The Hallyu wave and promotion of Japanese culture in the West have reached their peak in recent years, as K-pop, anime and Asian cuisine become more mainstream.
With East Asian culture now part of the in crowd, many Asian American influencers are seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their heritage. From documenting their travels to the motherland to promoting various beauty products and standards, it’s as if being Asian American is no longer about the media making fun of slanted eyes and unfamiliar food but about the media embracing Asian American heritage.
However, this rise in the popularity of Asian American culture brings new stereotypes and experiences to light, and creates a new desire to fit into a cultural mainstream. Asian Americans should not be limited to a visual aesthetic, nor should they be confined solely to specific pieces of media and pop culture phenomena that come from the continent.
The downfall of outdated and offensive stereotypes not only coincides with the rise of the Asian American influencer, but also the rise of a new Asian American stereotype. No longer stuffed in the confines of stinky lunch boxes and exaggerated stereotypes of Asian features, those confines have shifted to rave culture, Asian Baby Girls and electronic dance music — features of the Southern California Asian American.
Asian Americans should not have to restrict themselves to these new stereotypes. Although it seems empowering to draw attention away from historically rooted racist stereotypes against Asian people, these new ones that have emerged are outwardly flattering but internally harmful.
No matter how honorable it is to be deemed cool, fitting into any mold is disingenuous.
The stereotype of the Southern California Asian American completely dismisses a large part of the diaspora that doesn’t necessarily have the same experiences, wear the same clothes or reap the same benefits of living in ethnic enclaves or progressive areas. The Midwestern Asian American, for example, who lives in Ohio and is generally not part of an ethnic enclave, has vastly different experiences and archetypes than the coastal Asian in Southern California. Just after Hawaii, California has the second-largest Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the United States. Hawaii, home to Indigenous Hawaiians who fall under the umbrella of Pacific Islander, affects this statistic because these two groups are often associated with one another.
Not to mention, many of the Asian people living in California are often wealthier than most Asian Americans and therefore fit into the aforementioned mold better. When they play into these stereotypes, it generalizes the rest of the American Asian diaspora that do not share the same privilege, class standing or opportunities.
Asian Americans are already susceptible to discrimination regarding outdated racial stereotypes, and it doesn’t help to feed into this newly cultivated narrative of Asian people being seen as party animals who have the same narrow interests and values.
With these stereotypes comes an unwarranted ego and an inflated sense of superiority. Although it’s important to feel proud and connected to one’s culture and identity, some have weaponized it to bring down other minorities.
In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, no longer allowing institutions to use race as a factor in their decisions. Many Asian Americans were enthralled, believing that without it, it would be easier for them to get into top institutions.
However, the repeal of affirmative action did little to substantially increase Asian enrollment in top universities, including Ivy League institutions. At Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton, Asian American enrollment actually decreased. While protesting against affirmative action, many failed to realize that diverse learning environments curated by the law benefit them too.
The Asian identity in America is historically fluid and resilient, from being seen as vermin during the world wars to the model minority stereotype and now the Southern California Asian with an unchecked ego and sense of superiority. But there are also deep roots in civil rights activism and grassroots organization, which Asian Americans would benefit from reflecting upon.
The Asian American movement in the late 1960s drew inspiration from the Black Power movement, as they aligned themselves with the Asian diaspora in developing countries. And though contentious, the political relationship between Asian and Black communities is not new — it has been historically documented that they have stood in solidarity with each other throughout many movements.
Intersectionality has become a lost art as these new stereotypes have emerged, and it is up to both Asian Americans and allies to dispel this new, exclusive and dangerous perception.
Though the stereotype of the Southern California Asian American can be seen as taking older stereotypes of the nerdy and outcast Asian and positively reinventing them in the eyes of the general public, it forgets and dismisses the roots that the Asian American identity has in activism and civil rights.
Instead, Asians in America should embrace intersectionality and stop forcing themselves to fit into stereotypes. Personality and personal identity surmount anything that social media tries to promote.
Rebecca Do is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be reached at dort@uci.edu.
Edited by Zahira Vasquez and Joshua Gonzales