products

In a world so largely influenced by mainstream media, it is distressing to see that Asian people are still lacking proper representation in the Western world. Disturbingly, it seems that acts of violent hate crimes appear to be our wake-up call in recognising this lack of representation and its problematic products.

There is no denying that our society is fixated on appearance and aesthetics. Our identities are still strongly tied down to the way we look. I am a half Asian/ half Caucasian woman. Being “mixed” is confusing at times, and I often feel conflicted between my identity and appearance. Despite belonging to two cultures there is this figurative predisposition that one must be the foundation for my looks and personality. I feel this perception being projected through comments from friends and strangers. Coupled with the fact that I barely exist within mainstream media, I face an inner battle regarding opposing beauty standards and my own demeanour. However, I do know for a fact that I am not a “whitewashed Asian girl” nor am I “white with small eyes”.

Despite my struggles with identity, I always knew I had it somewhat easier than a person of full Asian ethnicity. I remember moments where I subconsciously felt the comfort of white privilege and that I was ‘lucky’ to be Caucasian. Times when I saw my friends go through the “I wish I was white” phase. Or when I was commended by a teacher for being welcoming to a group of Chinese international students who were being completely disregarded. When I replied to their praise with the fact that I was Chinese myself, they informed me with a smile “that you couldn’t tell”. that there is some level of Asian representation in existence. This is true, however, in the majority of mainstream media only Asian stereotypes and ideals are perpetuated. When Hollywood realised how profitable diversity can be, we saw a slight rise in films featuring Asian actors. One being the infamous 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians starring an all-Asian cast. This movie was praised for providing a platform for Asian actors and deemed powerful in overcoming certain stereotypes, such as the emasculation and desexualisation of Asian men. However, as the title of the film states, it is about the “crazy rich”; a demographic that most Asian people do not resonate with. Yet again in 2021, we have seen the arrival of a new reality TV show, named Bling Empire, which follows the lives of a clique of “wildly wealthy” LA Asian socialites. This form of representation is problematic as it fuels a false perception that Asian people are almost exempt from discrimination due to their wealth. Not only do these examples of media representation just exhibit the 1%, they also forget to mention the immense equity gap that occurs within Asia and Asian communities in Western countries.

Growing up, I became aware of the derogatory labels and microaggressions perpetrated towards Asian people. I witnessed my Asian mother experience bouts of both explicit and casual racism. This racism is exacerbated by a lack of representation; it births xenophobia, peripheralization and stigmatisation. Without stories of our own, we are subjugated to stereotypes. Racism crawls into peoples’ minds, and blurs their visions so that they struggle to see us outside the confines of those stereotypes.

Australia, I was told a story of how a person visited their GP in fears that they might have contracted the virus solely based on the fact they had walked past an Asian person. I remember finding the notion that someone could be so ignorant and blatantly racist almost unbelievable. Unfortunately, the recent surge in hate crimes against Asian people in America demonstrates that these anti-Asian views are ever- present in Western societies. In 2021, more news articles have surfaced describing horrific video footage and recounts of violent attacks against Asian people, specifically elders, paired with telling statistics such as the fact “2,808 reports of anti-Asian discrimination [were recorded] between March 19 and December 31, 2020” by the organisation Stop AAPI Hate (Time, 2021). These increasing figures can certainly be attributed to the xenophobic comments and anti-Asian rhetoric exclaimed by a particular former US President, which in turn tied a global pandemic to a race. It would be ignorant to not acknowledge that the lack of fair representation of Asian people does encourage bigotry.

Moving forward, difficult discussions need to be had within our communities to confront stereotypes and stigmas surrounding Asian people that have freely existed and evolved without question. Ideally, mainstream media should include Asian people and their stories without being seen as a nuance, but rather as the representation of our diverse reality.

WORDS BY emily tattersall