Stereotypes of Asians

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This article deals primarily with stereotypes of East Asians and Southeast Asians. For South Asians, see Stereotypes of South Asians.

Stereotypes of Asians are oversimplified ethnic stereotypes of Asian people (including East Asians and Southeast Asians) and are found in many Western societies. Stereotypes of Asians have been collectively internalized by societies, and are manifested by a society's media, literature, theatre and other creative expressions. However, these stereotypes have very real repercussions for Asians and Asian Americans in daily interactions, current events, and governmental legislation.

In America, many stereotypical and often contradictory characteristics are imposed on Asians. A short list of some of these oversimplified stereotypes of Asians include: a love of rice, autism, having a white-collar job while living in poverty, poor social skills, love-shyness, poor driving skills^[1], studiousness and diligence, sleazy dishonesty, imitation of White American culture, adherence to their own foreign cultures, superior ability at martial arts, conservatism, "broken English", inability to speak English first (as depicted in films e.g. Rush Hour). In many instances, Western media portrayals of Asians reflect the dominant Caucasian ideas of Asians rather than the actual customs and behaviors of the Asian people portrayed.^[2]

Contents 1 Historical origins 2 Orientalism, mysticism, and exoticism 3 Model Minority stereotype 4 Stereotypes of exclusion 4.1 "Yellow Peril" 4.2 Perpetual Foreigner stereotype 4.3 Racial triangulation theory 5 Language barrier as a source of comedy 6 Archetypal Asians in American fiction 6.1 Fu Manchu: "Evil" Asian 6.2 Charlie Chan: "Good" Asian 7 Stereotypes of Asian men 7.1 Emasculation 7.2 Predators to White women 8 Stereotypes of Asian women 8.1 Hypersexuality 8.2 The "China Doll" stereotype 8.3 The "Dragon Lady" stereotype 8.4 Stereotype associated with sexual slavery 9 All Asians look alike 10 Relegation to supporting roles 11 Stereotypes of Asian workforce 12 Central and Western Asians 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit] Historical origins

The origins of stereotypes of Asians are almost certainly influenced by early contact between Western nations and Asian nations. Often this was in the context of colonialism and military occupation, resulting in asymmetrical power relations. This was further exacerbated by specific cultural contexts, such as relatively low status of women and widespread proliferation of prostitution in some countries. In military occupations, such as U.S. military R&R in Thailand during the Vietnam war or while stationed in South Vietnam, prostitutes flocked towards a lucrative market with higher earnings (due to wealth disparities). This can be said to create a distorted impression of the local populace among customers, who then brought these images back to their home countries (e.g. Full Metal Jacket's infamous portrayal of a Vietnamese prostitute speaking pidgin English is a good if disturbing example [1] and is still referenced in Asian fetish pornography). A similar phenomenon occurred during Shanghai in the 1930s, resulting in a very negative and sensualized image brought home to the West. The lack of cultural understanding between the West and Asia during early contact, combined with racy images and stories brought back home, resulted in a distorted image that lingers to this day. In America, stereotypes of Asian men having tiny penises, being geeky, shy, effiminate, domineering, etc are prevalent. On the other hand, Asian women are portrayed as being submissive, objects of desire, and exotic.

[edit] Orientalism, mysticism, and exoticism

According to Edward Said, "orientalism" refers to the way that the West interprets or comes to terms with their experiences and encounters with the Orient, or the East. Said claimed that "the Orient" was a European invention to denote Asia as a place of exoticism, romance, and remarkable experiences, and also as a conception to contrast with Western civilization.^[3]

The effects of orientalism in Western cultures include an "Othering" of Asians and Asian Americans; their cultures and ways of life are seen as being "exotic" and novel, in direct contrast to "normal" Western customs. While Western cultures are capable of changing and modernizing, Asian cultures are seen as being ancient, static, and entrenched in the past. Western cultures stereotype Asian cultures as being very superstitious, spiritual and mystical, and full of ancient wisdom. This is manifested by countless fabricated supposed ancient Chinese sayings by Confucius and other ancient wise Asian men found in numerous American novels, movies, and websites, and by the widespread popularity of fortune cookies in North American Chinese restaurants catered to Western customers that supposedly predict the future or dispense sage-sounding advice. Other examples of Asian culture as novelty in Western cultures include the Chinoiserie fad during the 18th century, the trendiness of Asian motifs, and the popular choice of Chinese characters as tattoo designs despite unfamiliarity with the language. Historically, America's Chinatowns have held a place in the American imagination as a mysterious sketchy place of opium dens, gangs, and foreign speech.

In the musical comedy Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mrs. Meers, a White woman pretending to be Asian claims that soy sauce is capable of magically removing stains, one of the "mysteries of the Orient." The lyricist of the musical Miss Saigon deliberately makes the Vietnamese prostitute's lines "mystical and obscure,"^[4] giving her nonsensical lyrics steeped in mysticism like: "paper dragons in the sky" and "You are sunlight and I moon/joined by the gods of fortune."^[5]

[edit] Model Minority stereotype

Main article: Model Minority

Asian Americans have been stereotyped as a "model minority": 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 minorities who have often been accused of being criminal, welfare-dependent, demandingly rabble-rousing and problematic to American society. Proponents of the "model minority" stereotype cite statistics of Asian American success, such as their higher-than-average financial status and overrepresentation in prestigious Ivy League universities.

More recently, scholars, activists, and most major American news sources have started to oppose this stereotype calling it a "myth" that exaggerates the success of Asian Americans.^[6][7][8][9] According to those trying to deconstruct this myth, 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.^[10] For example, the widespread notion that Asian Americans earn higher-than-average income obscures issues such as the "glass ceiling" phenomenon, in which high level managerial positions or executive positions are only seen but not achievable by Asian Americans, the high 80% unemployment rate among the Hmong and Mien refugee populations, 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.^[11] According to another 1990 New York Times article, the model minority myth is damaging to Asian American students because their assumed success makes it easy for educators to overlook Asian American students who are struggling academically^[12].

Despite a general academic consensus that the Model Minority stereotype is an inaccurate reflection of the actual social condition of Asian Americans, the presence of this stereotype can still be seen in various aspects of American popular culture. Asian Americans are often portrayed in popular culture as being geeky nerds who excel in technical fields such as math, science, and engineering. For example, in the animated series Hey Arnold!, the Eurasian character, Phoebe Hyerdahl, sports enormous geeky glasses and is one of the smartest girls in her school. In the movie Mean Girls, two out of five of the mathletes, a math team of nerdy social outcasts, are Asians. In the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, Christina Yang (played by Sandra Oh) is the most notoriously cutthroat surgical intern in her group, graduating top of her class from Stanford University and stopping at nothing to be the best.

[edit] Stereotypes of exclusion

[edit] "Yellow Peril"

Main article: Yellow Peril

Yellow Peril refers to a White American fear, peaking in the late 19th century, that hordes of unassimilable Asians would immigrate into the United States and invade the country with foreign incomprehensible culture and speech and take jobs away from Americans. 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).

Australia had similar fears and introduced a racist White Australia policy restricting immigration between 1830 to 1973 with some elements of the policies persisting to the 1980s.

Canada had in place a head tax on Asian immigrants to Canada in the early 20th century; a formal government apology was pending (with compensation to the surviving head tax payers as of 2006).

[edit] Perpetual Foreigner stereotype

Throughout America's history, Asian Americans have been conceived, treated, and portrayed as perpetual foreigners; unassimilable and inherently foreign regardless of citizenship or duration of residence in America.^[13] This is evident through numerous Supreme Court rulings, acts of legislature, and statements made in the nation's literature and periodicals. "Go back to China!" is a familiar racist expression of xenophobia against Asian immigrants. A statement made by Justice Harlan in the 1897 court case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark explicitly illustrates this stereotype of Asians in saying that Asians are "strangers in the land" who are "incapable of assimilating".^[14] One of the most obvious manifestations and ramifications of this stereotype in recent history occurred during World War II, when all Japanese Americans were relegated to internment camps as per President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, because of their assumed potential loyalty to Japan.

In 2005, when visiting Sydney Australia Prince Charles asked an Asian man: "Are you from China?" The Daily Telegraph reported the man replied in a broad Australian accent: "No, I'm from just up the road, actually." The Sydney Morning Herald further commented that the question was inappropriate to be asked by the country's future monarch in a country which had an important Chinese Australian population for more than a century.^[15]

[edit] Racial triangulation theory

According to political science professor/author/scholar Claire Jean Kim, Asian Americans have been racially triangulated in American society in relation to America's preexisting deeply-rooted Black-White bipolar racial dichotomy. This theory is the intersection of the Model Minority stereotype and the Perpetual Foreigner stereotype. In America's preexisting system of racial valorization, Whites have been considered the dominant "superior" group while Blacks have been considered a subordinate "inferior" group, often stereotyped by Whites as being lazy, cultureless, and primitive throughout American history. Within this spectrum of racial valorization, the dominant group has valued Asian Americans as being "superior" to Blacks, and are stereotyped as being a hard-working intelligent people (Model Minority myth) having an ancient venerable culture, but still "inferior" to Whites. However, in the other dimension of this theory, both Whites and Blacks, regardless of valorization, are considered to be "insiders" to American culture; thoroughly assimilated and native to America. Asian Americans, on the other hand, despite their "superior" valorization by the dominant group in relation to other minorities, are still considered to be unassimilable perpetual "foreigners," inherently fixed in their own exotic Asian cultures and unable to adapt to American ways.^[16]

[edit] Language barrier as a source of comedy

In American movies, television shows, and theatre, Asian characters are often used as a source of comedy, making the audience laugh by speaking thickly accented pidgin English and acting inappropriately. These mediums also find comedy by making fun of Asian languages and the way that they sound. For example, the thick accent of the goofy Chinese exchange student in Sixteen Candles — who is given the name "Long Duk Dong" — is used for cheap laughs. He is given lines like: "Wassa happening hot stuff?" and "No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food." On Mad TV, a comedy sketch series, Miss Swan, a juvenilely clueless Asian manicurist played by Alex Borstein, is a favorite recurring character. Her trademark phrase is "Okay, I tell you everything: he look-a like a man!" and she draws laughs by annoying all the other characters to madness by communicating ineffectively due to her language barrier, pidgin English, and ridiculously inappropriate actions in public settings. In the revival of musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, the audience laughs at the purposely exaggerated foreign-sounding Cantonese dialogue between the Chinese villains. In the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mickey Rooney in "yellowface" plays the bucktoothed clumsy Japanese neighbor who constantly yells at the protagonists in broken English for being too noisy. Even when they are not being made fun of for comedic purposes, many Asian characters (especially early on in American cinema) are made to speak in broken English. Sirajul and Mujibar were Bangladeshi who David Letterman criticized for their accents which negatively affected the perception of Asian Americans, according to Manish Vij.^[17]

[edit] Archetypal Asians in American fiction

Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are arguably two of the most important and well-known fictional Asian characters in American 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 sardonically evil but intelligent Chinese murderer with plots of world domination, the embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious Asian people. Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian detective who solves cases and never fights back against the many racist insults hurled at him by White American characters, and represents America's archetypal "good" Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and films, and therefore have pervaded the American consciousness with stereotypes of Asians.^[18]

[edit] Fu Manchu: "Evil" Asian

Main article: Fu Manchu

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 Asian villain."^[18] In The Insidious Doctor Fu-Manchu, Sax Rohmer introduces Fu Manchu as a cruel and cunning man, with a face like Satan, who is essentially the "yellow peril incarnate"^[19].

Sax Rohmer inextricably tied the evil character of Fu Manchu to the entire Asian race as a manifestation of the yellow peril, attributing the villain's behavior to his race. Rohmer also adds an element of mysticism and exoticism to his portrayal of Fu Manchu. As Fu Manchu contrives elaborately creative and cruel methods of murdering his victims, he often uses supposedly Asian methods or elements in his murders such as silk rope. It is also important to note here that despite Fu Manchu's specifically Chinese ethnicity, these elements are pan-Asian, again reinforcing his portrayal as a representation of all Asian people.^[18] Blatantly racist statements 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 Asian stereotypes of exclusion.^[20] Fu Manchu's inventively sardonic methods of murder and White protagonist Denis Nayland Smith's grudging respect for his intellect reinforce stereotypes of Asian intelligence, exoticism/mysticism, and extreme cruelty.^[18]

[edit] Charlie Chan: "Good" Asian

Main article: Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan, a fictional character created by author Earl Derr Biggers, 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 almost always been played by White actors (namely Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and Roland Winters) in "yellowface."^[21]

In stark contrast to the Chinese villain Fu Manchu, Asian American protagonist Charlie Chan represents the American archetype of the "good" 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."^[22] Charlie Chan speaks English with a heavy accent and flawed grammar, and is meticulously 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."^[22]

Because of his emasculated, unassertive, and apologetic physical appearance and demeanor, Charlie Chan comes off as unthreatening to mainstream audiences despite his considerable intellect and ability as an Asian American man. He holds none of the daring, assertive, or romantic traits typically attributed of White fictional detectives of the time. 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.^[18] His character also perpetuates stereotypes of orientalism as well, as he quotes 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.'"^[23]

[edit] Stereotypes of Asian men

[edit] Emasculation

Historically, Americans have thought of Asian men as feminine and emasculated since the mass immigration of Chinese men to the United States to build the transcontinental railroad during the mid-1800's. The primary reasons for their emasculated image included the physical appearances of these laborers, and the fact that they did what was considered to be "women's work." These workers were as a group shorter than the average Chinese man, sported long queues, and sometimes wore long silk gowns.^[24] Because Chinese men were seen as an economic threat to the White workforce and laws were passed that barred the Chinese from many 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)^{[citation needed]}. In the press, Asian men were constantly compared to White women^[24].

In today's media, although Asian women are frequently portrayed as positive romantic partners for White men, Asian men are rarely positively paired with women of any race (aside from few examples such as The Lover, The One (film) and Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle). In the past 30 years, in sharp contrast to the hypersexual state of Asian American women in the media and the comparatively frequent portrayal of White man/Asian woman relationships, there have been almost no Western or Hollywood films with romances involving an Asian man and a White woman. As a matter of fact love-shyness is commonly stereotypically associated among Asian men. Unfortunately, the stereotype has real life effects, half the people who were labeled as 'love-shy' men by Gilmartin were Asian-American.

Joan Kee observes that "Asian American male sexuality has long entailed a discourse of nothingness."^[25] Instead, according to Sheridan Prasso, Asian men in film have with little exception been portrayed as "small, sneaky, and threatening... spineless, emasculated wimps" with small penises, or "incompetents" who always lose when "faced with white man's superior strength or firepower."^[24] For example, in American films Kill Bill, Payback, and the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), entire inept Asian male fighting forces are immobilized by a White man (or White woman in the case of Kill Bill).^[24]

The recurring image of the Asian male as a "sexually impotent voyeur or pervert" has pervaded television and film throughout American history. Examples include Mickey Rooney in "yellowface" as the bucktoothed Japanese landlord who sneaks peeps at Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, or the pathetically asexual nerd Long Duk Dong from John Hughes's 1984 adolescent classic Sixteen Candles whose every entrance is accompanied by the clash of a gong.^[25] The stereotypes of emasculated sissy Asian men in the media have also translated to real life in the light way that Asian male leaders such as Ho Chi Minh, Kim Jong Il, and Mao Zedong are described and portrayed.^[26]

In American film, Asian men usually don't get the girl because they are either portrayed as being "Zen-like" and not having romantic feelings, or because they are easily defeated by superior White protagonists and are too emasculated to provide serious competition for the girl. For example, in Rush Hour 2 (2001) starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, the following dialogue about a White woman takes place:

Tucker: She picked me because I'm tall, dark and handsome, and you're Third World ugly.
Chan: Women like me. They think I'm cute, like Snoopy.
Tucker: Snoopy is six inches taller than you.^[24]

Even action movies like Romeo Must Die (2000), Kiss of the Dragon (2001), or The Replacement Killers (1998) that contain Asian male protagonists deny the Asian male characters romances with the White women whose lives that they save. Instead of the kiss usually granted to the White male protagonist, in these movies, the rescued White woman only gives the Asian action hero a hug or a grateful obligatory "thank you" kiss on the hand; there is almost never a relationship between the characters even if there is romantic tension.^[24]

In the UK, British Asian men are often stereotyped as being "skinny, geeky, conscientious, studious, and quite subservient."^[27]

[edit] Predators to White women

Asian men have been portrayed as threats to White women ^[28] in many aspects of American media. Racist depictions of Asian men as "lascivious and predatory" were common at the turn of the 20th century. ^[29] Between 1850 and 1940, both U.S. popular media and pre-war and WWII propaganda portrayed Asian men as a military and security threat to the country, and therefore a sexual danger to White women ^[18] since a woman's body traditionally symbolizes her "tribe's" house or country in Western cultures. ^[30] In the 1916 film Petria, a group of fanatical Japanese individuals who invade the United States, attempt to rape a White woman. ^[31] In the action movie Showdown in Little Tokyo, the Asian villain forces himself upon a White woman and murders her before threatening the Asian female love interest. The White hero ultimately kills the Asian villain and "wins" the Asian woman — while the hero's Amerasian sidekick is given no love life at all.

The recurring narrative involving the abduction or sexual contact of a White woman with a non-White (in this case Asian) man is called a "captivity narrative." Most Hollywood captivity narratives involving White women and Asian men either feature the threat of "white slavery," in which a White woman is forced into prostitution; or the capture of a White nurse or missionary, in which there is threatened sexual contact with an Asian warlord or military-related character (e.g. 1933 film The Bitter Tea of General Yen). The "white slavery" portrayal of the threatening Asian man stereotype was mostly predominant during the era of silent films. However, more recent examples of "white slavery" narratives include television movie The Girls of the White Orchid (1983), in which a White woman answers an advertisement for American singers in Japan and gets trapped in a prostitution slavery group;^[32] and Thoroughly Modern Millie, a 1967 American film and 2002 Broadway musical, in which young White orphan women are drugged, kidnapped, and shipped to Hong Kong as slaves.

In the latter narrative involving the capture and partial assimilation of a White woman into an Asian world and the potential relationship with an Asian man, the narrative usually ends with the rescue of the woman by a White man and their return to American home turf. Through this type of plot, cultural boundaries are reaffirmed as the mystifying Asian culture and Asian sexual threat are rejected with the rescue of the White woman, and the American home and way of life are upheld as safe and ideal.^[33] These portrayals of Asian men as desiring and threatening White women yet never achieving relationships with them also reinforce stereotypes of emasculation and images of Asian men as unsuitable partners for White women.

[edit] Stereotypes of Asian women

[edit] Hypersexuality

Asian women have been portrayed as aggressive sexual beings. Western film and literature has promoted stereotypes of Asian women, such as depicting Asian women as cunning "Dragon Ladies" ^[34][35][36], as servile "Lotus Blossom Babies", "China dolls", "Geisha girls", war brides, or prostitutes ^[37]. UC Berkeley Professor of Asian American Studies Elaine Kim has argued that the stereotype of Asian women as submissive sex objects has impeded women's economic mobility and has fostered increased demand in mail-order brides and ethnic pornography ^[38]. Other contributors to these stereotypes come from the widespread proliferation of pornography, especially on the internet and the globalization of the industry. Japan, especially, has one of the largest adult video markets in the world [2] and many of these are exported overseas, contributing to a highly sexualized image of Asian women in general.

More nuanced treatments of stereotypes come from movies like The World of Suzie Wong (1960) (also a book) where the Asian woman's appeal comes partially from her "orientalness" expressed through their clothing, language and attitudes, and from the fact they serve as cultural and gender guides for foreign men. In these movies, white men are fairy-tale knights and their love functions as a redemptive force for fallen Asian women. Stacie Ford concludes that stereotypical depictions of women in general created by sexist Asian men, specifically Chinese, and White men continue to haunt movies even though they now have a disguised form. ^[39]

[edit] The "China Doll" stereotype

The "China Doll" stereotype insinuates that Asian women are hypersexual, submissive, "exotic", feminine, and eager to please white males. According to author Sheridan Prasso, the China doll stereotype and other variations of this submissive stereotype exist in American movies: "Geisha Girl/Lotus Flower/Servant/China Doll: Submissive, docile, obedient, reverential (including Asian men as effeminate, servile); Vixen/Sex Nymph: Sexy, coquettish, manipulative; tendency toward disloyalty or opportunism; Prostitute/Victim of Sex Trade/War/Oppression: Helpless, in need of assistance or rescue; good-natured at heart."^[40]

The stereotype appears in countless media presentations:

• In Return to Paradise, Malaysian women take pride in sexually serving white American men because they are white and rich.
• In The Year of the Dragon, the main character, a white police chief, befriends an Asian American female TV news anchor. The woman immensely dislikes the arrogant, selfish police officer for his derogatory remarks about her race. However, when he visits her house, he coerces her into having sex with him, and despite initially slapping his face, she submits to him.
• In Daughter of the Dragon, Fu Manchu's daughter falls in love with a white detective at first sight.
• In The Bounty, an Asian woman falls in love with a white man at first sight.
• In Come See the Paradise, an Asian woman falls in love with a white man at first sight.
• In LAX, a Filipina woman immigrates to America to marry a white man, who refers to her as "China Doll." Her character epitomizes the subservient, exotic, hypersexual Asian female who is the focus of a white man's desire.
• In Miss Saigon, there were protests that the lead Asian female role was seen as a stereotypically submissive one.
• In the TV show Lost, a Korean woman is portrayed as submissive (at first).

It is common to see a white man paired with an Asian woman (or non-white woman) in western movies, but seldom is an Asian man paired with a white woman. Asian women are often depicted as easily falling in love with white men. This depiction has been termed the "unmotivated white-Asian romance", as the Asian woman usually falls in love with a man only because he is white (MANAA). In Daughter of the Dragon, the daughter of Fu Manchu lays her eyes on a British detective and instantly falls in love with him. Miss Saigon and Come See the Paradise also contain scenes where Asian women fall in love with white men at first sight.

Gwen Stefani's fashion-accessory-like entourage of four Japanese Harajuku Girls also perpetuates stereotypes of exoticism and the submissive Asian woman. Stefani's adoption of this component of Japanese culture drew criticism from Mihi Ahn at Salon.com, and others who feel that Stefani has stripped Japanese street fashion of its authenticity and created yet another example of the 'submissive Asian female' stereotype^[41]. According to the Jan/Feb 2006 edition of Blender magazine, stand-up comic Margaret Cho has labeled the Harajuku Girls as a "minstrel show" that reinforces ethnic stereotypes of Asian women.

[edit] The "Dragon Lady" stereotype

The "Dragon Lady" stereotype refers to a seductive, untrustworthy Asian woman. This would seem to contradict the "China doll" notion of submissiveness and attractiveness. Movies and novels dating to the early 20th century have promoted this stereotype. The Fu Manchu novels are examples of some works that depict the Dragon Lady stereotype — a classic example is the character of Fu Manchu's daughter. For the most part, the Dragon Lady is the female version of the "Asian bad guy" stereotype. The difference is that, whereas the Asian bad guy uses his martial arts, the Dragon Lady uses her hypersexuality to gain the trust of white male characters, only to betray them when they least expect it (at least, until her eventual defeat by the white male protagonist).

Some recent examples of the Dragon Lady stereotype in American film include: Miho (played by Devon Aoki) in Sin City, and Gogo Yubari (played by Chiaki Kuriyama) and O-Ren Ishii (played by Lucy Liu) in Kill Bill.

[edit] Stereotype associated with sexual slavery

In Australia in 2001, Vivian Solon, an Australian citizen, was unlawfully removed to the Philippines by the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). In May 2005, it became public knowledge that she had been deported, although DIMIA knew of their mistake in 2003. Solon's family had listed her as a missing person since July 2003, and until May 2005, did not know that she had been deported. Solon had been admitted to a hospital with head injuries. DIMIA officers presumed that Solon was an illegal immigrant, and did not do proper background checks to identify her or her nationality. Her file contained a handwritten note, which was not dated or signed by anyone, which stated:

"Smuggled into Australia as a sex slave. Wants to return to the Philippines. Has been physically abused."

The Government inquiry into the matter concluded that DIMIA officials had simply acted on unfounded assumptions about Solon, rather than discovering real evidence. These assumptions were based on stereotypes about Asian women and their occupation in Australia.^[42]

[edit] All Asians look alike

There exists the stereotype that there is very little phenotypic variation among Asians, and that all Asians, regardless of country of origin, look physically alike. For example, during a fight scene with a bunch of Chinese men in Rush Hour 2, Chris Tucker accidentally punches Jackie Chan, and apologizes by saying, "Y'all look alike!" This stereotype makes people believe that all Asians, whether from Japan, SE asia, etc. is all the same.

[edit] Relegation to supporting roles

Asians are often relegated to supporting roles in projects with Asian or Asian American content. Even when a project features Asian subject matter, the main character will still usually be white. For example, the internment camp movie Come See the Paradise focused on a white protagonist, pushing its Japanese American characters into the background, while The Last Samurai portrays the last surviving Samurai as a white American.* However, The Last Emperor and The Joy Luck Club were popular films with Asian and Asian American actors in lead roles.

• Note 1: The Last Samurai is portrayed as Tom Cruise, a white man, being the last samurai. The movie is more about Samurai with Tom Cruise's character, as he is the real Last Samurai. The character that Tom Cruise plays has never once been claimed as a samurai. More accurately, he is a Japanophile or Nipponophile, a foreign person who has a particular interest in and fondness for Japanese culture.

• Note 2: The word "Samurai", like many other words in Japanese, does not distinguish between singular and plural. The Last Samurai is actually titled after the the group of Japanese Samurai shown in the movie, not Tom Cruise's character, as he was never a Samurai. Due to the ambiguity of whether Samurai is singular or plural, the title of the movie may be misinterpreted.

[edit] Stereotypes of Asian workforce

Asian Americans are often depicted in the media^{[citation needed]} in a limited and predictable range of jobs: restaurant workers, Japanese businessmen, TV anchorwomen, martial artists, gangsters, faith healers, laundry workers, domestic maids, nannies and prostitutes. This misrepresents the diversity of the Asian American workforce. However Asian Americans are also stereotypically perceived as lower-class despite getting professional jobs or having a good education.

The common^{[citation needed]} "Asian man with a calculator" stereotype is to describe a majority of Asians who are stereotypically assumed to be physically imcompetent for blue collar labor, in both strength and dexerity, and thus must excel in mental sciences like mathematics to obtain a desirable future.

[edit] Central and Western Asians

Main article: Stereotypes of Central and Western Asians

Central Asia especially the Former Soviet-bloc, is often seen as a backwards region, where everyone lives on subsistence farming, and everyone has strange customs. Recently, Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional reporter from Kazakhstan, has created controversy by taking advantage of Western audiences' lack of knowledge of Kazakhstan by creating false facts about Kazakhstan, that are often dubious in nature ("Throw The Jew Down The Well" is Kazakhstan's national folk song, and him being "Kazakhstan's sixth most popular journalist, for example.) Kazakhstan retaliated against Borat by removing his .Kz Website from the internet.[3]

[edit] See also

• Orientalism
• Stereotypes of South Asians
• Angry Asian Man
• Asian fetish
• Model Minority
• Yellow Peril
• Shanghai woman
• Ethnic stereotype
• Ethnic stereotypes in American media
• Ethnic stereotypes in popular culture
• Ethnic stereotypes in pornography
• Stereotype threat
• Racial profiling

[edit] References

1. ^ Asians in United States have lower motor vehicle crash death rate on average than other groups. Source: Hani K. Atrash. Health Disparities in the United States: Challenges and Opportunities. Nebraska Health and Human Services System. July 12, 2006. p. 6.
2. ^ Amy Kashiwabara, "Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media," UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, 1996.
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17. ^
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33. ^
34. ^ The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
35. ^ Daughter of Fu Manchu (1931)
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37. ^ Tajima, R. (1989). Lotus blossoms don't bleed: Images of Asian women., Asian Women United of California's Making waves: An anthology of writings by and about Asian American women, (pp 308-317), Beacon Press.
38. ^ Kim, Elaine (1984). "Asian American writers: A bibliographical review". American Studies International 22 (2): 41-78..
39. ^ Ford, Staci. "Portrayal of Genders and Generation, East and West: Suzie Wong in the Noble House". Retrieved on Jun 25, 2006.
40. ^ Prasso, Sheridan (2005). The Asian Mystique. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books, p.87.
41. ^ MiHi Ahn. Gwenihana Gwen Stefani neuters Japanese street fashion... Salon.com. 9 April 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2006.
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[edit] External links

• Asian-Nation: Anti-Asian Prejudice & Racism
• Asians/Asian Americans in Film and Television Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
• Asians/Asian Americans in Film and Television Videography (via UC Berkeley)
• Model Minority.com
• [4] An online quiz which tests the taker's ability to differentiate persons of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean origin.