Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Evolution of Asian Stereotypes and Subconscious Prejudice

So, in his book, Lee outlines the six progressions of Asian Stereotypes that developed historically in the United States. I find it interesting that in such a short amount of time, such different (and in some cases, contradictory) stereotypes of one group were created. Naturally, there are encompassing themes (mainly, the idea that Asians are alien to the United States), but for example, the "model minority" does not much resemble the "deviant" or the "coolie". While stereotypes naturally change and evolve for every group, I feel that these drastic flips in popular culture's view of a group is less common.

I'm wondering how people think this may have affected our society's attitude towards Asians, and specifically how it affects the internalized racism still rampant today (such as how Asians are still unconsciously viewed as alien, or how stereotyped images, characters, and ideas are allowed to exist in today's media with very little public outcry).

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