing the villain's evil behavior to his race. Rohmer also adds an element of mysticism and exoticism to his portrayal of Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu contrives unnecessarily elaborately creative and cruel methods of murdering his victims, replete with allegedly East Asian methods or elements in his murders such as: "death by silk rope"- none of which have any basis in reality. Despite Fu Manchu's specifically Manchu
ethnicity, his evil and cunning are pan-Asian
attributes again reinforcing Fu Manchu as representational of all East Asian people. Blatantly racist statements (note: not considered so at the time the novels were published) made by white protagonists such as: "the swamping of the white world by yellow hordes might well be the price of our failure" again add to East Asian stereotypes of exclusion. Fu Manchu's inventively sardonic methods of murder and white protagonist Denis Nayland Smith's grudging respect for his intellect reinforce stereotypes of East Asian intelligence, exoticism/mysticism, and extreme cruelty.
Charlie Chan, a fictional character created by author Earl Derr Biggers
loosely based on Chang Apana
(1871–1933), a real-life Chinese-Hawaiian police officer, has been the subject of 10 novels (spanning from 1925 to as late as 1981), over 40 American films, a comic strip
, a board game
, a card game
, and a 1970s animated television series. In the films, the role of Charlie Chan has usually been played by white actors (namely Warner Oland
, Sidney Toler
, and Roland Winters
).
In stark contrast to the Chinese villain Fu Manchu, East Asian American protagonist Charlie Chan represents the American archetype of the "good" East Asian. In The House Without a Key, Earl Derr Biggers describes Charlie Chan in the following manner: "He was very fat indeed, yet he walked with the light dainty step of a woman. His cheeks were chubby as a baby's, his skin ivory tinted, his black hair close-cropped, his amber eyes slanting." Charlie Chan speaks English with a heavy accent and flawed grammar, and is exaggeratedly polite and apologetic. After one particular racist affront by a Bostonian woman, Chan responds with exaggerated submission, "Humbly asking pardon to mention it, I detect in your eyes slight flame of hostility. Quench it, if you will be so kind. Friendly co-operation are essential between us." Bowing deeply, he added, "Wishing you good morning."
Because of Charlie Chan's emasculated, unassertive, and apologetic physical appearance and demeanor he is considered a non-threatening East Asian man to mainstream audiences despite his considerable intellect and ability. Many modern critics, particularly Asian-American critics, claim that Charlie Chan has none of the daring, assertive, or romantic traits generally attributed to white fictional detectives of the time, "bovine" and "asexual", allowing "white America ... [to be] securely indifferent about us as men." Charlie Chan's good qualities are the product of what Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan call "racist love", arguing that Chan is a model minority and "kissass". Instead, Charlie Chan's successes as a detective are in the context of proving himself to his white superiors or white racists who underestimate him early on in the various plots. His character also perpetuates stereotypes as well, oft quoting supposed ancient Chinese wisdom at the end of each novel, saying things like: "The Emperor Shi Hwang-ti
, who built the Great Wall of China
, once said: 'He who squanders to-day talking of yesterday's triumph, will have nothing to boast of tomorrow.'" Fletcher Chan, however, argues that the Chan of Biggers's novels is not subservient to whites, citing The Chinese Parrot as an example; in this novel, Chan's eyes blaze with anger at racist remarks and in the end, after exposing the murderer, Chan remarks "Perhaps listening to a 'Chinaman
' is no disgrace."
." The Chinese workers sported long braids (a queue
) and sometimes wore long silk gowns. Because Chinese men were seen as an economic threat to the white workforce, laws were passed that barred the Chinese from many "male" labour intensive-industries, the only jobs available to the Chinese of the time were jobs that whites deemed "women's work" (i.e., laundry, cooking, and childcare). It has been noted by some that Hollywood stereotypes East Asian men as supergeeks or asexual martial artists who have no love interest in films. The character of Long Duk Dong in the 1984 cult classic "Sixteen Candles
", is often considered offensive. Roger Ebert
, however, defended him, writing that Gedde Watanabe
"elevates his role from a potentially offensive stereotype to high comedy". In the documentary The Slanted Screen
, Gene Cajayon, the Filipino American
director of the 2001 film "The Debut
," the first Fil-Am movie to be released nationwide in the United States, talks about the revised ending for the action movie "Romeo Must Die
," a retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" where the R&B star Aaliyah
plays Juliet to the Chinese actor Jet Li
's Romeo. The original ending had Aaliyah kissing Li, which would have explained the title of Romeo, a scenario that didn't test well with an "urban audience."
So the studio changed it. The new ending had Trish (Aaliyah
) giving Han (Jet Li
) a tight hug. According to Cajayon, "Mainstream America, for the most part, gets uncomfortable with seeing an East Asian man portrayed in a sexual light."
and pre-war and WWII
propaganda
humanized Chinese men, while portraying Japanese men as a military and security threat to the country, and therefore a sexual danger to white women due to the perception of a woman's body traditionally symbolizing her "tribe's" house or country. In the 1916 film Patria
, a group of fanatical Japanese individuals invade the United States in an attempt to rape a white woman. Patria was an independent film serial funded by William Randolph Hearst
(whose newspapers were known to promulgate threats of the yellow peril
), in the lead up to the United States' entry into World War I.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
portrays the way in which an "Oriental" has power over white women. The film portrays Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck
) coming to China to marry a missionary (Gavin Gordon
) and help in his work. They become separated at a railway station, and Davis is rescued/kidnapped by warlord General Yen (Nils Asther
). Yen becomes infatuated with Davis, and knowing that she is believed to be dead, keeps her at his summer palace.
Although Amy Tan
's book, The Joy Luck Club
has been widely praised by critics, it has also been criticized by noted Chinese-American author Frank Chin
for allegedly perpetuating racist stereotypes. Chinese-American director Wayne Wang
was impressed with the story and managed to create a film version
of the novel. Guy Aoki
of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) said that in Joy-Luck Club, white men (were) presented as more suitable romantic interests than East Asian men.
suggest that increased globalization is responsible for providing a more multidimensional and complex portrayal of East Asian males in televised media. Asian Americans have taken strides to pluralize the representation of East Asians in the media by creating and supporting independent films like Justin Lin's
Better Luck Tomorrow
and Chris Chan Lee's
Yellow
.
has continually portrayed such stereotypes of East Asian women: depicting East Asian women as cunning "Dragon Ladies
". This is contrasted with the other stereotypes of servile "Lotus Blossom Babies", "China dolls", "Geisha girls
", war brides, or prostitutes.
In contemporary times, the Dragon Lady
stereotype is personified by Ling Woo
a fictional character
in the US
comedy-drama
Ally McBeal
, (1997–2002) portrayed by American
actress Lucy Liu
. Ling was a cold and ferocious Chinese American
lawyer who spoke Mandarin and was knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world. At the time, she was the only significant representative of East Asian women on television (besides news anchors and reporters), leaving no one else to counteract this prominent stereotype. Thus, the portrayal of Ling Woo attracted much scholarly attention. University of Wyoming
Associate Professor Tracey Patton sees Woo as the embodiment of the East Asian fantasy woman, the seductive temptress expert in eroticism who is knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world. Darrell Hamamoto
, Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis
, describes Ling as "a neo-Orientalist masturbatory fantasy figure concocted by a white man whose job it is to satisfy the blocked needs of other white men who seek temporary escape from their banal and deadening lives by indulging themselves in a bit of visual cunnilingus
while relaxing on the sofa." Hamamoto does maintain that Ling "sends a powerful message to white America that East Asian American women are not to be trifled with. She runs circles around that tower of Jell-O
who serves as her white boyfriend. She's competitive in a profession that thrives on verbal aggression and analytical skill."
According to author Sheridan Prasso, the China [porcelain] doll stereotype and other variations of this submissive stereotype exist in American movies. This includes the "Geisha Girl/Lotus Flower/Servant/China Doll: Submissive, docile, obedient, reverential; the Vixen/Sex Nymph: Sexy, coquettish, manipulative; tendency toward disloyalty or opportunism; the Prostitute/Victim of Sex Trade/War/Oppression: Helpless, in need of assistance or rescue; good-natured at heart."
An iconic source of images of East Asian women in the 20th century in the West is the 1957 novel and 1960 film, The World of Suzie Wong
, about a Hong Kong woman. UC Berkeley Professor of Asian American Studies Elaine Kim argued in the 1980s that the stereotype of East Asian women as submissive has impeded their economic mobility.
Another is Madama Butterfly
(Madame Butterfly), an opera
in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini
, with an Italian libretto
by Luigi Illica
and Giuseppe Giacosa
. It is the story of a Japanese maiden (Cio-Cio San), who falls in love with a white American navy lieutenant. The Japanese girl and the officer have sex, resulting in a child. The American seaman leaves while Cio-Cio San blissfully awaits his return, who arrives back in Japan with his American wife in tow. The heartbroken Japanese girl bids farewell to her callous lover, then kills herself.
There has been much controversy about the opera, especially its sexist and racist themes. It is the most-performed opera in the United States, where it ranks as Number 1 in Opera America
's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. only helps to perpetuate the notion of the dominant white male over the subdued East Asian female who can be cast aside as described by Sheridan Prasso in her book, The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient published in 2005.
A contemporary example would be Miss Saigon
, a musical
by Claude-Michel Schönberg
and Alain Boublil
, a modern adaptation of Giacomo Puccini
's opera Madame Butterfly
. This musical has received criticism for what some have perceived as a racist or sexist overtone, including protests regarding its portrayal of East Asian men, East Asian women, or women in general. It banked a record $25 million in advance ticket sales when it was opening on Broadway.
, negatively contrasting 'coloured' Asian-Americans against the white Europeans in North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; as is a stereotypical hair-type: straight dark (or shiny "blue") hair, commonly in a "bowl cut" hair style (boys) or overgrown bangs (girls). Critics point out that Asians are often stereotyped as having inherent skill in the martial arts, and that Asians are often stereotyped as having poor English language skills.
Ethnic stereotype
An ethnic stereotype is a generalized representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of the group.Ethnic stereotypes are commonly portrayed in ethnic jokes.-Ethnic stereotypes:*African Americans...
s found in Western societies
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
. Stereotypes of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
ns, like other ethnic stereotype
Ethnic stereotype
An ethnic stereotype is a generalized representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of the group.Ethnic stereotypes are commonly portrayed in ethnic jokes.-Ethnic stereotypes:*African Americans...
s, are often manifest in a society's media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, theater and other creative expressions. In many instances, media portrayals of East Asians often reflect a dominant Eurocentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors. However, these stereotypes have mainly negative repercussions for East Asians and East Asian immigrants in daily interactions, current events, and governmental legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
. East Asians have experienced discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and have been victims of hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
s related to their ethnic stereotypes, as it has been used to reinforce xenophobic sentiment
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
.
Orientalism, mysticism and exoticism
According to Edward SaidEdward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
, orientalism
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
refers to the manner in which the West interprets or comes to terms with their experiences and encounters with the foreign or unfamiliar Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
, or the East. Said claimed that "the Orient" was a European invention to denote East Asia as a place of exoticism, romance, and remarkable experiences and also as a concept to contrast (commonly negatively) against Western civilization.
The effects of orientalism in Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
s includes the "othering" of East Asians and East Asian Americans; their cultures and lifestyles perceived as "exotic", in stark contrast to "ordinary" Western customs. While Western cultures are perceived or believed capable of change and modernization, East Asian cultures are considered (in contrast) ancient.
"Yellow Peril"
The term "Yellow Peril" refers to a White apprehension, peaking in the late 19th-century, that white inhabitants of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
or the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
would be overwhelmed and swamped by a massive influx of East Asians; who would fill the nation with a foreign culture and speech incomprehensible to those already there and "steal" jobs away from the white inhabitants. During this time, numerous anti-Asian sentiments were expressed by politicians and writers, especially on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, with headlines like "The 'Yellow Peril'" (Los Angeles Times, 1886) and "Conference Endorses Chinese Exclusion" (The New York Times, 1905) and the later Japanese Exclusion Act. The American Immigration Act of 1924
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...
limited the number of Asians because they were considered an "undesirable" race. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
had similar fears and introduced a White Australia policy
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
, restricting immigration between 1901 to 1973, with some elements of the policies persisting to the 1980s. On 12 February 2002, Helen Clark, then prime minister of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
apologised "to those Chinese people who had paid the poll tax and suffered other discrimination, and to their descendants. She also stated that Cabinet had authorised her and the Minister for Ethnic Affairs to pursue with representatives of the families of the early settlers a form of reconciliation which would be appropriate to and of benefit to the Chinese community." Similarly, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
had in place a head tax on East Asian immigrants to Canada in the early 20th century; a formal government apology was given in 2007 (with compensation to the surviving head tax payers and their descendants).
Perpetual foreigner
In many periods of America's history, Asian Americans have been perceived, treated, and portrayed by many in U.S. society as "perpetual" foreigners who are unable to be assimilated and inherently foreign regardless of citizenshipCitizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
or duration of residence in the United States. A similar view has been advanced by Ling-chi Wang, professor emeritus of Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Asian ancestry in America. Closely related to other Ethnic Studies disciplines such as African American Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Native American Studies, Asian American Studies critically examines the...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Wang asserts that mainstream media coverage of Asian communities in the United States has always been "miserable." He states, "In [the] mainstream media's and policymakers' eyes, Asian Americans don't exist. They are not on their radar... and it's the same for politics."
According to Jose Antonio Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Filipino journalist living and working in the United States. He is known for his coverage of HIV, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the influence that politics and the Internet have on each other. In 2008, Vargas was part of the team which won the Pulitzer Prize for...
, writer for the Washington Post, there's a game he likes to play called WTAG: Where's the Asian guy? In 2007, there were hardly any apart from Daniel Dae Kim, co-star of ABC's "Lost." Never mind that he speaks only Korean on the show. A study by UCLA researchers for the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian Pacific Americans in Prime Time, confirmed that there had not been a tremendous amount of progress for Asian-American actors, on network TV. While Asian-Americans make up 5 percent of the U.S. population, the report found only 2.6 percent were primetime TV regulars. Shows set in cities with large Asian populations, like New York and Los Angeles, had few Asian roles. One out of five people in the New York City borough of Queens is Asian, but CBS's "The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
" had no Asian characters through its nine-season run. This is a series that had over 13 million viewers at its most popular and had been released in over 29 countries.
Actress Ming-Na
Ming-Na
Ming-Na is a Macanese-born American actress. She has been credited with and without her family name, but most credits since the late 1990s have been without it...
, who plays an FBI agent on the Fox show "Vanished
Vanished
Vanished is an American serial drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox. The series premiered on August 21, 2006 on Fox and its last episode aired on November 10, 2006. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the series begins with the sudden disappearance of the wife of a Georgia senator, which is...
," noticed that about Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, where the show "The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
" is based. In an interview with "20/20": "I don't know what Orange County that show is representing. But there is not one single Asian in that show. And I am sorry, that is just wrong. It would be like having a show take place in China and not having one Asian represented."
It has been noted that, in reality, while Orange County has traditionally been one of California's richest, whitest, and most conservative counties, demographic trends suggest the County's white population is downright geriatric. Some 875,000 Orange County residents are Latino, according to Census 2000—just under a third of the total population of 2.8 million. The county also hosts the nation's largest Vietnamese population (145,000) and attracts significant populations of Filipino, Japanese and Indian Americans. Collectively, Asian Americans are the County's most affluent segment, buying homes valued at twice the county average. It is also home to UC Irvine, a prestigious university in which Asians actually outnumber Whites 2-1 (54% to 28%). Including white Hispanics, White Americans are nominally 64% of OC population but it fields barely 44% of public school enrollment. This was never reflected in the series.
Model minority stereotype
Asian Americans have also been stereotyped as a "model minority"; that is, positive traits are applied as a stereotype. Asians (as a whole) are seen as hardworking, politically inactive, studious, intelligent, productive, and inoffensive people who have elevated their social standing through merit and diligence. This label is given in contrast to other racial stereotypes which routinely accuse minorities of socially unwelcome traits: such as laziness or criminal tendencies.However, many Asian Americans believe the model minority stereotype to be damaging and inaccurate, and are acting to dispel this stereotype. Scholars, activists, and most major American news sources have started to oppose this stereotype, calling it a misconception that exaggerates the success of Asian Americans. According to those trying to debunk this belief, the model minority stereotype alienates Asian Americans from other minorities and covers up actual Asian American issues and needs that are still not properly addressed in America today. For example, the widespread notion that Asian Americans earn higher-than-average income obscures issues such as the "glass ceiling
Glass ceiling
In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements." Initially, the metaphor applied to barriers in the careers of women but...
"/"bamboo ceiling
Bamboo ceiling
The term "bamboo ceiling" refers to the processes and barriers that often serve to exclude Asians, Pacific Islanders, and people of Asian descent from executive positions on the basis of subjective factors such as “lack of leadership potential” and “lack of communication skills” that cannot...
" phenomenon, where advancement into the highest-level managerial or executive positions is blocked, and the fact that Asian Americans must acquire more education and work more hours than their white counterparts to earn the same amount of money. The "model minority" image is also seen as being damaging to Asian American students because their assumed success makes it easy for educators to overlook Asian American students who are struggling academically.
For example, 25.2% of Asian Americans over age 25 hold a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
compared to only 15.5% of the general American population, thus giving the impression of Asian American success. However, only 6.9% of Cambodians, and 6.2% of Laotians in this age group in America hold bachelor's degrees- albeit attributed by researchers due to poverty and severe mental health issues due to these nations' civil war.
Despite this stereotype of supposed Asian American success, there is a high 80% unemployment rate among the Hmong Americans and other Asian Americans groups from refugee backgrounds.
However, examples of criminal and unethical behavior are in contrast to the model minority construct. In 2007, Asian Americans were implicated in cheating scandals, shooting sprees, and political corruption. Most notable is the Virginia Tech massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
by Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...
, which led to the deaths of 33 individuals, including Cho himself. The shooting spree, along with Cho's Korean ethnicity, stunned the Asian American community. Other scandals which made headlines were the arrests of Norman Hsu
Norman Hsu
Norman Yung Yuen Hsu , born October 1951, is a convicted pyramid investment promoter who associated himself with the apparel industry. His business activities were intertwined with his role as a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party, and he gained notoriety after suspicious patterns of bundled...
, a former campaign donor to Hillary Clinton, Ed Jew
Ed Jew
Edmund "Ed" Jew is an incarcerated former Chinese American politician based in San Francisco. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in economics and later earned a masters degree in business administration at Golden Gate University...
, the former San Francisco Supervisor, and Kim Kyung Joon, a former Los Angeles City Commissioner who served as a business partner to current South Korean president Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...
. Also in 2007, 34 MBA students, primarily of East Asian descent, were caught in a major cheating scandal at Fuqua School of Business
Fuqua School of Business
The Fuqua School of Business is the business school of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It currently enrolls 1,340 students in degree-seeking programs...
of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Of those 34 students, 9 were permanently expelled, 15 were suspended for one year, and the rest received failing grades.
Archetypal East Asians in American fiction
Fu ManchuFu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
and Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
are two important and well-known fictional East Asian characters in America's cultural history. Both were created by white authors, Sax Rohmer
Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward , better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr...
and Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers was an American novelist and playwright. He is remembered primarily for adaptations of his novels, especially those featuring the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:...
respectively, in the early part of the 20th century. Fu Manchu is a sardonic, intelligent, yet evil Chinese murderer with plots of world domination, an embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious East Asian people. Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
detective who solves cases while politely handling the many racist insults hurled at him by white American characters, and represents America's archetypal "good" East Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and films.
Fu Manchu: "evil" East Asian
Thirteen novels, three short stories, and one novelette have been written about Fu Manchu and Sir Denis Nayland Smith, the British agent determined to stop him. Millions of copies have been sold in the United States with publication in British and American periodicals and adaptations to film, comics, radio, and television. Due to his enormous popularity, the "image of Fu Manchu has been absorbed into American consciousness as the archetypal East Asian villain." In The Insidious Doctor Fu-Manchu, Sax Rohmer introduces Fu Manchu as a cruel and cunning man, with a face like SatanSatan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
, who is essentially the "Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril was a colour metaphor for race that originated in the late nineteenth century with immigration of Chinese laborers to various Western countries, notably the United States, and later associated with the Japanese during the mid 20th century, due to Japanese military expansion.The term...
incarnate".
Sax Rohmer inextricably tied the evil character of Fu Manchu to all East Asians as a physical representation of the Yellow Peril, attributing the villain's evil behavior to his race. Rohmer also adds an element of mysticism and exoticism to his portrayal of Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu contrives unnecessarily elaborately creative and cruel methods of murdering his victims, replete with allegedly East Asian methods or elements in his murders such as: "death by silk rope"- none of which have any basis in reality. Despite Fu Manchu's specifically Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
ethnicity, his evil and cunning are pan-Asian
Pan-Asianism
Pan-Asianism is an ideology or a movement that Asian nations unite and solidify and create a continental identity to defeat the designs of the Western nations to perpetuate hegemony.-Japanese Asianism:...
attributes again reinforcing Fu Manchu as representational of all East Asian people. Blatantly racist statements (note: not considered so at the time the novels were published) made by white protagonists such as: "the swamping of the white world by yellow hordes might well be the price of our failure" again add to East Asian stereotypes of exclusion. Fu Manchu's inventively sardonic methods of murder and white protagonist Denis Nayland Smith's grudging respect for his intellect reinforce stereotypes of East Asian intelligence, exoticism/mysticism, and extreme cruelty.
Charlie Chan: "good" East Asian
Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers was an American novelist and playwright. He is remembered primarily for adaptations of his novels, especially those featuring the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:...
loosely based on Chang Apana
Chang Apana
Chang Apana was a Chinese-Hawaiian member of the Honolulu Police Department, first as an officer, then as a detective. He is the officially acknowledged inspiration for the fictional Asian detective character, Charlie Chan.-Early life:Ah Ping Chang was born December 26, 1871 in Waipio, Oahu,...
(1871–1933), a real-life Chinese-Hawaiian police officer, has been the subject of 10 novels (spanning from 1925 to as late as 1981), over 40 American films, a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, a board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, a card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
, and a 1970s animated television series. In the films, the role of Charlie Chan has usually been played by white actors (namely Warner Oland
Warner Oland
Warner Oland was a Swedish American actor most remembered for his screen role as the detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:He was born Johan Verner Ölund in the village of Nyby, Bjurholm Municipality,...
, Sidney Toler
Sidney Toler
Sidney Hooper Toler was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. Of primarily Scottish ancestry, he was the second non-Asian actor to play the role of Charlie Chan.-Early life and career:...
, and Roland Winters
Roland Winters
Roland Winters was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films.-Biography:Born Roland Winternitz in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 December 1904, Winters was the son of Felix Winternitz, a violinist and composer who was teaching at New England Conservatory of Music...
).
In stark contrast to the Chinese villain Fu Manchu, East Asian American protagonist Charlie Chan represents the American archetype of the "good" East Asian. In The House Without a Key, Earl Derr Biggers describes Charlie Chan in the following manner: "He was very fat indeed, yet he walked with the light dainty step of a woman. His cheeks were chubby as a baby's, his skin ivory tinted, his black hair close-cropped, his amber eyes slanting." Charlie Chan speaks English with a heavy accent and flawed grammar, and is exaggeratedly polite and apologetic. After one particular racist affront by a Bostonian woman, Chan responds with exaggerated submission, "Humbly asking pardon to mention it, I detect in your eyes slight flame of hostility. Quench it, if you will be so kind. Friendly co-operation are essential between us." Bowing deeply, he added, "Wishing you good morning."
Because of Charlie Chan's emasculated, unassertive, and apologetic physical appearance and demeanor he is considered a non-threatening East Asian man to mainstream audiences despite his considerable intellect and ability. Many modern critics, particularly Asian-American critics, claim that Charlie Chan has none of the daring, assertive, or romantic traits generally attributed to white fictional detectives of the time, "bovine" and "asexual", allowing "white America ... [to be] securely indifferent about us as men." Charlie Chan's good qualities are the product of what Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan call "racist love", arguing that Chan is a model minority and "kissass". Instead, Charlie Chan's successes as a detective are in the context of proving himself to his white superiors or white racists who underestimate him early on in the various plots. His character also perpetuates stereotypes as well, oft quoting supposed ancient Chinese wisdom at the end of each novel, saying things like: "The Emperor Shi Hwang-ti
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
, who built the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
, once said: 'He who squanders to-day talking of yesterday's triumph, will have nothing to boast of tomorrow.'" Fletcher Chan, however, argues that the Chan of Biggers's novels is not subservient to whites, citing The Chinese Parrot as an example; in this novel, Chan's eyes blaze with anger at racist remarks and in the end, after exposing the murderer, Chan remarks "Perhaps listening to a 'Chinaman
Chinaman
Chinaman is a contentious term referring to a Chinese person* whether of Han Chinese ethnicity* or a citizen of China, Chinese people.Or the term may also refer to:* A colloquial term for a square hay baler overhead feeding plunger...
' is no disgrace."
Emasculation and asexuality
In the mid 1800 Chinese laborers were given an emasculated image due to the physical appearance of these laborers and the fact that they did what Westerners considered to be "women's workWomen's work
Women's work or woman's work is a term used particularly in the West to indicate work that is believed to be exclusively the domain of women and associates particular tasks with the female gender. It is particularly used with regards to work that a mother or wife will perform within a family and...
." The Chinese workers sported long braids (a queue
Queue (hairstyle)
The queue or cue is a hairstyle in which the hair is worn long and gathered up into a ponytail. It was worn traditionally by certain Native American groups and the Manchu of Manchuria.-Manchu Queue:...
) and sometimes wore long silk gowns. Because Chinese men were seen as an economic threat to the white workforce, laws were passed that barred the Chinese from many "male" labour intensive-industries, the only jobs available to the Chinese of the time were jobs that whites deemed "women's work" (i.e., laundry, cooking, and childcare). It has been noted by some that Hollywood stereotypes East Asian men as supergeeks or asexual martial artists who have no love interest in films. The character of Long Duk Dong in the 1984 cult classic "Sixteen Candles
Sixteen Candles
Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.- Plot :...
", is often considered offensive. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, however, defended him, writing that Gedde Watanabe
Gedde Watanabe
Gedde Watanabe is an American theatre, film, and television actor.He was in several dramatic productions in high school, both acting and singing...
"elevates his role from a potentially offensive stereotype to high comedy". In the documentary The Slanted Screen
The Slanted Screen
The Slanted Screen is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi about the stereotypical depictions and absence of Asian males in American cinema and other media from the silent era to the present day.-Interviewees:* Eric Byler* Gene Cajayon* Terence Chang* Frank Chin*...
, Gene Cajayon, the Filipino American
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
director of the 2001 film "The Debut
The Debut
The Debut is an independent feature-length film directed and co-written by first-time Filipino American filmmaker Gene Cajayon. It is the first Filipino American film to be released theatrically nationwide, although regionally and every few months starting in March 2001 in the San Francisco Bay...
," the first Fil-Am movie to be released nationwide in the United States, talks about the revised ending for the action movie "Romeo Must Die
Romeo Must Die
Romeo Must Die is a 2000 martial arts film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Starring Jet Li, Aaliyah, Anthony Anderson, Delroy Lindo, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, and features action and fight choreography by Corey Yuen...
," a retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" where the R&B star Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...
plays Juliet to the Chinese actor Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
's Romeo. The original ending had Aaliyah kissing Li, which would have explained the title of Romeo, a scenario that didn't test well with an "urban audience."
So the studio changed it. The new ending had Trish (Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...
) giving Han (Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
) a tight hug. According to Cajayon, "Mainstream America, for the most part, gets uncomfortable with seeing an East Asian man portrayed in a sexual light."
Predators of white women
East Asian men have been portrayed as threats to white women in many aspects of American media. Depictions of East Asian men as "lascivious and predatory" were common at the turn of the 20th century. Between 1850 and 1940, both U.S. popular mediaPopular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and pre-war and WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
humanized Chinese men, while portraying Japanese men as a military and security threat to the country, and therefore a sexual danger to white women due to the perception of a woman's body traditionally symbolizing her "tribe's" house or country. In the 1916 film Patria
Patria (1917 film)
Patria is a 1917 15-chapter serial film starring Irene Castle, Milton Sills, and Warner Oland based on the novel The Last of the Fighting Channings by Louis Joseph Vance. The film is notable for the first time that Wallace Beery portrays Pancho Villa, a role that he would repeat in Viva Villa! in...
, a group of fanatical Japanese individuals invade the United States in an attempt to rape a white woman. Patria was an independent film serial funded by William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
(whose newspapers were known to promulgate threats of the yellow peril
Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril was a colour metaphor for race that originated in the late nineteenth century with immigration of Chinese laborers to various Western countries, notably the United States, and later associated with the Japanese during the mid 20th century, due to Japanese military expansion.The term...
), in the lead up to the United States' entry into World War I.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra based on the novel by Grace Zaring Stone and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther....
portrays the way in which an "Oriental" has power over white women. The film portrays Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
) coming to China to marry a missionary (Gavin Gordon
Gavin Gordon (actor)
Gavin Gordon was an American film actor.He was born in Chicora, Mississippi], and died in Canoga Park, California, on his 82nd birthday....
) and help in his work. They become separated at a railway station, and Davis is rescued/kidnapped by warlord General Yen (Nils Asther
Nils Asther
Nils Anton Alfhild Asther was a Danish-born Swedish actor active in Hollywood from 1926 to the mid 1950s, known for his beautiful face and often called "the male Greta Garbo"...
). Yen becomes infatuated with Davis, and knowing that she is believed to be dead, keeps her at his summer palace.
Misogynists
Another stereotype of East Asian men is that they are misogynistic, insensitive and disrespectful towards women. They are commonly portrayed as male chauvinists.Although Amy Tan
Amy Tan
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
's book, The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club is a best-selling novel written by Amy Tan. It focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco, California who start a club known as "the Joy Luck Club," playing the Chinese game of mahjong for money while feasting on a variety of foods...
has been widely praised by critics, it has also been criticized by noted Chinese-American author Frank Chin
Frank Chin
Frank Chin is an American author and playwright.- Life and career :Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California, but was raised to the age of six by a retired Vaudeville couple in Placerville, California. At six his mother brought him back to the San Francisco Bay Area to live in Oakland Chinatown...
for allegedly perpetuating racist stereotypes. Chinese-American director Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang is a Chinese American film director.-Biography:Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne...
was impressed with the story and managed to create a film version
The Joy Luck Club (film)
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
of the novel. Guy Aoki
Guy Aoki
Guy Aoki is the head and co-founder of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans. He is also a contributing columnist for the Rafu Shimpo, and debates publicly on Asian American issues.-Sarah Silverman Controversy:...
of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) said that in Joy-Luck Club, white men (were) presented as more suitable romantic interests than East Asian men.
Changing perceptions of East Asian males
More recent media depictions of East Asian males are at a seeming variance with traditional stereotypes. Study findings from an analysis of the TV show LostLost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
suggest that increased globalization is responsible for providing a more multidimensional and complex portrayal of East Asian males in televised media. Asian Americans have taken strides to pluralize the representation of East Asians in the media by creating and supporting independent films like Justin Lin's
Justin Lin
Justin Lin is a Taiwanese American film director, best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious franchise and the television show, Community.-Life and career:...
Better Luck Tomorrow
Better Luck Tomorrow
Better Luck Tomorrow is a 2002 crime-drama film directed by Justin Lin. The movie is about Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and material excess...
and Chris Chan Lee's
Chris Chan Lee
Chris Chan Lee is an Asian American filmmaker.After graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California, Lee wrote/directed Yellow, an independently financed feature film about the harrowing grad night of eight Korean-American teens in Los Angeles that culminates in a...
Yellow
Yellow (1998 film)
Yellow is a 1998 film directed by Chris Chan Lee. The film is about the harrowing graduation night of eight Korean-American high school youths in Los Angeles that culminates in a violent crime that will forever change their lives....
.
Hypersexuality and the Dragon Lady
East Asian women have been portrayed as aggressive or opportunistic sexual beings or predatory gold diggers using their feminine wiles. Western film and literatureWestern literature
Western literature refers to the literature written in the languages of Europe, including the ones belonging to the Indo-European language family as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque, Hungarian, and so forth...
has continually portrayed such stereotypes of East Asian women: depicting East Asian women as cunning "Dragon Ladies
Dragon Lady (stereotype)
A Dragon Lady is a stereotype of East Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering or mysterious. The term's origin and usage is Western, not Chinese. Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna May Wong, the term was coined from the villain in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates...
". This is contrasted with the other stereotypes of servile "Lotus Blossom Babies", "China dolls", "Geisha girls
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
", war brides, or prostitutes.
In contemporary times, the Dragon Lady
Dragon Lady (stereotype)
A Dragon Lady is a stereotype of East Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering or mysterious. The term's origin and usage is Western, not Chinese. Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna May Wong, the term was coined from the villain in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates...
stereotype is personified by Ling Woo
Ling Woo
Ling Woo is a fictional character in the US comedy-drama Ally McBeal, portrayed by American actress Lucy Liu. Ling was a cold and ferocious Chinese American lawyer who spoke Mandarin and was knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world...
a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
, (1997–2002) portrayed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
. Ling was a cold and ferocious Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
lawyer who spoke Mandarin and was knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world. At the time, she was the only significant representative of East Asian women on television (besides news anchors and reporters), leaving no one else to counteract this prominent stereotype. Thus, the portrayal of Ling Woo attracted much scholarly attention. University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
Associate Professor Tracey Patton sees Woo as the embodiment of the East Asian fantasy woman, the seductive temptress expert in eroticism who is knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world. Darrell Hamamoto
Darrell Hamamoto
Darrell Hamamoto is a Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis who is best known for his views on the desexualization of Asian American males in the media.- Education :Dr...
, Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, describes Ling as "a neo-Orientalist masturbatory fantasy figure concocted by a white man whose job it is to satisfy the blocked needs of other white men who seek temporary escape from their banal and deadening lives by indulging themselves in a bit of visual cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
while relaxing on the sofa." Hamamoto does maintain that Ling "sends a powerful message to white America that East Asian American women are not to be trifled with. She runs circles around that tower of Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
who serves as her white boyfriend. She's competitive in a profession that thrives on verbal aggression and analytical skill."
"China doll" stereotype
An iconic source of images of East Asian women in the 20th century in the West is the 1957 novel and 1960 film, The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute...
, about a Hong Kong woman. UC Berkeley Professor of Asian American Studies Elaine Kim argued in the 1980s that the stereotype of East Asian women as submissive has impeded their economic mobility.
Another is Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(Madame Butterfly), an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, with an Italian libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini , Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera librettos are those for La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chénier.Illica was born at...
and Giuseppe Giacosa
Giuseppe Giacosa
Giuseppe Giacosa was an Italian poet, playwright and librettist.He was born in Colleretto Parella, now Colleretto Giacosa, near Turin. His father was a magistrate. Giuseppe went to the University of Turin, studying in the University of Turin, Faculty of Law...
. It is the story of a Japanese maiden (Cio-Cio San), who falls in love with a white American navy lieutenant. The Japanese girl and the officer have sex, resulting in a child. The American seaman leaves while Cio-Cio San blissfully awaits his return, who arrives back in Japan with his American wife in tow. The heartbroken Japanese girl bids farewell to her callous lover, then kills herself.
There has been much controversy about the opera, especially its sexist and racist themes. It is the most-performed opera in the United States, where it ranks as Number 1 in Opera America
Opera America
Opera America, officially OPERA America, is a service organization in North America promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera...
's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. only helps to perpetuate the notion of the dominant white male over the subdued East Asian female who can be cast aside as described by Sheridan Prasso in her book, The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient published in 2005.
A contemporary example would be Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
, a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Claude-Michel Schönberg
Claude-Michel Schönberg is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil.These include the musicals:...
and Alain Boublil
Alain Boublil
Alain Boublil is a musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End...
, a modern adaptation of Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's opera Madame Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
. This musical has received criticism for what some have perceived as a racist or sexist overtone, including protests regarding its portrayal of East Asian men, East Asian women, or women in general. It banked a record $25 million in advance ticket sales when it was opening on Broadway.
Stereotypes of physical attributes and traits
Darrell Y. Hamamoto argues that a pervasive racialized discourse exists throughout Western society, especially as it is reproduced by network television and cinema. Critics argue that physiological caricatures of East Asians found in western media include the epicanthic fold—positively described as "almond-shaped" or negatively as "slant eyes"—and many that are worse, are common in portrayals of the East Asian population, yellow-toned or brown skin referencing colorismColorism
Colorism is prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social treatment based on skin color. The preference often gets translated into economic status because of opportunities for work. Colorism can be found across the world...
, negatively contrasting 'coloured' Asian-Americans against the white Europeans in North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; as is a stereotypical hair-type: straight dark (or shiny "blue") hair, commonly in a "bowl cut" hair style (boys) or overgrown bangs (girls). Critics point out that Asians are often stereotyped as having inherent skill in the martial arts, and that Asians are often stereotyped as having poor English language skills.
See also
- Chinese Exclusion Act
- Ching ChongChing ChongChing chong is a pejorative term sometimes employed by speakers of the English language to mock people of Chinese ancestry, or other Asians who may look Chinese....
- Covert racismCovert racismCovert racism is a much less public and obvious form of racism or overt racism. It is hidden in the fabric of society, covertly suppressing the individuals being discriminated against. Covert racially biased decisions are often disguised or rationalized with an explanation that society is more...
- Fresh off the boatFresh off the boatThe phrases Fresh off the boat , Off the boat , or just simply Boat; are terminologies used to describe immigrants that have arrived from a foreign nation and have not yet assimilated into the host nation's culture, language, and behavior. Within some ethnic Asian circles in the United States, the...
- Portrayal of East Asians in Hollywood
- American Born ChineseAmerican-born ChineseAn American-born Chinese or "ABC" is a stereotype that describes a person born in the United States of Chinese ethnic descent, a category of Chinese American. Many are second-generation born after the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 were free from limits on immigration from East Asia...
External links
- Hollywood Chinese Hollywood Chinese, a 2007 documentary film about the portrayals of Chinese men and women in Hollywood productions.
- The Slanted Screen The Slanted Screen, a 2006 documentary film addressing the portrayals of Asian men in American television and film.