Debate triggered over Asian stereotypes at the movies

Power struggles

Brian Keum, a professor of social welfare at the University of California－Los Angeles, or UCLA, whose research focuses on reducing health and mental health disparities among marginalized individuals and communities, said Asian males have been emasculated since first arriving in the US in the mid-1880s.

Stereotypes of being effeminate, less attractive and less manly emerged when male Chinese immigrants were forced into jobs as launderers, cooks and domestic servants after being banned from mining and construction jobs, Keum said.

According to a study by researchers at the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia, stereotypes based on Asian men are also rooted in centuries-old power struggles, and were a way to keep groups marginalized by depicting such males as being less manly than those from other races.

Examining photographs from six popular US magazines, the researchers found Asian men were underrepresented in such publications, rendering them "invisible" in media depictions.

Sessue Hayakawa, an Asian, was one of the biggest Hollywood stars during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. However, it was downhill for him after this time.

The 1990 Institute's video states, "Hollywood was complicit in an embarrassing whitewashing and allowing a cultural icon to be the butt of jokes."

Anna May Wong, considered to be the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star, fought racial stereotypes throughout her life. Despite her talent and beauty, she was mainly offered only small or stereotypical parts and was never able to secure a traditional leading role.

She was refused the part of the Chinese character O-Lan in the movie adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's novel The Good Earth. The role went instead to a Caucasian actress. For decades after her death in 1961, Wong was remembered principally for the evil "Dragon Lady" and demure "Butterfly" roles she played.