Infographic: Asian Women and the Media, Essay Example

In this world today of a melting pot of diverse cultures and races, there exists many types of assumptions, perceptions and opinions that often influences how people of groups of people are portrayed in society. These assumptions, perceptions and opinions are often taught from infancy, but much of it is typically learned from what people are exposed to in the media. The media has a long reach into the minds of people all over the world, and America is no exception. Various stereotypes exists that cause society to think of specific people or cultures in ways that may not necessarily be accurate. This is especially true when it comes to gender stereotypes in the media. There are certain gender representations, as well as misrepresentations, in the media that can negatively or positively affect a group of people, particularly women, and in the case of this paper – Asian women. The dominant media presence often portrays Asian women differently than it portrays Asian men. This is even true in the context of different media. This may be because mainstream culture has typically seen Asian women in a stereotypical context, and not all is of a positive nature. For example, Ono and Pham state that there have been times with Asian women were portrayed as good to look at, sexually loose and without much speech, as well as primitive. This is not a very flattering view of Asian women being portrayed in the media (Ono and Pham).

In addition, globalization plays a role in how popular media portrays Asian culture in today’s society. Global media culture reflects much of the social conditions surrounding how Asian women are portrayed in the media (Kim). Many people can remember seeing movies when Asians portrayed only as martial arts or people who speak fast and walk fast, and the women in these movies were often playing roles with low esteem and derogatory portrayals.

The infographic of Asian Women in Media highlights other stereotypes imposed on Asian women, such as inferiority to men, being nerds and submissive and weak. This is seen in the media in movies and entertainment sources. In the media, according to the infographic, Asian women are often shown with no dialogue, whereas the men have more speaking roles. Where Asian women are often portrayed as beautiful call girls or servants of some sort, these media types often take it to the limit, which is not accurate or fair to Asian women.

Importance of this Topic

As seen above, Asian women can be unfairly categorized and stereotyped in a negative way; therefore, bringing awareness to this issue is important. Many times, stereotypes arise from ignorance and unawareness and this is no different. America is a melting pot of many diverse cultures and each one has its own value and contributes its own purpose in society. Asian women, no doubt, do not wish to be perceived as passive sex objects with no intelligence. There are certainly a few Asian American organizations that would be interested in taking on this issue in an attempt to eradicate the negative connotation it carries for Asian women. Some of these organizations include The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), the National Association of Professional Asian Women (NAPAW), or the Center for Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI). There are many more, however, it just goes to show that there is no excuse for anyone to stereotype these women.

Additionally, this topic is important because it is significant to note that the media can actually affect someone’s life by the way that person’s group or culture is portrayed. It is important to note that Asian women are highly educated and aspire toward careers and economic power, as well as independence and self-fulfillment. But, gender inequality and cultural stereotypes often limits their power (Kim).

Effectiveness of the Infographic

The infographic is effect because it forces one to take a look at the list of issues that plague Asian women and how they are portrayed in the media. No doubt, people have a tendency to understand more when they have a visual, and this infographic highlights some key areas of concern within this topic. It is definitely effective in communicating these issues to the reader. The effectiveness of how the infographic communicates to the audience is in the simplicity of the format. The infographic is not too cluttered and uses contrasting colors to draw the reader’s eye to strategic spots on the sheet and then allows the reader to see bulleted lists of the main points highlighted about the topic of how Asian women are portrayed in the media in America. In addition, the choices for the design of the infographic were selected to open the mind of the reader. For example, silhouettes were used instead of photographs because they allow the reader to see from their own mind and point of reference. Stereotyping does not have a face. However, using different colors for each silhouette was chosen because each one represents a different part of the issue. For example, the red silhouette of a young woman, standing in a seductive pose highlights the caption explaining that an Asian woman in a popular movie was portrayed as prostitute.

In addition, the infographic gives a comparison of how Asian women are portrayed in the media, as opposed to Asian men. Asian men are generally portrayed as martial artist or in roles that show them always fighting, while the women are portrayed as inferior to them and an objective of men of all races. However, a question is also posed as to whether these issues are a result of growing diversity or increasing tolerance in society. But, based on the information obtained in the research, the stereotype of Asian women as sex objects is likely derived from how they are portrayed in the media.

The way that the infographic is visually engaging to the reader is in the color scheme and the use of the female symbol and emoticon for emphasizing certain text on the page. It is important to create an infographic that does not only have text, as this may bore the reader. So, this infographic uses both text and art, as well as a contrasting color scheme to keep the reader’s attention. However, the main thing about the infographic that is the most important is the content. The content is kept on topic and gives the reader something to think about when it comes to how Asian women are portrayed in the media.

Sources Used for Infographic

Much of the data gathered to put together the infographic was gotten online from websites such as GroupThink, City-Data, and Yahoo articles (shown on infographic). For this, paper I went a little bit deeper into the research and used two book sources. So, this lends some hindsight into how I could have used a couple more sources for the actual infographic so that I could have included a few more facts about the topic and showed how these issues are better in today’s society in some areas, such as with prominent Asian females in American society who are above the stereotypes.

Conclusion

Stereotypes in the media may not change much, but it is up to the individual person to make it a point to understand other cultures and to dig deep and learn about them so as not to stereotype. In addition, what Asian women can do about the way they are portrayed in the media is not accept roles that depict them as inferior or sex objects. In addition, the many organizations dedicated to Asians Americans, particularly Asian American women, should be utilized whenever there is a need for clarification in areas of interests. However, with the expansion of new technologies and the ever-growing diverse population in America, as well as the continued growth of globalization, these issues are not as prominent, as can be seen in positive portrayals of Asian women in today’s media. For example, Kimora Lee Simmons (business mogul) and Lucy Liu (an actress who plays dominant female roles) are two Asian women who are empowered and have broken through the stereotype mold.

Works Cited

Kim, Youna. Women and the Media in Asia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Ono, Kent A. and Vincent Pham. Asian Americans and the Media. Polity, 2009. Print.