A Dragon Lady is usually a stereotype of East Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering or mysterious. The term's origin and usage is Western, not Chinese. Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna May Wong, the term was coined from the villain in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates. The term has been applied to powerful Asian women and to a number of racially Asian film actresses. The stereotype has generated a large quantity of sociological literature. Today, "Dragon Lady" is often applied anachronistically to refer to persons who lived before the term became part of American slang in the 1930s. It has also been used to refer to any powerful but prickly woman, usually in a derogatory fashion.
Read more about Dragon Lady: Background, Terry and The Pirates, Usage, "Dragon Lady" in Chinese Culture
Famous quotes containing the words dragon and/or lady:
“The dragon wing of night o’erspreads the earth.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“... to work, to work hard, to see work steadily, and see it whole, was the way to be reputable. I think I always respected a good blacksmith more than a lady of leisure.”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)