ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” is the first network television show in 20 years to be centered on an Asian-American family. It was preceded by Margaret Cho’s “All-American Girl”, which was cancelled in 1994. Since then, there have been only a minimal number of network television shows that center around Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans are underrepresented in media, and are often depicted using stereotypes that offend those of Asian descent. This type of treatment causes young Asian-Americans to experience mistreatment, and promotes prejudice in other ethnicities towards Asians.

Compared to the actual ratio of Asians to the total American population, Asians and Asian-Americans aren’t appearing in the media as often as they should be. In a study done by Molly Fitzpatrick and her team, which reviewed the “most recent season of every primetime scripted series to air on the five major networks since fall 2014,” it was found that “of the nearly 800 actors considered main cast members across more than 100 network TV shows, just 52 (6.6 percent) are of [full or partial] Asian descent” (Fitzpatrick, 2015). Additionally, the study showed that only 40 percent of shows had at least one Asian main cast member, 8 percent of shows had multiple Asian members in the main cast, there were only 3 shows with an Asian actor playing the main character, and only 6 that featured a co-lead being played by an Asian actor. These numbers are decidedly not impressive.

Of course, Asians compose one of the smallest racial minority groups in the United States. It isn’t that surprising that they are greatly outnumbered in the media by actors and characters who identify as Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic. Truthfully, Asians only make up 5.6 percent of America as of 2010. That’s actually lower than the 6.6 percent that make up main casts in network television. Doesn’t that mean that Asians are actually being overrepresented in the media? Not quite. While these numbers take into account the overall population of the United States, they do not take into account the populations of specific regions that these television programs are set in. For example, 20 of the 103 shows that were surveyed took place in New York City, where 12 percent of the population identifies as Asian. But in the programs that take place in New York City, “Asian-American actors represent just 5.8 percent of their main casts” (Fitzpatrick, 2015). Here’s the math— that’s less than half the actual population.

As seen through this information, Asians and Asian-Americans are obviously underrepresented in the media. The first harmful effect of this is that because there are so many cultures in Asia that don’t get represented, viewers of these television programs don’t get educated or become aware of the diverse cultures of Asia. Instead, the common mentality is that Asians are either Chinese, Japanese, or maybe Korean (if they’re lucky enough), and that they all have the same monolid eyes that most non-Asians will call ‘chinky’ or ‘squinty’. I definitely cannot count on one hand how many times I’ve been asked if I were Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or (because I lack monolid eyes) Hispanic. It wasn’t until I reached high school that the majority of my classmates could correctly guess that I was Filipino. This underrepresentation also harms young Asian viewers, who will watch their favorite shows and not see anyone that represents a culture that they are familiar with, causing them to become disconnected from their culture, an important part of a child’s life that can majorly shape them as they grow up, and send them the message that minorities like them are not wanted in the media.

When Asian characters are present in the media, they are often characterized by their race and are stereotypical and offensive. Most Asian-American characters become the ‘model minority’ stereotype, where they are depicted with antisocial tendencies and have little time to do anything but study. Asian women, no matter what their study habits, tend to be highly sexualized whether they are “silent suffering doormats [or] dragon ladies - cunning, deceitful, sexual provocateurs” (Cheng, 2014). Asian men are at the opposite end of the spectrum. They are completely desexualized and hold no romantic appeal. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an Asian-American in the lead role for a romantic comedy or an action superhero movie. Asians in general, when not nerds, sexual objects, or unappealing men, are plagued with occupational stereotypes such as South Asian taxi drivers— Ranjit from How I Met Your Mother— or foreigners who speak in thick, comical accents— Chang from Orange Is the New Black (Haque, 2014).

That isn’t to say that all Asian characters are victims to stereotypes or defined by their race. Lost’s Steven Yeun plays Glenn, who is basically an action hero who can fight off a horde of zombies while also being romantically appealing enough find a wife. John Cho managed to land the lead of Henry Higgs on ABC’s Selfie, which is a romantic comedy to the bone. In Grey’s Anatomy, Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang is a sarcastic surgeon who manages to be beautiful without being reduced to a pretty doll for viewers to look at, and smart without being a nerd with no life. There is even Lucy Liu, who was infamous for playing sexualized dragon ladies in the past, but has found the role of Joan Watson on Elementary; Dr.Watson’s race doesn't’ interfere with her character at all.

Even though are many great roles where Asian-American characters are well-written, it does not excuse the fact that racial stereotypes have been and are still a problem in the media today. In the popular family show Glee, Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang’s races are heavily emphasized. They couldn’t even find different last names for their only Asian characters. On a few occasions, they have even been referred to as ‘Asian’ and ‘Other Asian’  respectively. When these two become involved in a relationship (which plays on the stereotype that Asians only date within their race), their being Asian is mentioned throughout the extent of their relationship. The two meet at ‘Asian camp’ (where all the children are ‘model minority’ Asians), their kisses are referred to as ‘Asian kisses’, and one of the major problems in their relationship is that they never go on real dates, just eat dim sum with Mike’s mother. Mike himself replies that they need to go to ‘Asian couples therapy’. The writers could have emphasized on their race less and had the two get together at a regular summer camp, kiss normally like a non-Asian couple, and attend couples therapy because the two fight about always eating salad with Mike’s mother. But they didn’t, simply because they were Asian.

These types of stereotypes cause misconceptions about Asian-Americans and causes people of other races to treat them differently and expect them to act in a certain ways. This is especially common in the ‘model minority’ stereotype among young Asian students. Asian-Americans are expected to be overly-intelligent, studious, and get straight A’s. Non-Asians are bewildered when they find out that their Asian peer doesn’t get 100 percents on all tests, because that’s simply what being Asian means, isn’t it? Let’s not forget that when Asians actually do well in their academic career, their hard work is brushed off because it is simply expected by others around them. It especially bugged me when my friends told me, “It’s because you’re Asian.” This especially affects young Asian-Americans because they feel pressured to become the stereotype that everyone wants them to be. They must be prodigies and be in-touch with their culture— speak the language, enjoy native foods and traditions— but only when it’s convenient for others around them.

Asian-Americans and Asians in general are treated poorly in the media. They aren’t represented accurately, population-wise and character-wise. The stereotypes presented to viewers are often offensive to the Asian-American population and are harmful to the development of young Asian-Americans. As stated before, the misrepresentation of the Asian-American population harms Asian youths by placing expectations on them that stem from the stereotypes that people see on television. Whether or not these expectations are met, Asians still get discredited for their personalities, and their identity simply becomes the label of ‘Asian’.


References

Cheng, J. (2014). Sexploitation of the Asian American female body. Sitemaker. Retrieved from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/
Fitzpatrick, M. (2015, April 23). Of 800 main cast members on 100 network TV shows, just 52 (6%) are of Asian descent. Fusion. Retrieved from http://fusion.net/
Haque, Z. (2014, December 5). Representation of Asian Americans in film limited. NYU News. Retrieved from http://www.nyunews.com/