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GOLDSEA |
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)
hey researcher,
i'd love to see you try and make it in hollywood!....with all your statistics & evidence
that's not what sells movies
anyway for every example you give there's bound to be a counter example....oh a K-gal says she is crap at maths.....isn't that breaking stereotypes......what about poor dumb korean girls who can't live up to the standards set by their smarter sisters
let's face it any portrayal of asians in the media is going to be criticised.....that's maybe part of the reason they shy away from including asians coz they know they can't please all the nay-saying disaffected social engineers out there!
like i said b4 there are plenty of asian role models in the asian media and plenty better looking females there too.
maxdacat
Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 06:00:36 (PDT)
I got a mirror:
Your opinion about everyone being conceited except themselves is funny.
I agree that anyone can be a jackass, but usually they are for no apparent reason. The AFs I'm talking about follow the two patterns I mentioned prior.
About my second comment:
Ever notice how AF thinks she's all that sitting in a ritzy car or how she hugs Mr. White's arm tighter when they walk by? Maybe they're afraid I'll snatch them up and run off?
From my personal experience and observation, pretty much everyone else who dates outside their race leaves the rest of the world alone.
Anyway, I'll be airing my comments back in the gender divide forum since I'm having a hard time figuring out what exactly this one is about. The title seems to be misleading after reading the contents.
huu76
Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 03:40:56 (PDT)
PBS:
I also would like for you to list the films you are mentioning: while I do see a small "increase" (if you can call it that) of AM in the media, how many of those imported Asian films are being seen in the US? If you look at gross receipts and rental sales, it's still pretty small. I think you acknowledge this by saying it is "relative," but I'd like you to clarify. After all, the only films from Asian that I see coming in are martial artists like Jackie Chan and Jet Li. While encouraging, they are hardly representative of the vast majority of AM in America. In fact, some argue that they tend to perpetuate the limited, asexual, martial artist stereotype and are a mixed blessing. So what popular Asian films are you talking about?
curious q
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 14:49:07 (PDT)
TO PBS: "But what I see is Asian females take up 90% of the blame in websites, chat rooms, class rooms, academia." You are correct. Asian women take much more criticism because they have much more media coverage than Asian men, which is what I stated. But again, I agree with you that we must NOT blame Asian women, but the "powers that be" for neglecting AM.
"Many Asian imports have been catering to AM-WF couples." Really? Which ones? You have to admit that imports, precisely because they are imports, are less consumed by the mainstream media. What I have noticed is that films like The Replacement Killers and The One potrayed Chow Yun Fat (with Mira Sorvino) and Jet Li with WF but refuse to show love scenes or romantic imntimacy. Jet Li's wife in the awful movie, The One, is white, but he never even kisses her. Which is to say, Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li may be paired with WF, but they are hardly seen as fully sexual.
"I've even seen American independent films by AM where the AF are made to look stupid." I don't know which ones you are referring to, but I'm inclined to believe you. This is truly unfortunate.
"AM are portrayed extremely positive in Asian films. They are almost always the hero(while AF are portaryed as dumber, weaker, meaner, cowardly...all to make the AM look better). And more of those films will be coming to the U.S. in the future."
I would certainly hope that Asians in Asia consider AM to be heroes! Still, in the US, Asian movies are few and far between. How many Asian import films made the top 20 films of 2001? Maybe you are right, but we still have a long way to go. And again, what Asian films are you referring to?
"And though that is relatively true and something we need to fight for, it is very destructive to destroy the progress of AF's image along the way."
Yes, I agree with you there; let us focus the target not on AF, but on the media powers.
"You mentioned that some AF, including your sister, criticizes you for dating a WF. I'm sincerely sorry to hear that, but I find that to be far less common than AM criticzing AF."
Yes, but outside of San Fran, NY or LA, it is less common because the ratio of AM-WF couples is so small. It's funny that now that AM are dating WF, AF are grumbling for the first time, when for years AM were so marginalized that AF couldn't criticize AM for that! Either way, criticizing by AM OR AF is hypocritical and should stop on BOTH sides.
"I don't know where you live, but there are far less now than there was a decade ago."
I live in the midwest where I know of only one AM news anchor. While that may be true on the West coast, I think the statistics will bear out that for much of the '90's, AM have been neglected in the news media. We can all name national Asian women in the media (of which I am proud)--Connie Chung, Liz Cho, Sophia Choi, Lisa Ling, Ann Curry, etc.--but can we name ONE AM that comes to mind? We still have a long way to go.
PBC
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 13:58:48 (PDT)
"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."
Here there is no distortion of reality.
Researcher
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 09:12:50 (PDT)
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