The single story: Asian Teenagers

My high school in a suburb of Dallas was huge with 1,300 people in my graduating class, and as such there was plenty of diversity. Although I was pretty average, my main friend group were in all AP classes, and were a part of the "smart" group. One of my friends was the child of Chinese immigrants, and although it was true that she was very smart and very hard working, we would constantly tease her about it. It never seemed cruel or unkind, partly because everyone at our school did it. In addition, most of the teens in the classic "smart group" at my school were of Indian, Korean, or Chinese decent. This is a single story told about Asian teens- that they are all incredibly smart and all love science and math.

This stereotype, just like all stereotype, is born from a kernel of truth. Most of the students in the math club or chess club at my school were of Asian decent. For example, when I google "high school math club," almost all the students that come up are Asian.

This idea is heavily perpetuated in pop culture. T.V. shows need to include a diverse cast, they will often throw in a smart Asian side kick. Rarely are Asians cast as competent main character. Some shows, such as the Suite Life of Zach and Cody try to break this pattern by giving their Asian character the exact opposite stereotype- but by being such an extreme caricature, she ends ends up telling the same single story.

These jokes are constantly told on social media, by friends and by Asian teens themselves. This story is perpetuated by this type of humor, and is even perpetrated by people like me and my friends. We didn't think we were being unkind or bullying in anyway because being smart must be a good thing. In fact, as mentioned above, my friend and many other accepted the stereotype and would change their choices accordingly.

 

Below are real-life examples of people perpetuating this single story.

This issue with this single story is that it is telling individuals at a very impressionable age that they are just this one thing, and because it is a positive thing, if they try to do anything else then they will not have that cultural identity and acceptance that we all crave.