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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Are AA Women the Real Victims of Prejudice?
sian women get a free ride at the expense of Asian men. That's the received wisdom here in the U.S. This belief appears premised on the suspicion that American society sees Asian women as sexy exotics in need of rescuing from the cold clutches of Asian men who don't know how to smile except evilly.
The real victim?
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Credit Hollywood for its tireless casting of Asian women as sexual accessories to white heroes while suppressing the very existence of Asian men except as unsavory paper tigers. Credit too the TV networks that uncover bevies of talking Asian women but rarely their male counterparts.
In fairness this media fantasy of the Asian race was partly inspired by recent history. Devastated and impoverished Asian nations sent tens of thousands of war brides and orphans, followed by several million desperate immigrants willing to hock their identities while toiling to build new lives.
Male-dominated societies toast new women as exotic sexual prospects while suppressing new men as an exploitable lower class or even enemy aliens. The women get all the breaks and the men get all the lumps. Even worse, the women have their heads turned and adopt a scornful attitude toward their own men. So goes the complaint of some AA men.
The women have a different take. Sexual predators bearing insulting stereotypes must be fended off while coping with women who see them as unfair competitors. Add to that the pain of being scorned as sellouts by AA men for no more reason than their apparent welcome by American society. Worst of all, complain AA women, is being begrudged the right to take simple pleasure in their own identities. How much easier just to face straightforward racial prejudice!
Do Asian women really have an easier time in America? Or do they suffer from the double-whammy of insulting stereotypes from non-Asians and unfair persecution from Asian men?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:10:59 PM)
Although the three news readers for the morning shows are non-white women (Anne Curry of the NBC is part Japanese, Julie Chen of CBS is Chinese American and Robin Robers of ABC is African American), not just Asian females, but non-white females in this country get the shaft from the media. Case in point is the Newsweek cover story (June 3, 2002) of a school in California which is over 25% non-white. The article acknowledges this fact but focuses exclusively on white girls. Three types of girls are classified: Alpha, beta and gamma...but they all have one similarity, all of them are white. True the name of the school, Valhalla, indicates whiteness in the primitive European traditions. However, the fact remains that there are a disproportionately large number of Asian girls (compared to white girls) who are high academic achievers even in this school. Instead they pick three white girls and discuss how sweet, intelligent and family oriented they are, which is fine as long as they cover other "American" teen agers as well. It is a pity that this well renowned magazine did not bother to at least acknowledge the fact that it is a diverse environment. This is what I have meant by media distortion in most of my previous posts. The media distorts the image of Asian females (and other non-white females), period. (see attcahced website).
http://www.msnbc.com/news/756950.asp?cp1=1
Researcher
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 07:02:10 (PDT)
"If on the other hand the movie portrays reality, ie., Asian women as engineers and doctors, people do not line up to see the movies..."
No, that's not true. First of all, who's reality are we seeing? And Asian women and men as hereos do sell. People used to say that Asian men as heros don't sell and that what people want to see are only whites as hereos. But Bruce Lee's film Enter the Dragon was a huge success. And it was made at a time far more difficult for Asian men in America. But even after that film's profits, Hollywood executives continue to not cast Asian men as protagonists. This is just one example to illustrate my point.
People line up to see movies that are well written, with good effects, and interesting story lines, etc. Even the best looking white actors cannot save a boring, poorly made film. It has a lot to do with what race is getting the leading, good roles in good movies. We keep seeing blondes being portrayed as the best women and soon enough people want to see blondes only. It's a dirty cycle and it is uncertain which came first -- the chicken or the egg. Likewise, if we see more Asian men as the protagonist or hero, then Asian men will of course become more accepted in society. But how is this circle even going to begin if Hollywood executives keep leaving Asian men out?
We can see a rise in the acceptance of Asian men by mainstream America from its parellel increase of films imported from Asia where Asian men are depicted far more positively. Of course, this acceptance is relative and the development is fairly recent. But I hope you get the point.
PBS
Monday, May 27, 2002 at 15:23:13 (PDT)
Folks: Lets not blame Jewish people. I have known progressive Jewish people who have pushed for a better nation for all of us to live in. Many of them have done a lot of hard work in making our country a safer place for all minorities. They've come such a long way and moved mountains with bare hands. (This is not to denigrate our accomplishments or successes of course. But I hope you know what I mean.)
Yes! Hilter was an insane man from hell. The KKK and Nazis are crazy people who need to be portrayed as trash. If not, there would be a lot of consequences. And if it is true that Jewish media executives are the ones depicting Neo Nazis as scum, then that's great. Because that benefits all of us who are their targets.
PBS
Monday, May 27, 2002 at 14:47:09 (PDT)
huu76 wrote: "I have to agree with wf about how conceited many (but not all) AF appear to be."
That's an interesting perception. Some WF think AF are conceited. Some AF think WF are conceited. Some AM think AF are conceited. Some AF think AM are conceited. Some AM think WM are conceited. Some WM think AM are conceited.
From seeing all the opinions, people are thinking "other" people are conceited, but not them.
huu76 wrote: "they [AF] have good reason to be [conceited]."
Anyone can rationalize why another person seems conceited to justify their own misconceptions and biases. That's easy to do. I've heard all kinds of explanations from all sorts of people about why another group is "conceited."
Anyhow, being conceited is not some AF trait. It's something that any race has. And before any of you think someone else is arrogant...look at yourself...........
a mirror anyone
Monday, May 27, 2002 at 13:24:57 (PDT)
PBS:
You mention that "many" Asian imported movies cater to AM/WF couples while denigrating Asian women. I haven't seen or heard of any such movies; could you mention some examples?
Oiman
Monday, May 27, 2002 at 10:40:04 (PDT)
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