Creative Assignment #2 - The Single Story (of Asian American Students)

Here are a few of the "artifacts" I found to illustrate the way young Asian Americans are portrayed in the media:

It is common in American media to see Asian American students portrayed as many different things, just a few being: innately good at math and sciences, born as musical prodigies, obsessed with studying and academics, and/or quiet outcasts who are "not cool enough," as quoted by Lawrence from School of Rock.  It is clear that many of these stereotypes are presented in just short clips shown in our media, and through the repetition of similar ideas like these, a "single story" has been formed about this social group.  For example, Lawrence from School of Rock was the character created to be the shy, uncool Asian American student who is implied to have been a master pianist from a young age.  Additionally, the Family Guy clips illustrate in just a few short seconds the stereotypes that Asian Americans were born with an uncanny ability to excel in math and sciences.  Messages such as these that are being communicated make a difference in our culture because it makes non-Asian Americans ignorant to the fact that members of this social group collectively have many, many different talents and desires for their future than we assume.  We cannot hold them to the standard of being good at certain subjects because - just like any other student - they may not even enjoy or be good at the subjects deemed as "typical" for Asian American students.

This was an interesting social group for me to ponder because it seems that most of the things we automatically assume these students to live up to are positive attributes and talents - where could the harm be in that?  However, I have learned that this type of stereotyping is called a "model minority stereotype," and can be just as detrimental to their self-esteem as negative stereotypes.  In cases such as these, people are held up to such high standards that they feel that anything different is looked down upon.  It is much like how an average sized model would feel in the world of beauty and fashion.  Because the standard has been set for models to be thin in order to be beautiful, a woman weighing even ten pounds more than her peers would feel that she is "fat," just because she isn't living up to the standard that society has labeled as positive.

It is exactly in this way that Asian American students have been painted in a light that is seemingly positive, but in reality can have a great impact on their confidence.  It is unfair to set such expectations on these students, because if they were to choose to study fields such as Journalism or Photography, some people would be confused why they aren't "living up to their potential," immediately assuming that they are simply pushing aside their abilities to succeed as a doctor or a scientist.  This "type" or category that society has dumped them into could in fact be a positive influence in their lives, or possibly more likely, could be a harmful stereotype placed on them, that is greatly limiting US from seeing the potential that members of this social group have in all different facets of life.