How a Minority Group of Women Are Portrayed in the Media - Coursework Example

Running head: Women Psychology Women Psychology Institute’s For most of history, anonymous was a woman –Virginia Woolf. How aptlyput. Even Jane Austen, when first she wrote a novel, wrote it under a pseudonym. This was because the idea that a woman could be bold enough to write a novel was scandalous. That was a man’s job. Women had no business trying to enter the world of men. But that was the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Now is a different story. Women have come a long way since then. Women emancipation movements, the women liberation movement, feminism, all have helped girls/women gain rights they previously had only dreamed of. But have we entered a world of equality? Do we walk on the same footing as men? Indeed, we do. In countries like the United States of America, women have the same rights as men. This is NOT the case all over the world, but nations like USA have walked a long road to be able to reach this point. Yet still, women claim they do not have equality. Why is that? Why is it that women fight for gender equality? On paper, everything seems to have been given to them, right? Wrong; women fight still because while they may have the rights, sexism is still there in the hearts of many. If a man sleeps with women a lot, he is a ‘player’, a word that has respect associated to it. If a woman sleeps with men a lot, she is a ‘slut’, a word that is used purely in an insulting way and is derogatory. They are seen first and foremost in the role which society has deemed fit for them; mother, wife and daughter. A man can be seen as he wants to be seen, a woman is always seen first as the society wants to see her. In the English language, the third person is reefed to as he/him/his. Human beings are called mankind. The English language holds many faults. In workplaces, men are prone to get more respect than women for the same job done. In the world of media, male actors are paid higher than female actors. The worst aspect of the world of media, however, is that women are first seen as a body, not as a person. At the Oscars 2013, Seth Macfarlane hosted the show and sang a song pointing out different actresses whose breasts had been exposed on TV, called, “I saw your boobs”. No song for the male actors and their anatomy was sung. Because still, all we see first in women is their body. If a man exposes his body on the screen; that is called art. If a woman does the same, it becomes a matter of crude statements. Take advertisements for instance. When promoting a bike, a woman is always shown to be splaying over the bike or something that is equally cheesy. Why? What does a woman’s body have to do with the motorbike? For this paper, I have decided to write on the role of Asian American women portrayed in media. The USA carries a large population of Asian American women. They are from all parts of Asia; China, Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Many, especially in my generation, were born in the US and live as per her culture, and yet still they face bias, promoted mostly by the media. There are numerous stereotypes surrounding Asians; Indians are computer maestros, Pakistanis are terrorists, Koreans and Chinese are great with numbers and etc. East Asian women are seen as gold diggers, aggressive and opportunistic by the media. They are portrayed as cunning creatures, masters in sexual arts and ruthless/insensitive in all areas of life. But most importantly, Asian American women are shown as exotic, submissive and sexually deviant creatures by the media, nothing more. They ergo, not only face gender bias but ethnic as well. Take the famous Bollywood actresses, Aishwariya Rai Bachan and Frieda Pinto. Both were able to break into Hollywood not because of their acting but because of the exotic element of their race and ethnicities. Movies like Mistress of Spices, Immortals, etc all stress upon the exotic nature of these women. Media plays a massive role in promoting this stereotype. A research conducted by the Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, elucidated on how mass media sources such as television and movies place little or no focus on creating a positive image for Asian American women, and that in a society that places great emphasis on mono-racial beauty, the exoticism of their ethnicity is what helps them succeed in the world of media (Department of Psychological Sciences, 1998). Let us take the example of the hit TV show, Nikita, starring Maggie Q. While this show does not promote any typical Asian American stereotypes, the overtly covert message is sexism. The show stars an Asian American woman. This can be said to be a step forward for the ethnic minority. But is it really a move forward if the main focus of the show is the sexual appeal of Maggie Q. In fact, one of the posters has the slogan ‘looks do kill’ on it, the intention being of a witty pun since the show is about an assassin. In the world of acting, for a woman to be star of her own show, and for it to be successful is a big deal. For a woman of an ethnic minority like the Asian Americans, it’s an even bigger deal. However, look at the cost Maggie Q had to pay to come into this role. The stereotype of Asian American women being aggressive, sexual, and deviant forms the foundation of Nikita. While the story does focus on the plotline, the sexual factor in the show is extremely obvious. Instead of praising Maggie Q’s acting, her exotic beauty is praised first. Another example of the same stereotype can be seen in the movies and shows Lucy Liu stars in, one of Hollywood’s most famous and successful Asian American actresses. Her first major success was from her role as Ling Woo in the comedy-drama, Ally McBeal, a cunning ice queen who was well versed in the art of sex. Notice how her career took off from her playing into a stereotype. Just like Maggie’s role in Nikita, this role too was unlike the typical docile and submissive Asian American woman; however, it promoted the opposite stereotype about Asian American women. Another hit film of Lui is Charlie’s Angels. This movie too depicted the same stereotype about Asian American women, that of a dragon lady. “No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women. Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace - ­­they drag us away from our parents’ love and our sisters’ friendship – they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. And what does the best of them give us in return?” (Collins, 2003). This book was first published in 1860. Little has changed in the thinking of most people since then. While on the outward, we claim we want equality in both genders, on the inward, we fail to accept women as equal to men. We still see women’s prior role as that of a fragile and docile creature. And perhaps no one falls more into this stereotype than Asian American women. Matlin expounds upon this point in her book. She tells of how culture made it a must for Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese women etc. to be the docile creatures, which is further advertised by the media (Matlin, 2012). In fact, the media’s portrayal of these women is far-fetched but so strong (and on a humongous scale) that Asian American women find themselves believing these stereotypes. These biases and stereotypes give birth to insecurities amongst them. Eugenia Kaw wrote an article on the increase in cosmetic surgery of Asian American women, where they had their eyelids restructured, nose bridges heightened and tips of their noses changed (Kaw, 2009). These ridiculous surgeries are a result of media’s perspective on how Asian American women should look like. They fail to accept themselves as they are; instead, they try to look and behave like other races. A huge reason behind this is media. Media has given glitter and glamour to certain races, making all other ethnicities want to be like them. The result of this can be seen in the Asian American women, who are increasingly opting for surgery to restructure their features. In doing so, not only are they physically changing themselves, but psychologically speaking, these women are becoming insecure in their own skin and becoming confused between two separate identities. A surgery does not shed one of her identity. It takes more than a simple cosmetic surgery to make one forget their culture, ethnicity, race and identity. The psychological effects and trauma are bound to occur at some point in their lives due to this decision. In chapter 2 of book, Matlin writes of the study in which Asian American women were asked in different order questions about their ethnicity, gender and math. The results of this study were that, when reminded of their ethnicity, they performed well on the math part of the test, but when reminded of their gender, they performed relatively poorly on the math art of the test (Matlin, 2012). This proves exactly how deep an effect the stereotypes about ethnicities and gender can have on the psychology of inter-racial women. So deep in fact, that their work was affected by it. These stereotypes ignite insecurities in them that manifest so securely that they can even be passed down the generations. The role of media is an extremely hazardous one. Media does not look at the consequences of its actions. All it sees is what renders the greatest profit, what evokes the highest ratings. In the pursuit of self interest, the harm that is being inflicted upon these women is perilous. Asian American women suffer biases of race, ethnicity and gender. What is not needed is the dreadful role that media plays in depicting them in such a crude and (almost every time) incorrect way that they start seeing themselves as how media portrays them. Many of these Asian American women are refugees of war, or have immigrated as a result of marriage. They have issues like change of habitation, change of culture, home, job etc to deal with. They do not need more problems. The media, by depicting them in a certain way, cause great harm to their psychological well being. All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, that is his. -Oscar Wilde References Collins, W. (2003). Woman in WHite. Penguin Classics. Department of Psychological Sciences. (1998). Getting the message: media images and stereotypes and their effect on Asian Americans. NCBI - PubMed, 185-202. IMDb. (2010). Nikita. Retrieved from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592154/ Kaw, E. (2009). Medicalization of Racial Features: Asian American Women and Cosmetic Surgery. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 74-89. Matlin, M. W. (2012). The Psychology of Women. Wadsworth Publishing Company. Read More