What is a Stereotype?
This entry was posted on 6/3/2007 9:49 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Stereotypes are a tricky thing. They're
everywhere - and we all do it. The important thing - I think - is
to recognize that they exist - and to respect the feelings of those
being stereotyped. On Thursday, Michelle and I attended a panel
entitled: "Shattering the Stereotypes: The Asian American Male
Identity." The panel was moderated by columnist Jeff Yang and
featured Survivor winner Yul Kwon and Aasif Mandvi of the Daily
Show. The panel was really interesting, and Michelle and I
certainly gained a lot of insight. As Asian-American women, we're
very familiar with stereotypes of Asian women but we can't claim to
have the same kind of understanding of the Asian male
perspective. The panelists were all great and in addition to
speaking about Asian male stereotypes, they also spoke of issues that
we've often addressed at our events. Yul, in particular, talked
about the importance of Asians in high positions using their influence
to mentor and hopefully inspire other Asians, as well as the need to
encourage Asians to follow their passions instead of the conventional
path. As those of you who have attended our events know, these
are issues that are near and dear to our heart.
One somewhat negative sidenote to an otherwise
wonderful panel was a conversation I had with an older Caucasian man
who approached me. After chatting about the panel, he mentioned that he
thought the panel was somewhat "intense." When I asked him what
he meant, he told my cousin and me that he was sure that we had never
had to deal with any stereotypes. I told him that unfortunately, that
was not the case, and that we had dealt with a lot of stereotypes. Not
only did he seem shocked by this, but he then went on to talk about how
he loved it when Asian people asked him if their English was
good. By the time he started talking about the Virginia Tech
shooter, I had had enough. The astonishing thing is that I
believe he came to the panel because he genuinely believes himself to
be a supporter of the Asian culture. I still don't think he
understands how he was perpetuating stereotypes with his comments -
which just goes to show how insidious stereotypes can be.
Similarly, a self-described Caucasian man informed us that he felt our
portrayal of Asian women was stereotypical and untrue and did not match
what he knew of Asian women (he is apparently married to one).
Now, while I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions, I find it
interesting that it was this non-Asian man - rather than his Asian wife
- who was making these statements. What is that saying? "You
can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked
a mile in their shoes." Let's all try to keep that in mind before
we make any presumptions about someone else's experiences...
After attending the panel, Michelle and I certainly
have that saying in mind. Here's a picture of us (and our other cousin Chantal) with one of the
panelists, Yul:
