Asian stereotypes battled at BGSU

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Christopher Valentino wants to talk about something no one talks about.
People don’t talk about it, but they do it – without even realizing it.
"You’re driving and someone cuts you off," he said. "You think they’re either old – or
they’re Asian."
The "you" in that scenario is stereotyping, and it’s exactly what Valentino wants to address
and combat.
Thanks to the program "Asian-American Stereotypes and Reflections," Valentino and Bowling Green
State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs got their chance to speak the unspoken.
The program was hosted at BGSU on Tuesday and is part of the university’s Inaugural Asian-American
Heritage Week.
"This is the first time we’ve had cohesive events like this," Valentino said. "We really
hope to set a good foundation for future events to come."
Valentino, a graduate practicum student in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, began the
discussion-based program with his background.
Although he’s "no expert," Valentino shared his experiences of being half Italian and half
Asian-American.
"I’m from San Francisco, and what do people think of when they think of an Asian-American living in
San Francisco?" he said. "They think we don’t speak good English, we run laundromats and we’re
bad drivers."
It’s those stereotypes presented in today’s media that Valentino said everyone needs to recognize.
"Media is one of the facets that bind American culture together. It’s an omnipresent force in our
lives today," he said. "I’m facilitating a conversation about media to identify those
stereotypes, which will help us to characterize stereotypes in our everyday lives."
To make his point, Valentino asked all participants to break into groups and come up with names and
traits of Asian-American characters in the media.
Popular answers included Bruce Lee and Lucy Liu. Common themes sprouted from all the characters.
"They’re tough. They’re villains. They’re good at what they do. There’s this level of sexual
desirability – they’re cold, detached and they work alone," he said. "It’s kind of a menacing
combination, isn’t it?"
Most agreed – yes, that is a menacing combination – but how can they change their thinking?
That starts by understanding where stereotypes come from.
"People are really good at making patterns. We’re good at Legos. We want them to be orderly. Our
minds don’t deal with gray areas," Valentino said. "So, we make rubrics on how to identify
people, groups and actions. That makes us hard to see people as individuals."
Media encourage that rubric-like thinking, he said.
Several Asian-American tropes, or stock characters, fall on either end of extreme spectrums.
Female Asian-American characters are typically cast one of two ways – The China Doll or the Dragon Lady.

"With the China Doll, they’re submissive. They’re passive," Valentino said. "They’re going
to go with what happens to them."
There’s no middle ground. If not the China Doll, then filmmakers cast a Lucy Liu-type character as a
Dragon Lady.
"She’s tough as nails. She’s going to kill you," Valentino said. "Because she’s sexual,
she’s going to seduce you, then kill you."
The flaws to these types of extremist characters are severe.
"There’s no obtainment of dreams or values," Valentino said. "They’re both sexual, but
that doesn’t allow for any other character development."
The same is true for male Asian-American characters. Typically, these men are cast as sidekicks with race
being portrayed as part of their charm – or lack thereof.
"Take Long Duk Dong from ‘Sixteen Candles.’ He’s not just weird. He’s the weird Asian kid,"
Valentino said. "They get comic relief through their ‘otherness.’"
So what can people do to stop this?
They can throw caution to the wind and take Valentino’s advice.
"It’s a sad part of American culture that we don’t have spaces like this to have these
conversations," he said. "We need to create these spaces."
Nancy Cramer of Maumee is hoping to create spaces like that for her friends to share what she learned.

"I didn’t realize the isolation of the struggle Asian-Americans have," she said. "It’s an
ongoing learning process."
During the program, Cramer said she had a "strange thought" they may very well summarize
Valentino’s entire message.
"Stereotypes are all in our heads, and if we cut off our heads and just look at our bodies, we’re
all the same," she said. "We’re just afraid of being different. Stereotypes limit us and our
ability to get along. We don’t have to be afraid anymore."

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