Stereotypes: 4
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Issue 31 of this newsletter! It’s the fourth week of our Stereotypes series, and this week we focus on the Asian-American community. My partner Richard—who is Chinese, Korean and Puerto Rican—and I are a part of the 3% of the US population that are in an interracial couple comprised of a predominantly Asian male and Hispanic female, according to Pew Research. In creating this newsletter, as I did when creating my newsletter about Anti Asian Violence During COVID, I asked him about his experiences in America as someone who identifies and exists in this society as an Asian man. From fetishization to emasculation to feeling like a perpetual outsider, his experiences are similar to those of many Asian-Americans. If you’re looking for more history and background, definitely read this past newsletter, today we’ll be breaking down some specific stereotypes and connecting it to the past. Let’s get into it!
Key Terms
Xenophobia: The fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an ingroup and an outgroup and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic or racial identity.
Chinese Exclusion Act: In the spring of 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur. This act provided an absolute 10-year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. For the first time, Federal law proscribed entry of an ethnic working group on the premise that it endangered the good order of certain localities.
Japanese Internment Camps: These were established during World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945, it was the policy of the U.S. government that people of Japanese descent would be interred in isolated camps. Enacted in reaction to Pearl Harbor and the ensuing war, the Japanese internment camps are now considered one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights in the 20th century.
Let’s Get Into It
For more on Yellow Peril, the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese Internment Camps and other background, read this newsletter first.
Asian Americans, who represent 6% of the US population, report less discrimination in employment, housing and criminal justice compared with other racial minorities in the United States (Discrimination in America, Harvard Opinion Research Program, 2018). But they often fall victim to a unique set of stereotypes—including the false belief that all Asian Americans are successful and well adapted. Let’s dive into the most common.
Model Minority: East Asians in the United States have been stereotyped as possessing positive traits such as being seen as being hardworking, industrious, studious, and intelligent people who have elevated their socioeconomic standing through merit, persistence, self-discipline and diligence. Between 1940 and 1970, Asian Americans not only surpassed African Americans in average household earnings, but they also closed the wage gap with whites. Hilger’s research suggests that Asian Americans started to earn more because their fellow Americans became less racist toward them. Embracing Asian Americans “provided a powerful means for the United States to proclaim itself a racial democracy and thereby credentialed to assume the leadership of the free world,” Ellen Wu writes in her book “The Color of Success”. Stories about Asian American success were turned into propaganda. By the 1960s, anxieties about the civil right movement caused white Americans to further invest in positive portrayals of Asian Americans. The image of the hard-working Asian became an extremely convenient way to deny the demands of African Americans. Both liberal and conservative politicians pumped up the image of Asian Americans as a way to shift the blame for Black poverty. This is the birth of the Model Minority stereotype.
Yellow Peril: The term “yellow peril” originated in the 1800s, when Chinese laborers were brought to the United States to replace emancipated Black communities as a cheap source of labor. Chinese laborers made less than their white counterparts, and also became victims of racist backlash from white workers who saw them as a threat to their livelihood. This fear led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first law to restrict immigration based on race. Overall, Yellow Peril is the fear of the Asian man coming to America to take jobs away from the white population.
Forever Foreigner: The Forever Foreigner is constantly asked, “Where are you really from?” Asian characters are often portrayed as being unable to assimilate, speak English and create a sense of home in America. This idea helped lay the groundwork for Japanese internment during World War II, when Japanese American citizens were sent to detention camps solely on the basis of their ethnicity, due to suspicions that they were abetting the Japanese government in some way. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Islamophobia toward Muslim Americans and prejudice toward South Asian Americans was similarly fueled by assumptions that people were not loyal to the United States because of their religion, ethnicity and external appearance.
ABG (Asian Baby Girl): Asian Baby Girls are seen as rebellious, replacing polite, studious cultural norms with being loud and taking up space; however, there are both negative and positive connotations for those that are self proclaimed ABGs. Birthed out of 90s club culture, it’s described here by NY locals as a reaction to Chinatown gangs being largely imprisoned, and the community that was left creating this subculture of Asian Baby Gangsters. Asian Baby Gangsters sprang up as a way to gain social capital, a familiar teenage defence mechanism to fit in and advance themselves within their communities. It’s taken on various characteristics since the 90s but is used frequently on TikTok and Instagram today as both a self proclaimed title, and a jab at an Asian girl, similar to the “Dumb Blonde” stereotype.
Effeminate Asian Man: As a way of minimizing the threat posed by Chinese men -- who were often portrayed as stealing white Americans' jobs and women -- Asians were characterized as passive, effeminate and weak. These stereotypes were further promoted in movies, where white actors like Mickey Rooney (Mr. Yunioshi in "Breakfast at Tiffany's") and Warner Oland (who played both Fu Manchu and the fictional detective Charlie Chan), used thick, stunted accents and exaggerated mannerisms to reinforce existing stereotypes, ridiculing or villainizing Asian men as a form of entertainment.
Dragon Lady: The dragon lady is a stereotype portraying East Asian women as domineering, deceitful, mysterious and sexually alluring creatures. The stereotype finds its history in the Yellow Peril movement and the Pace Act of 1875, which barred Asian women from entering the US. This not only branded the women as unwelcome, but also essentially a threat to white supremacy. Another view is that the dragon woman is someone who needs to be “civilized” for western culture. The U.S. military contributed to this conception of Asian women as hypersexualized. During the wars in the Philippines at the start of the 19th century, and during the mid-20th-century wars in Korea and Vietnam, servicemen took advantage of women who had turned to sex work in response to their lives being wrecked by war.
The Lotus Blossom: The Lotus Blossom Lady, also known as China Doll or Geisha Girl, is the very symbol of feminine Asian “flowers” – the complete opposite of the sexual Dragon Lady. The modest butterfly known as the Lotus Blossom Lady is demure, innocent, gentle, but most of all, obedient.Unlike the Dragon Lady who needs to be conquered, the gentle China Doll needs to be saved by the Western man, someone who can take care of her fragile, almost child-like self. Above all, she is a good girl, making her the perfect wife.
Like every community we have discussed thus far, the Asian-American community is complex, multifaceted and far from a monolith. Next week, let’s talk about stereotypes surrounding the Indigenous community in The United States. See ya there!
