From her annoyances about their families being around to her mocking of the Chinese language (actually, it's not really made apparent what language she is ridiculing, nor do I believe she has the capacity to understand that there exists different languages), this isn't new material, and it's certainly not the worst I've heard.
In fact, this girl wouldn't be alone if she brought up the other stinging stereotypes that permeate a race that is the fastest growing of all major ethnic groups in the US.
I don't want to condemn this country as a place that is ill suited to accommodate multiple races, but I can't be alone in saying that there is far too heavy a reliance on past actions dictating present standards.
There is a sense of stasis in the world of racial revolution where an Asian man or an Asian woman can't be described as who they are without their ethnic prefix as a determiner, setting in motion a wave of harmful preconceptions this country has not noticed enough to change.
I could go on about how these biases pervade multiple aspects of the Asian American life, but I want to look at what I believe to be at the center of a lot of this and that is the misrepresentation of Asian genders.
Eastern ideals have always been at odds with what the West has deemed appropriate for a gender.
For Asians, solidarity and group-mindedness outweigh the importance of self. This focus on the group rather than the individual plays out in a lot of cinema. Martial arts films such as "Legend of the Fist" star a protagonist whose sole motivation for the film is vengeance for his school's fallen master and to bring back honor for himself and his school. There is seldom a love interest in the vein of Western Hollywood where macho heroics win the girl. Being heroic means self sacrifice, wisdom, and loyalty; all non-active qualities.
American heroics by contrast often include independence, bravery, and notoriety. The hero always gets the girl and something probably blows up behind him.
While analyzing conventions in Western and Eastern film is one thing, it becomes another when these notions manifest themselves into actual opinions of people who are representative of these two cultures.
America was founded on the idea of independence. Confidence and self-reliance have always marked a great man in our culture. We consider facing a task alone to be brave and noble and find that dependence can equate weakness.
Asian culture is in no way ethnically more cowardly than our Western counterparts, there just isn't the desire to make such things so public. Asian men, then, come off as meek and effeminate. Asian men are typically portrayed in Western media as number crunchers and video game nerds. The only Asian men given any sort of respect for their physical prowess are the martial artists (and sadly, they've even taken that away from us).
Perhaps it is this de-masculinization that caused Asian men to be considered the least attractive race to females in America.
Asian women, on the other hand, suffer from quite the opposite: a hyper-sexualized opinion from the West.
Madama Butterfly tells the story of Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton, stationed in Japan who, upon leasing a house, also procures a geisha wife: Cio Cio San. Despite her family's objections, the two are wed with the Lieutenant knowing full well he will one day, instead, marry a "real wife."
When Pinkerton returns to America, Cio Cio (having given birth to their child) patiently awaits her husband despite advances from a Japanese prince.
When Pinkerton finally does return, it is with his new wife. And despite Cio Cio's maddening despair, she allows this to happen with no protest. Instead, she dutifully proceeds to take her own life.
What is illustrated here is the Western male fantasy of a submissive Asian bride. It doesn't help dispel this stereotype that Madama Butterfly is the most performed play in America. It perpetuates the idea that not only will Asian women submit to their male counterpart, but that they will do so willingly even more so then they would for their own race.
The other side of this stereotype is the "Dragon Lady." This exotic figure represents the mystique embodied by "Oriental" women. They provide the fantasy of an "aggressive or opportunistic sexual being." One of the more notable types of this character was Ling Woo, portrayed by Lucy Liu in the show "Ally McBeal."
This depiction of Asian women sets forth a series of promises that they simply cannot and should not fulfill. There is a certain fetishization of the Asian female simply because she is not understood or, rather, is thought to be understood.
These stereotypes play on the dominating tendencies of the West towards the East. Consider the occupation of India by Britain or the destruction the US laid upon Japan during WWII and it's easy to see how the East is commonly viewed as something to be conquered.
I'm not illustrating these points to raise the Asian American community's racial issues above those of the African or Latino/a variety nor is this an attempt to compete to see which minority has it worse.
I believe there is a certain insight that is missing from the general American public as far as just who and what we, as Asians, signify. When all anyone sees are Asians within the stereotypes set forth by how we are portrayed, there's little room to prove people wrong. These preconceived notions of what define an Asian man or woman are setting back any sense of progress other races have made in this country.
I don't want to have to play second fiddle to Tom Cruise or the Green Hornet.
I don't want to have to be good at math and breaking boards with my fists to be considered noteworthy.
Even more, I don't want my children growing up in a world that attempts to convince them that they are less than great.
I will hold on to our one role model, though. He's brave, adventurous, kind, and resourceful. Keep it up, kid...
love matty!
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