This is the course blog for ICS24/ELIT24, Asian American Literature, at De Anza College
Monday, March 12, 2012
Stereotypes
It is obvious that Asians have a lot of stereotypes, whether they are true or not. What is one stereotype of your ethnicity? How true or untrue do you think the stereotype is?
I believe that there are numerous amounts of stereotypes regarding Koreans. The one stereotype that I somewhat agree with is "Asians can't drive." I just recently moved here from Korea, and I have witnessed horrible driving almost everyday. Because I was in the city, there were always cars bunched up and not enough room to drive comfortably. Everyone tries to rush through traffic without stopping for pedestrians.
I think there are indeed many Asian stereotypes, they are usually untrue, although some are true. I am an Indonesian and one stereotype of my ethnicity is that Indonesians can't speak English properly or correctly because it is not their native language. However, I think this is not true at all. Many Indonesians (educated Indonesians) can speak English perfectly well, or even better than some Americans. Many Indonesians can write good essays too. However, to a certain extent, this stereotype, I believe, is applicable to some Indonesians who are not educated or have not been exposed to English at all.
Someone asked me if I believed in Hitler because I'm German. This infuriates me, because Hitler wasn't even a German! He took over Germany, he wasn't a leader. Yet, there is still this belief that Germans = Nazis. That's like saying Muslims = terrorists. No. You have extremists for everything. Don't place people in a mold.
As for the goodness of stereotypes, I guess there are some. If women think all asian guys have small penises, they'll never be disappointed, since they know what they're gna get. If anything, they'll be surprised when an asian guy has a big one! It sucks more for black people, because again, everyone knows what they're getting in to, but if you're black and have a small penis, it's like oh.. ok..
The Model Minority myth is not a good thing however. When people say "all asians are good at math, they're smart" they're not giving us the credit for studying and for all our work and effort, but they're also giving credit to those that aren't good at math, to the gang bangers and drop outs that aren't working to get that recognition, but they get it anyway.
One filipino stereotype that comes to my mind is, that filipinos/filipinas are either nurses or engineers. I find this to be very true, I do have a lot of filipno friends that are trying to become engineers. And also filipina friends that want to be nurses. Mainly because it makes good money.
I'm Vietnamese and I supposed to be smart at math. True! But hey, I'm good at a lot of things. Stereotyping is fun in comical sense. Tease people and crack a smile but don't take them too seriously.- Tu Nguyen
I agree that there are many stereotypes for Asians. One stereotype for Filipino Males is that they are seen shy and not confident. However, I see this stereotype very untrue because there are plenty of guys no matter what nationality they are from, each racial group has their own who will always be unconfident. Additionally this goes the same way for men who have overconfidence.
the stereotype of my ethnicity is that Indonesian will only be a cheap worker. i don't think it's correct because in fact, many Indonesian has good salary instead of those people from other countries.
Stereotype----> I have small eyes, and im taiwanese. Is it true? absolutely! does it impair my vision??? nooo. I see perfectly fine. Its a sterotype i tend to embrace and like to joke around with. Unless it is offensive to others around me. I'm not ashamed with the way i look so im completely fine if people make jokes about me and my small eyes. However, there are others out there who may take such a sterotype a lot more seriously so its best not to get too carried away with joking about stereotypes.
I am half Persian and half Irish/european. I'll explore stereotypes for each ethnicity seperately
1) Persian stereotypes: - all persian people are terrorists - all persian people drive mercedes or bmw's and have big houses - all persian people are hairy - all persian people have big noses.
My response to these stereotypes... Persian: I am not a terrorist...neither are any of my family members. nuff said. My mom does drive a mercedes and everyone in my family either owns mercedes cars or bmw's so I guess there's some truth to this one. Persian guys are generally pretty hairy and some girls/guys have unibrows so I guess some persians are hairy but in my family only my uncles are hairy. Nobody in my family has a big nose but lots of Persians have hook noses so again, some truth to it.
Irish: My dad and I hate beer. My sister and I have freckles and so does he. We're all brunettes.
I believe that there are numerous amounts of stereotypes regarding Koreans. The one stereotype that I somewhat agree with is "Asians can't drive." I just recently moved here from Korea, and I have witnessed horrible driving almost everyday. Because I was in the city, there were always cars bunched up and not enough room to drive comfortably. Everyone tries to rush through traffic without stopping for pedestrians.
ReplyDeleteI think there are indeed many Asian stereotypes, they are usually untrue, although some are true. I am an Indonesian and one stereotype of my ethnicity is that Indonesians can't speak English properly or correctly because it is not their native language. However, I think this is not true at all. Many Indonesians (educated Indonesians) can speak English perfectly well, or even better than some Americans. Many Indonesians can write good essays too. However, to a certain extent, this stereotype, I believe, is applicable to some Indonesians who are not educated or have not been exposed to English at all.
ReplyDeleteSomeone asked me if I believed in Hitler because I'm German. This infuriates me, because Hitler wasn't even a German! He took over Germany, he wasn't a leader. Yet, there is still this belief that Germans = Nazis. That's like saying Muslims = terrorists. No. You have extremists for everything. Don't place people in a mold.
ReplyDeleteAs for the goodness of stereotypes, I guess there are some. If women think all asian guys have small penises, they'll never be disappointed, since they know what they're gna get. If anything, they'll be surprised when an asian guy has a big one! It sucks more for black people, because again, everyone knows what they're getting in to, but if you're black and have a small penis, it's like oh.. ok..
The Model Minority myth is not a good thing however. When people say "all asians are good at math, they're smart" they're not giving us the credit for studying and for all our work and effort, but they're also giving credit to those that aren't good at math, to the gang bangers and drop outs that aren't working to get that recognition, but they get it anyway.
One filipino stereotype that comes to my mind is, that filipinos/filipinas are either nurses or engineers. I find this to be very true, I do have a lot of filipno friends that are trying to become engineers. And also filipina friends that want to be nurses. Mainly because it makes good money.
ReplyDeleteI'm Vietnamese and I supposed to be smart at math. True! But hey, I'm good at a lot of things. Stereotyping is fun in comical sense. Tease people and crack a smile but don't take them too seriously.- Tu Nguyen
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are many stereotypes for Asians. One stereotype for Filipino Males is that they are seen shy and not confident. However, I see this stereotype very untrue because there are plenty of guys no matter what nationality they are from, each racial group has their own who will always be unconfident. Additionally this goes the same way for men who have overconfidence.
ReplyDelete- Jeofrey Reyes
the stereotype of my ethnicity is that Indonesian will only be a cheap worker. i don't think it's correct because in fact, many Indonesian has good salary instead of those people from other countries.
ReplyDeleteSamuel Young:
ReplyDeleteStereotype----> I have small eyes, and im taiwanese. Is it true? absolutely! does it impair my vision??? nooo. I see perfectly fine. Its a sterotype i tend to embrace and like to joke around with. Unless it is offensive to others around me. I'm not ashamed with the way i look so im completely fine if people make jokes about me and my small eyes. However, there are others out there who may take such a sterotype a lot more seriously so its best not to get too carried away with joking about stereotypes.
I am half Persian and half Irish/european. I'll explore stereotypes for each ethnicity seperately
ReplyDelete1) Persian stereotypes: - all persian people are terrorists
- all persian people drive mercedes or bmw's and have big houses
- all persian people are hairy
- all persian people have big noses.
2) Irish stereotypes: -drunk
-red hair
-freckles
-love beer/drinking
My response to these stereotypes...
Persian: I am not a terrorist...neither are any of my family members. nuff said. My mom does drive a mercedes and everyone in my family either owns mercedes cars or bmw's so I guess there's some truth to this one. Persian guys are generally pretty hairy and some girls/guys have unibrows so I guess some persians are hairy but in my family only my uncles are hairy. Nobody in my family has a big nose but lots of Persians have hook noses so again, some truth to it.
Irish: My dad and I hate beer. My sister and I have freckles and so does he. We're all brunettes.