The following are just some thoughts I had about today’s discussion. Writing has historically been dominated by the white male. What was the reaction to Asian Americans, typically deemed good at math and science, publishing? As we learned in class, publishing is more difficult for Asian Americans. How strong does their voice and claim have to be to be heard? I was also curious how the results of the study we read might have changed if there were more men interviewed.
Some Questions I Had For Class Today
I wanted to respond spefically to your question on how it may have changed if more men were interviewed. One of the first things I noticed reading this article was the small sample size. While a lot of good anecdotes and information came from this group, I feel that it would significantly change the results and perhaps the categories of microagressions if there were more people interviewed. Similarly, in class we talked about the different roles Asian men and Asian women are expected to play: the martial arts expert, asexualized man and the fetishized, submissive woman. While I feel like the feminine stereotype was present in the article under the theme of “Exoticization of Asian American Women” the masculine one was not. I can’t help but think this may have been different if more men were interviewed.
I wanted to respond to your question about how strong their voice has to be to be heard and respected not only because of stereotypes but because of prejudice and racism. I don’t really have an answer just kind of an add on to it by considering the amount of pressure on minority writers to use their voice for the movement and to raise awareness. I know we discussed in class how writer feel that pressure not only from publishers and audiences but from other writers of that topic and genre,
Many of the books we are reading were published before the “Asians are good at math and science” stereotype even appeared in American culture. As we talked about in class, many Asian people came to America to work as laborers. The math and science stereotype came later. I think that American culture was even less likely to take them seriously because of this. Although many of the Asian Americans at the time were educated, the broader American culture did not treat them that way.
This doesn’t really answer your question fully, but I think it is an important note.