Posted by Jocelyn’s post on Speaking of China, “Chinese Men Are Sexy”, which spoke of the bias in media against the Asian male, was the inspiration for this on-going project. She writes as always on a very high level and with incredible wit, I recommend you check it out.
So what can I bring to the table? Well, my sad state as one of the world’s incurable TV junkies means that I spend a lot of time looking at the mostly disappointing and sometimes disgusting portrayals of Asian men in the Western media (let’s focus on predominantly American/ Hollywood) in action. In fact, much like the Bechdel Test for gender equality, I have developed my own little test when watching the latest series or movie – the Asian Male test. A) Is there an Asian male at all in the movie/ series? More often than not the answer is no. But where there is an Asian man, what is his character like? Often I do not enjoy the answer.
To quote from Jocelyn’s article:
“For the most part, what we see of Asian male sexuality is the assertion of a stronger Western virility at the expense of Asian masculinity. In short, the imagery takes Asian men lightly, as less-serious competitors for women, and less-competent fighters.”
The “Where’s Wang” tag allows us at WWAM BAM! to review how present this bias is within some media having come out of the Hollywood machine (and other media) over the past few years, and review any media through an AMWF lens.
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- Where’s Wang? Turning Red - November 15, 2022