As the daughter of two Asian
immigrant parents, I am no stranger to stereotypes. I've probably heard them
all--short, bad driver, smarter than average. For years, I've told myself that
I would defy these stereotypes—maybe not the short part, but “I will be a
wonderful driver, thank you very much.” However, the more that I think about
it, the more that I realize that I am not ashamed to fall into every single Asian
stereotype.
(I don't know martial arts, but I wish I did).
Stereotypes were not created out of thin air—they are stereotypes
because they are common. Do all Canadians have a fiery passion for hockey? No, but a lot of them do. Are all Caucasian
girls clad in a long Northface parka and Uggs in the winter time? No, but a lot of them are. We create our
own stereotypes—people did not originally jump to conclusions about a certain
group of people to shame them, but instead to speak what they know and what
they have observed. I’m not saying that it is acceptable to stereotype.
However, I am saying that it is inevitable. Everybody does, and everybody will,
the difference in it being conscious or subconscious. How the certain groups of
people react to the stereotypes are what causes the dramatics. It is not
uncommon to see these kinds of posts that joke about the actions of the “basic
white girl”. Conversely, if an article was posted about the actions of the “basic
black girl”, the “basic Indian girl”, etc., the internet would explode. One article
is classified as a list of humorous stereotypes, but the others are classified as
just flat-out racist. If a filmmaker portrays a new Asian immigrant with broken
English and a bowl of rice for lunch, it is considered an offensive and racist stereotype.
However, if the filmmaker instead portrays the new immigrant with perfect English
and a slice of lasagna for lunch, it is still considered offensive and racist
because the filmmaker tried so hard to defy the stereotypes that he made it
seem like the Asian culture is inferior. All in all, there is no way to win
with stereotypes, but there is also no way to avoid it.
This is a thoughtful analysis of stereotypes, Ingrid. It's not cool when others seem to be looking at me to see if I fulfill their versions of stereotypes. Actually, I read a funny line somewhere that whites are stereotyped for being stereotypical/racist!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Ingrid. There is no win-win situation when it comes to displaying the differences between people. Many people don't care that they are stereotyped and they even humor themselves with them. Take the asians at school. I know my chinese friends make asian stereotype jokes all the time. I love your comic picture!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the double standard for stereotypes exists, especially in the "white vs. All" world we live in. I like how you say it's the response to stereotypes that causes the problems because that's the root of the problems, reactions. Maybe by learning to not listen to how other people think of us we can learn not to let stereotypes bother us as much.
ReplyDeleteI love your picture of the world map. Hilarious. I think you are absolutely right that there is no way around stereotypes and no way to win against them. Everyone judges and places people into categories even if they try not to. People just have to accept the fact that people judge.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Though stereotypes are made to regulate a group of people into one kind of society that will never be achieved since each person has free will of what they believe in.
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