Media Portrayal
Media coverage of the increasing success of Asian Americans as a group began in the 1960s, reporting high average test scores and marks in school, winning national spelling bees, and high levels of university attendance.
In 1988, Asian-American writer Philip K. Chiu identified the prevalence of the model minority stereotype in American media reports on Chinese Americans, and noted the contrast between that stereotype and what he observed as the reality of the Chinese American population, which was much more varied than the model minority stereotype in the media typically presented.
| “ | I am fed up with being stereotyped as either a subhuman or superhuman creature. Certainly I am proud of the academic and economic successes of Chinese Americans . . . But it's important for people to realize that there is another side. . . . It is about time for the media to report on Chinese Americans the way they are. Some are superachievers, most are average citizens, and a few are criminals. They are only human--no more and no less. | ” |
Since the 1960s, and today, much media representation conveys Asian Americans only in terms of the Model Minority stereotype, which is a vast stereotype that dehumanizes the struggles and experiences of the extremely diverse Asian American population. Stereotypes and media images in turn then inform individuals of their possibilities and roles. As Oprah Winfrey said, "you can only become what you can see." When there are repeated and very specific types of images, stereotypes become internalized and reinforced by individuals.
Read more about this topic: Model Minority, United States
Famous quotes containing the words media and/or portrayal:
“The media transforms the great silence of things into its opposite. Formerly constituting a secret, the real now talks constantly. News reports, information, statistics, and surveys are everywhere.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)
“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)