Why the Media Bias Against Asians? | Asian American Issues

WHY THE MEDIA BIAS AGAINST ASIANS?
(Updated )

o aspect of American life angers us more relentlessly and insidiously than the way we're alternately maligned and ignored by the U.S.-based mass media. None of us could name a major film studio, publishing company or TV network -- other than perhaps PBS -- that hasn't committed these sins hundreds or even thousands of times.
     The mass media's distortions of Asians and Asian Americans have been decried far too often to bear repeating here. In a nutshell, though, they center around sexualizing and cheapening Asian women while simultaneously desexualizing and dismissing Asian men. Suffice to say that instances in which the U.S.-based media portray us fairly are so rare as to draw stunned disbelief each time they are encountered.
     Why this persistent assault on the culture and phenotype of a third of humanity? Some spy the heavy hand of moguls seeking economic advantage in portraying Asian competitors as inferior, and therefore, unworthy of trust, patronage or investment. Others see a conspiracy to keep down a race whose burgeoning global influence threatens in due course to overshadow that of white western peoples. A history of wars against Asian nations, sexual rivalry, economic scapegoating, xenophobia and simple ignorance are other often cited factors.
     Likely, what's at work is some combination of those and other forces.
     Share your hard-earned insights on the subtle and gross workings of the American mass media's apparent crusade against the Asian and Asian American image.
What can I do? I'm ready to kick some stereo-typing, negative imaging ass!

I think a good course of action came from AsianGuy and a good amount of inspiration came from Asian Dominatrix, enough for a few friends and I to seriously start some ideas on how to help the situation.

After reading AsianGuy's post, I sent it (sorry if this offends you AG, once I start a rampage I can't stop) to everyone I know and everyone wants to help.

A few of my friends who do watch Ethnic Media agreed to start translating and sending the message out to broadcasters and news stations. It's a wonderful idea and we're praying it will work.

I started a petition that I'm hoping to get 5000 signatures on to send to Cali and other production studios about how they are representing Asian Americans in the media. If anyone would like a copy of it, let me know.

And I believe there are scholarships available for students who are interested in the fields of directors and film arists, but they certainly need to be broadcasted about a lot more.
(Is it illegal to start a website that lists them?)

We're going to do everything in our power to help. This world is about to be ours and we want it to be right damn it!

Okay...rant done.

Anyone else have any good ideas? We're all ears and ready.

Killer Bee (In a Killer Mood)
   Tuesday, October 16, 2001 at 00:06:02 (PDT)

Asian Dominatrix --

The only way you're going to see an Asian woman beat the crap out of white men is in the bedroom, with a latex suit and a whip. See Lucy Liu's "Oscar-wining" performance in 'Paypack', also starring Mel Gibson. It's quite ironic that you have the name that you do, since it perpetuates stereotypes too. Have you considered changing it?
Sick of Eunuchs, Kung-Fu Fighting, Geishas, Dragon Ladies, and "Fli-ed Lice"
Sunday, October 07, 2001 at 01:02:24 (PDT)

First of all, I don't think the media has a crusade against Asian and Asian-American image. It seems that we Asians and Asian-American have to get more involved in media and I also agree with someone elses post that we should be more personable with other Americans.

Since we are a small minority, only 10 million in a country of 280 million plus and concentrated mostly in the urban regions of only ten states, the personal approach at changing other American's images of us will be limited. That's not to say that more of us and especially Asian-American men, shouldn't try to be more personable. However we should face the reality that the media has a much bigger impact on how other Americans view us because we are such a small minority group.

Now there is the problem of AA actors and actresses being relegated to "stereotype" roles in media. And then there is the problem of preference for scripts that play down the contributions and other positive aspects of AA. What can we do about this? It seems that the problem lies with the people deciding which scripts to use and how to cast actors. we need more aa involvement in these positions. scholarships should be offerred to those aa who seek to enter those fields and who express and demonstrate a willingness to improve the media image of aa.

beyond this, the aa media has a critical role to play when it comes to improving aa media images. because much of the aa media is in non-english languages not well-known by the general american population, it is extremely critical for those multilingual aa who are familiar with both our ancestral and american cultures to act as a promoter of positive aa images in the us media. This was demonstrated by a AA, Charlie Sie, who translated a Chinese-language article about Zhe Zeng, a AA HERO who went to school in the US and who later died/is missing when he went back into the WTC to rescue fellow co-workers. This article was seen by hundreds of thousands on the 80-20 mailing list and later instigated the NY Times to do it's own investigation. The NY Times published an article on Zhe Zeng's (also known as Zack Zeng) HEROISM on 10/3 with a picture of him. I ask all AA who read positive articles about other AA in THE ETHNIC MEDIA, to please translate them and send them to mainstream English-language media whether it be television, cable, print, etc.,
AsianGuy
Saturday, October 06, 2001 at 08:11:34 (PDT)

media man, that's just what i thought!

see, for LA area, there are already 2,3 asian channels with people speaking chinese, taiwanese(24hours), cantonese, or korean... (actually i think most chinese channels are controled by taiwanese)

anyways... why don't why come up with an all asian-american channel?!? that's doable! and we should!
dan
Saturday, October 06, 2001 at 01:59:18 (PDT)

Malpaso,

Well if Asians are "well-represented", then perhaps we should address the issue of the gender bias/imbalance against Asian men in the media. As an AA in the media industry, do you do your part to help your AA brothers/actors?
Do something!
Friday, October 05, 2001 at 03:24:35 (PDT)

Now.... what i really want to say is... those of u who are in the Top 50 U.S. univeristies(asians make a big portion of it):

try your best to reach out and be friends with the whites there!!! because those whites are the elites in their community, and they will eventually gain power and rule this country... so one day, when they do become powerful, they will remember their good old asian friends; they'll then help us and give us more respects.
dan
Thursday, October 04, 2001 at 22:21:46 (PDT)

Here's an idea:

How about having a television channel exclusively about, for and by Asian Americans? We could show that Asian Americans are normal citizens (who speak fluent English) not aliens from another planet. All the programs would be in English, so no subtitles, no broken English, no accent, no alien/foreign flavor, no immigration talk, no China talk, etc. It's just about a normal American live of Asian Americans.

You could say that the channel is more for the second generation of Asian Americans rather than the recent immigrants. This does not mean I'm ignoring those people. I just think they are better served by the Chinese language TV or something like that that already exists. In fact, I believe that these recent immigrants would actually benefit from the stereotype-free channel.

I remember I saw a show on PBS with all casts being Asian Americans. I forget the title, but it was about a bunch of teenagers with their problems with relationship, parents, money, etc. For the first time I felt normal in this country because I saw people I could relate to on television.

An All English-Language Channel for Asian Americans....what do you all think about the idea? Are you for it?

MediaMan
Thursday, October 04, 2001 at 20:18:01 (PDT)

What I've noticed lately are lots of ads and telly programs featuring white women kicking the crap out of Asian men. Gee, why is it that we don't see anything of a white woman kicking the crap out of a white man?

For the other side, we've seen Asian women kicking Asian men and black men--most notably in RH2. When are we going to see an Asian woman kicking the crap out of a white man???

Don't hold your breath for that.
Asian Dominatrix
Thursday, October 04, 2001 at 16:09:38 (PDT)

Has anybody noticed the extreme violence against asian men, as seen in action flicks(Die Hard/any Chuck Norris picture) or movies in general. I always noticed they like to put down Asians or Asian culture, we are always put in a bad light or negative in appearance.
I havent been to a movie theater in over a decade and could care less, hey, why take that kind of abuse i'd say to myself.
AM 987376045-9834
Thursday, October 04, 2001 at 08:32:27 (PDT)

i have no good words about margaret cho just like an earlier post. that all american girl ABSOLUTELY SUCKED and perpetrated almost every bad stereotype about asian men. tv has been really bad for AMs. you see asian women in guest spots on mtv' real world, friends, and other shows but asian men are not to be seen. its almost as if tv has completely not caught on to the fact that AMs are a minority group with issues just like blacks or hispanics.

BTW, are there any people in show business on this board. i'd like to know if there are many asians even aspiring to get into acting. i imagine there are more than one might think.
ck
Tuesday, October 02, 2001 at 18:47:34 (PDT)

AA Girl,

I think your back-up plan idea is a great one: for everyone. Want to know the percentage of *all* actors registered with SAG and AFTRA who are currently employed? It's miniscule.

And as someone who works in the media, I can honestly say that AA's pretty have the same representation (percentage wise) as they do in the US. And please, look on-air especially in national and local news. AA's are pretty well represented.

I will agree, that behind the scenes, there needs to be progress made in management.

Malpaso
Tuesday, October 02, 2001 at 11:40:59 (PDT)

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