Media Stereotypes of Asian American - Essay Example

Media Stereotypes of Asian American By 08 April Media Stereotypes of Asian Americans The term stereotype has long been used to define a set ofpeople with similar activities and labeled by the society due to those traits. “A stereotype is a collection of traits along with the meaning and position of centrality of each trait and a description of the target group along with an estimation of the degree of homogeneity within that group.” (Spears, Oakes, Ellemers, and Haslam 76) The stereotyping of Asian American in the American media is a very prominent one.

For centuries Asian Americans have faced the severe stereotyping from the rest of America. They have been shown portraying a typical role in the media especially in movies and sitcoms. The minority presence of this group of people makes it even more difficult to cut through the stereotypical behavior of the natives of the country. The media which is the major source of projecting the image of the Asian American can be called biased when showing the traits and personalities of this group of people in their movies.

They show them rowdy and ill-mannered through the roles in their movies. The women are merely shown as desperate housewives and the males are shown as involved in some street crime or a terrorist activity on local and international level. The Asian men as shown in the US media lack self confidence and intellect. They are shown as outrageous people with desire for violence and are low in intelligence quotient as compared to the rest of the US male population. These Asian Americans are shown either unemployed or in a non-glorified job.

They are mainly shown as working in small stores as salesperson where they are abused by the customers or driving taxis etc. it’s a rare to see an Asian American actors as a high ranking official. Also Asian Americans are shown living the lowest possible standard of living with large number of kids. These are the main traits this group is associated with in the American society. The origination of the stereotypical behaviors is from the stories of the eastern society as told by the media. Although most of these societies are in the developing stage, they have really shown remarkable economic improvements as opposed to their past performances.

The perception of the struggling east is no longer true but the media is not taking part to change the dense stereotypical clouds shadowing the minds of the general US population. The continuation of the stereotypical behavior of the rest of the US towards their Asian American counterpart is the lack of personal exposure to these people. Most of these Asian Americans live in their own colonies and hence the rest of the population gets a minimum exposure of these people. Therefore, the opinion they form of these Asians living in their country is through media.

The lack of personal contact is mainly responsible for the on going stereotyping of the Asian Americans. In order to work towards removing the stereotypical behavior of the general public towards the Asian American one needs to understand this group of people personally. The media also needs to revise its judgment to a practical level and show the actual image of the Asian Americans. The society that encompasses stereotypical behavior is an unhealthy one and we all need to work together to get rid of such taboos and make the society a better one to live in.

Reference Cited Spears, Russell, Penelope J. Oakes, Naomi Ellemers, and S. Alexander Haslam. The Social Psychology of Stereotyping and Group Life. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1997. 76. Print.