Home > Bibliographies > AAST298J (Spring 2004)

Asian Americans in the Media by Silvy Song

Book Articles or Chapters

• Cheng, Lucie and Philip Q. Yang. "The 'Model Minority' Deconstructed." Contemporary Asian America: a Multidisciplinary Reader. Eds. Min Zhou and James V. Gatewood. New York: New York University Press, 2000. 459-82.
• "The Media Action Network for Asian Americans Condemns Hollywood Stereotypes." Major Problems in Asian American History. Eds. Lon Kurashige and Alice Yang-Murray. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 470-472.

  This document pinpoints specific Asian American stereotypes that are too often seen on the screen and explains why such portrayals are inaccurate and should be opposed. Each stereotype is broken down with a simple suggestion offered to counter each image. These "stereotype-busters" are simple and make it seem as though breaking through these stereotypes will be easy and only require a simple answer. Since these stereotypes have complex histories, it is unreasonable to expect that simple solutions will solve the problem in the end.

• Wu, Frank. "The Model Minority." Yellow: Race in American Beyond Black and White. New York: Basic Books. 2002. 39-77.

Journal Articles

• Fujioka, Janine Midori. "Abating Stereotypical Attitudes: Views on Career Paths of an Asian American Comedian." Career Development Quarterly 39 (1991): 337-340.
• Lipstiz, George. "Monitored Peril: Asian Americans and the Politics of TV Representations." Journal of Asian American Studies 1 (1998): 104-107
• Mok, Theresa. "Getting the Message: Media Images and Stereotypes and Their Effect on Asian Americans." Cultural Diversity and Mental Health 4 (1998): 185-202.

Journal Articles on the Internet

• Gerbner, George. Casting the American Scene: a Look at the Characters on Prime Time and Daytime Television From 1994-1997. Temple University. Screen Actors Guild, 1998. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.media-awareness.ca/.../Casting-the-American-Scene-Report-pdf.pdf>.

Newspaper or Magazine Articles

• Frutkin, Alan James. "The Faces In the Glass Are Rarely Theirs." New York Times 24 Dec. 2000, late ed., sec. 2: 31.

Newspaper or Magazine Articles on the Internet

• Brislin, Tom. "Media Stereotypes & Code Words: Let's Call Media to Task for Promoting Stereotypes." Honolulu Advertiser. February 23, 1997. Date Accessed: 14 Aug. 2006. <http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tbrislin/stereo.html>.
• Ha, Tran. "Asian Sightings: Looking Past the Stereotypes." Poynter Online. March 13, 2000. The Poynter Institute. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.3572/content.content_view.htm>.
• Patterson, John. "Minority Model: John Patterson Reckons Lucy Liu Could Smash Stereotypes about Asian American Women- Given the Chance." Guardian Unlimited. August 24, 2003. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://film.guardian.co.uk/patterson/story/0,12830,1027682,00.html>.
• Wang, Oliver. "Asian Americans and Hip-Hop." Asian Week. Nov. 12, 1998. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.asianweek.com/111298/coverstory.html>.

  Asian American youth are increasingly drawn to hip hop culture which has long been associated with African Americans. Only recently have Caucasians turned hip-hop into a black and white cultural phenomena. There are plenty of Asian American DJs, rappers, and b-boys/b-girls, but they are not being given proper respect or visibility due to perceptions of Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners, non-English speaking, and submissive. According to Oliver Wang, Asian Americans have a long way to go before we are fully accepted as critical contributors to this influential youth movement. This article was written in 1998, and since then things have improved a bit. In recent years, we have faces like Jin the MC, a pioneer for Asian Americans in hip-hop.

Website Articles

• "Are AA Women the Real Victims of Prejudice?" Asian American Issues. April 8, 2003. Goldsea. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://goldsea.com/Air/Issues/AAF/aaf.html>.

  Hollywood is credited with spreading stereotypes that surround Asian American women today. Mainstream media perpetuates stereotypes associates with Asian American women such as sexual accessories to white heroes, subservient geishas, and exotic pieces of meat. Asian American women are more prevalent in mass media and are shown in a more positive light than their male counterparts. While the article acknowledges that these stereotypes emerged because of historical events, it emphasizes the victimization of Asian American women in the long run.

• Ariga, Tracey Tamae. "When Exoticism Meets Racism." Articles: Eurasian Experience. Dec. 2003. Eurasian Nation. Date Accessed: 14 Aug. 2006. <http://www.eurasiannation.com/articlesea2003-12exoticism.htm>.

  This article begins with a scenario in a bar where a non-Asian American man approaches an Asian American woman. At first, everything goes smoothly but then he begins to insult her background and reveal his own bigoted views about those who are different from him. This article discusses themes that differ from most other sources included in this bibliography because it dives into issues about being multi-racial along with being Asian American. Asian Caucasian and Asian African Americans are rarely identified as people of Asian descent unless their features are prominent. Successful biracial Asians are encouraged not to reveal their Asian heritage. Working in an industry were looking Asian threatens careers, Asian American multi-racial actors are disturbed by the perception that one half of their ancestry is superior to the other. Nevertheless, this very perception is the one that helped them succeed, because if they looked Asian, their success and popularity would undoubtedly be threatened.

• Hsia, Vincent. "In-Depth Interview with Greg Pak." Asian American Film: Features. April 10, 2004. Pak Man Productions. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.asianamericanfilm.com/archives/000676.html>.
• Huang, Joan. "'The Debut' Debuts at VC FilmFest 2000." Asian American Film: Reviews. May 18, 2000. Pak Man Productions. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.asianamericanfilm.com/archives/000422.html>.
• Kagy, Tom. "Money, Media, & the Asian American Image." Asian American Media Watch. 2006. GoldSea. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://goldsea.com/Mediawatch/Moneymedia/moneymedia.html>.

  The few positive images of Asian Americans portrayed in the media are not enough to compensate for the overwhelming number of negative images constantly broadcast over public airways. In this article, the media is exposed as a massive money making monopoly with a tight grasp on people's minds. Citing historically relevant movies such as Miss Saigon and the controversial musical Madame Butterfly, the author succeeds in pulling the audience closer into the core of the problem. Statistics convincingly support the author's arguments. California's Asian American population is 13%, and 40% of upper-class luxury cars in California are sold to Asian Americans. This shows how influential Asian Americans could be due to their financial success. Asian Americans should influence advertisers to support media outlets that provide positive coverage of Asian Americans.

• Ly, Maly. "San Diego Film Teacher Inspires Hmong Writer." Asian American Film: Features. April 13, 2004. Pak Man Productions. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.asianamericanfilm.com/archives/000679.html>.
• Major, Wade. "Hollywood's Asian Strategy." Asian American Features. GoldSea. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://goldsea.com/Features/Strategy/strategy.html>.

  Films with Asian American content are rare. While Asian Americans are known to be financially successful, Hollywood has not put much effort in pursuing this demographic. China's movie industry is increasingly experiencing success. Yet the U.S. film industry is hesitant to even feature Asian Americans in major roles. Unfortunately, there is still a problem with Asian American actors being cast as typical "alpha-Asians."

• Su, Jennifer. "Where Are the Asian American Male TV Broadcasters?" ModelMinority: a Guide to Asian American Empowerment. August 9, 2002. ModelMinority.com. Date Accessed: 14 Aug. 2006. <http://www.modelminority.com/printout251.html>.

  According to this article, Asian American women anchors outnumber Asian American male anchors 13 to 1. In a trend started by Connie Chung, broadcast television has hired almost exclusively white, black, and Asian American women. As a result, agents report that Asian American males are no longer seeking anchor jobs. Although the salaries for the men and women may stay relatively equal, an Asian American male may be discouraged from pursuing a career in broadcast television due to the belief of traditional Asian parents that it is not a masculine or prestigious job for males. Whatever the reasons, this development is creating a double standard and a rift between APA males and females in the field.

• "Why the Media Bias Against Asians?" Asian American Issues. October 17, 2001. GoldSea. Date Accessed: 14 Aug. 2006. <http://goldsea.com/Air/Issues/Media/media_11017.html>.

Websites

• Kashiwabara, Amy. "Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media." Senior honors thesis, University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley Multimedia Research Center. 1996. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Amydoc.html>.
• Kiang, Peter. "Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans." AskAsia.org: Background Essays. 1998. Asia Society. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=27&era=&grade=&geo=>.
• Mahdzan, Farah and Norlinda Ziegler. "Asian Americans: An Analysis of Negative Stereotypical Characters in Popular Media." July 4, 2001. Mahdzan.com. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.mahdzan.com/fairy/papers/asian/index.htm>.
• Media Portrayal Project. Ed. Andrew Chin. Democracy Web. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://www.democracyweb.com/asian/media/index.htm>.

  In contrast with other sources on Asian Americans in the media, this website breaks away from the normal paragraph-style article and cites specific examples of a few stereotypes being reinforced in the media. By pinpointing specific shows and names, the readers realize many of these stereotypical depictions go unnoticed and plague many of the shows we watch everyday. Not surprisingly, the section listing instances of positive portrayals of Asian Americans is sparse.

• Tangonan, Janelle. "Making Meaning Out of Margaret Cho: Identity, Representation, Authenticity." 2001. JTango.com. Date Accessed: 14 Aug. 2006. <http://www.usfamily.net/web/mcarl303/jtango/contents.html>.
• Tintiangco-Cubales, Allyson. Asian American Women. Course home page. Fall 2001. College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University. Date Accessed: 12 Aug. 2006. <http://eths.sfsu.edu/aas603f2001/Media.htm>.