Asian American Men: The Role Of Masculinity In Film

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INTRODUCTION Throughout American history, Asian American men have been emasculated, with its effects most prominent in media. Asian men haven’t had enough or the best representation in the medium of film. For example, during the silent era of film, there was a lack of Asian male leads in films other than Sessue Hayakawa. In the 1930’s, Fu-Manchu films enforced Asian xenophobia along with the Yellow Peril and the Anti-Asian sentiment at the time. Being initially excluded from Hollywood films to then being portrayed as villains did not help Asian male actors in any sort of way in gaining their masculinity, as no form of media back then helped with showing the masculinity that Asians have. Even in relatively recent media, Asian male representation seen on the …show more content…

As a result, most Chinese immigrants were forced into jobs that were traditionally considered feminine. One of the most common businesses opened by Asian immigrants is laundromats. An article titled Laundry Worker Activism in the era of Chinese Exclusion writes, “Hand laundries attracted generations of Chinese Americans shut out of other jobs due to discrimination, and required only a small monetary investment and little previous experience.” An article titled Asian American Masculinity Eclipsed reiterates the idea that, “notions of citizenship are dependent on and supported by the idea of the patriarchal household and a “rationalized masculinity.”” As we’ve seen, Chinese immigration was initially seen as a cheap source of labor. However, due to a fear of increasing competition in the job market, numerous laws were passed to restrict their right to bring their family, own land, become citizens, and were delegated to jobs that were seen as traditionally feminine. Thus, these laws that were passed ultimately shaped and diminished Asian

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