Are women attractive? Surely they are because each of them is beautiful in one way or another.
- CURRENT WEDIA
ORIENTALISM
What is Orientalism?
Orientalism is a confining epistemological template with set of misconceptions constructed by Westerners’ imagination and assumptions to identify the “Other” – the East (Ban et al. 2013, Said 1978). Nevertheless, Orientalism is exploited by the West to differentiate themselves as the civilised superior and the East – a politically important region – as the uncivilized inferior (Said 1985). The term “Orientalism” has long been used to refer to characteristics of Asia in philosophy, art and linguistic, ever since the early date of Colonialism in the 15th century (Stevenson 2010). Subsequently, Edward Said restated that term with socio-political meanings. He asserted that while Orientalism was indeed an academic field specialised in Oriental culture, it is also the West’s means of restructuring views of the East to act as justifications for Western colonialism over the Orient (Said 1978). The colonialists manipulate the colonised minds to force their ideology of the superior West’s modernisation on the “others”, an act of salvation as they used to claim (Nandy 1983; Morley & Robins 1995; Mora 2009).
As the Imperialism age ended in mid-20th century (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 1968), the East started positioning themselves as equal as the West. The East evaded the false image of a savaging and uncivilised community and partially regained their identity and culture, which was withdrawn by the West during the colonial time (McEwan 2008). As a consequence, the West lost their justice to conquer the East in the post-colonial period. The situation raises the question whether the Orientalism ended together with Colonialism or it has elevated. In fact, they still affected the Orient rather in an indirect manner by seizing the international political, economic and media flows (Nkrumah 1965). Media Imperialism could be persistent as it does not rely on brute forces to influence the dominated East. The West continued to posit themselves as the central of the world and to regulate the flow of media to the Peripherals - the East or exploited cultural exchanges for assimilation purposes (Mora 2009). Along with the new notion, Orientalism transformed into neo-Orientalism, which composes and homogenises the reflects of the East as emerging markets and threatening communities of terrorists as well (Behdad & William n.d; Ridouani 2011). |
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What are East Asian women stereotypes?
Asian women are defined into three typical stereotypes:
Wonder why these are typical?
- Dragon Lady: vixen, aggressive opportunists or “evil goddesses”.
- Martial Artist: dangerous and violent fighters, or powerful heroes.
- China Doll: sex nymphs, easy-going women, submissive and loyal lovers.
Wonder why these are typical?
Because they exist in cinema.
Mass media is often considered as a mean of the discriminations and stereotypes of female Asian characters. In this research, we choose to mainly examine typical misperceptions of Far-East Asian women in cinema.
As the politician and philosopher Gramsci once stated that the dominants who control mass media use it to communicate their own ideologies and cultures to fortify their power, position and wealth (Mora 2009). To demonstrate the Western superiority and to differentiate their position, Asian people were circumscribed as “yellow peril” (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). The media mainstream painted the pan-Asian stereotypes as cunning, mysterious and ruthless, for example, Fu Manchu character; or humble and harmless like Charlie Chan, who always put themselves below white people (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d).
The image of Asian women in Hollywood was identified as decorative, one-dimensional and invisible in popular media (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). Classic stereotypes of Asian women in cinema were also divided into two contradicting image: the aggressive Dragon lady and the submissive China doll (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). As strong as the phrase “Dragon ladies” may sound, they are are described as “evil goddesses”, vixens and manipulative opportunists who take advantages of their sexual traits (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d; Hagedon 1994). The role model of “Dragon Ladies”, Anna May Wong, with her character in Daughter of the Dragon (1931), is often referred in film studies as standard misrepresentations of Asian cultures and histories, and well-known discriminated type-castings of Orientalist in the Hollywood (Worrell 2003). Nevertheless, the view changed along with the shift of Orientalism to neo-Orientalism, so did the stereotype. From late 20th century until recently, the Dragon lady changed from vixen characteristic into a less cunning but more violent trait as in Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003).
Are women attractive? Surely they are because each of them is beautiful in one way or another. However, Asian women were particularly depicted as submissive, irrational and erotically alluring whereas Western male characters were portrayed as dominating, rational and overwhelmingly attractive (Hagedorn 1994, Wang 2012). Additionally, this contrary further asserts the superiority position of the dominant, masculine West over the weak, feminine East (Wang 2012). Looking at the cinema history specifically, The World of Suzie Wong (1960) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) are the two prominent American films that clearly reflect this misperception of Western people now and back then.
Asian actresses has recently found another genre they can fit in: martial art action movie. Westerners’ first impressions to Oriental martial arts originates from Bruce Lee with his wing chun (Prasso 2009). In fact, martial arts, as a form of violence, is generically defined as ‘masculine’ while femininity is familiarised as passive or weak (Madsen n.d, cited in Seed 2005). However, the 90s period was the peak of Asian female martial artists as a consequence of postmodern feminism and ethic-based marketing strategies (Ong, Bonacich & Cheng 1994; Seed 2005). Carrying a positive purpose, the women in films subsequently had the chance to compete with the masculinity as well as to challenge gender boundaries (Seed 2005). However, contradict to the supposed feminism in the genre, the Asian women image was still one-dimensional and hardly visible as in Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Pacific Rim (2013).
This repeated message of Asian women stereotypes may facilitate or limit viewers’ perceptions and “definitions of identity and self-worth” (Wang 2012).
As the politician and philosopher Gramsci once stated that the dominants who control mass media use it to communicate their own ideologies and cultures to fortify their power, position and wealth (Mora 2009). To demonstrate the Western superiority and to differentiate their position, Asian people were circumscribed as “yellow peril” (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). The media mainstream painted the pan-Asian stereotypes as cunning, mysterious and ruthless, for example, Fu Manchu character; or humble and harmless like Charlie Chan, who always put themselves below white people (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d).
The image of Asian women in Hollywood was identified as decorative, one-dimensional and invisible in popular media (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). Classic stereotypes of Asian women in cinema were also divided into two contradicting image: the aggressive Dragon lady and the submissive China doll (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d). As strong as the phrase “Dragon ladies” may sound, they are are described as “evil goddesses”, vixens and manipulative opportunists who take advantages of their sexual traits (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d; Hagedon 1994). The role model of “Dragon Ladies”, Anna May Wong, with her character in Daughter of the Dragon (1931), is often referred in film studies as standard misrepresentations of Asian cultures and histories, and well-known discriminated type-castings of Orientalist in the Hollywood (Worrell 2003). Nevertheless, the view changed along with the shift of Orientalism to neo-Orientalism, so did the stereotype. From late 20th century until recently, the Dragon lady changed from vixen characteristic into a less cunning but more violent trait as in Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003).
Are women attractive? Surely they are because each of them is beautiful in one way or another. However, Asian women were particularly depicted as submissive, irrational and erotically alluring whereas Western male characters were portrayed as dominating, rational and overwhelmingly attractive (Hagedorn 1994, Wang 2012). Additionally, this contrary further asserts the superiority position of the dominant, masculine West over the weak, feminine East (Wang 2012). Looking at the cinema history specifically, The World of Suzie Wong (1960) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) are the two prominent American films that clearly reflect this misperception of Western people now and back then.
Asian actresses has recently found another genre they can fit in: martial art action movie. Westerners’ first impressions to Oriental martial arts originates from Bruce Lee with his wing chun (Prasso 2009). In fact, martial arts, as a form of violence, is generically defined as ‘masculine’ while femininity is familiarised as passive or weak (Madsen n.d, cited in Seed 2005). However, the 90s period was the peak of Asian female martial artists as a consequence of postmodern feminism and ethic-based marketing strategies (Ong, Bonacich & Cheng 1994; Seed 2005). Carrying a positive purpose, the women in films subsequently had the chance to compete with the masculinity as well as to challenge gender boundaries (Seed 2005). However, contradict to the supposed feminism in the genre, the Asian women image was still one-dimensional and hardly visible as in Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Pacific Rim (2013).
This repeated message of Asian women stereotypes may facilitate or limit viewers’ perceptions and “definitions of identity and self-worth” (Wang 2012).
The most alarming aspect of self-orientalism is that it is a subconscious process and hard to revert.
('ORIENTALISM' 2016)
WHY IS IT DANGEROUS?
What is self-orientalism?
If the previous section mentioned the psychological impact of Orientalism and East Asian stereotyping on Western media consumers, this one will extend its concern towards Easterners. Indeed, Orientalism in media has another unfavourable consequence on consumers from the East: self-orientalism, in which ‘the East represents and expresses itself from the eyes of the West’ (Mora 2009). Much similar to the idea of a “self-fulfilling prophecy” in sociological discourses, the internalisation of Orientalist ideas is harmful to Asians in a sense that it leads them to accepting those misconceptions without actively questioning them. In other words, self-orientalist Asians might subconsciously view themselves in the same ways Western media depict them as: backward, barbaric, anti-democratic… in other words, inferior to their Western counterparts. Additionally, to both Western and Eastern media consumers, the concept of universal civilisation which is predominantly a Western-colonialist one is accepted without scrutiny. Racial inequality is, then, something that is inevitably accepted, not fought.
But what does this mean for Asian women in terms of their self-perceptions? According to Tewari (2009), the harmful stereotypes of Asian women such as those listed above may make Asian women feel like they must conform to them as it is expected due to the media’s popularising and normalising them. An example listed in Tewari’s book was Asian women’s rejecting Asian men in favour of White men, or not daring to voice their opinions out of fear of being dismissed. The most alarming aspect of self-orientalism is that it is a subconscious process and hard to revert (‘Orientalism’ 2016). In the same way that female objectification in media leaves detrimental repercussions on women’s mental health, causing body image-related disorders as women feel the need for self-surveillance to match unrealistic beauty standards, self-orientalism might impact Asian women’s lives majorly (McKay 2013).
But what does this mean for Asian women in terms of their self-perceptions? According to Tewari (2009), the harmful stereotypes of Asian women such as those listed above may make Asian women feel like they must conform to them as it is expected due to the media’s popularising and normalising them. An example listed in Tewari’s book was Asian women’s rejecting Asian men in favour of White men, or not daring to voice their opinions out of fear of being dismissed. The most alarming aspect of self-orientalism is that it is a subconscious process and hard to revert (‘Orientalism’ 2016). In the same way that female objectification in media leaves detrimental repercussions on women’s mental health, causing body image-related disorders as women feel the need for self-surveillance to match unrealistic beauty standards, self-orientalism might impact Asian women’s lives majorly (McKay 2013).
Does self-orientalism exist in Asian cinema?
There are many directors whose works are customised to Western taste (read: Western misconceptions of Asian women). Such a film is Corey Yuen’s So Close, in which the director did not shy away from showcasing the female leads as seductive, half-nude assassins trained in about 10 different types of martial arts. Another is Ngo Thanh Van’s Clash, starring herself as tough-as-nail mobster, but also incredibly sexy as she tangoes with a gang member in a flaming red dress. Similarly, Im Kwon-taek’s Chunhyang was heavily criticised for scenes where the 17 year-old female lead was shown undressed, but received international attention as an Oriental epic (Chung & Diffrient 2015). There are many more examples, but we cannot list them all...
But there is always the argument of Western cinema being so dominant that in order for Asian-made movies to sell they need to appeal to the Western market, whom have already gotten used to a certain set of Asian characteristics. This form of conscious self-orientalism, in which the Asian filmmaker directly applies Orientalist characteristics to his films, was observed in the case of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (Tezuka 2011). Tezuka outlined an interesting point, that Japan’s self-orientalism was, in fact, Japan’s nation building tool. Indeed, Japan does have a so-called “Cool Japan” strategy, where the Japanese government heavily promotes Japanese culture internationally in hope to boost tourism (Nagata 2012).
But there is always the argument of Western cinema being so dominant that in order for Asian-made movies to sell they need to appeal to the Western market, whom have already gotten used to a certain set of Asian characteristics. This form of conscious self-orientalism, in which the Asian filmmaker directly applies Orientalist characteristics to his films, was observed in the case of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (Tezuka 2011). Tezuka outlined an interesting point, that Japan’s self-orientalism was, in fact, Japan’s nation building tool. Indeed, Japan does have a so-called “Cool Japan” strategy, where the Japanese government heavily promotes Japanese culture internationally in hope to boost tourism (Nagata 2012).
How do we prevent it?
As mentioned above, Orientalism justifies perpetual imperialism. However, one of the critiques for cultural imperialism is that its thinkers tend to presume media consumers accept whatever is given to them without their questioning it. But, that is not true. Media consumers are more than capable of evaluating what they are consuming – or watching, in our case (‘Media Imperialism in Asia’ 2016).
So what is the best way to avoid falling into the trap of self-orientalism? Of course, at first, we must understand what Orientalism is.
After we have acquired a strong grasp on the subject, we must re-evaluate ourselves. Are we viewing Asians, especially Asian women, from the same lens the West has constructed for them? Are we accepting Orientalist misconceptions of Asia and generalising a whole continent without acknowledging its cultural diversity? If racial studies have “check your privilege” as a way of assessing one’s institutional advantages when talking about racial issues, in Orientalism we must check our self-orientalist tendencies (‘Orientalism’ 2016). Aside from that, we must critically evaluate any information we are given, especially when it concerns the portrayal of Asian cultures.
The bottom line? Have a critical mindset!
So what is the best way to avoid falling into the trap of self-orientalism? Of course, at first, we must understand what Orientalism is.
After we have acquired a strong grasp on the subject, we must re-evaluate ourselves. Are we viewing Asians, especially Asian women, from the same lens the West has constructed for them? Are we accepting Orientalist misconceptions of Asia and generalising a whole continent without acknowledging its cultural diversity? If racial studies have “check your privilege” as a way of assessing one’s institutional advantages when talking about racial issues, in Orientalism we must check our self-orientalist tendencies (‘Orientalism’ 2016). Aside from that, we must critically evaluate any information we are given, especially when it concerns the portrayal of Asian cultures.
The bottom line? Have a critical mindset!
Now let's look at our movie reel for the Orientalism evaluation in the film industry.