Some of my favorite comedians however are Asian Females. They are the only ones who know what is really funny and what we should be laughing about.

I find myself admiring people like Margaret Cho because she completely defies stereotype. Be warned she is completely irreverent and pulls no punches.

http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?id=1592743

If you can, cut to the last two sections where she is talking to students at the High School where she was dismissed as a youth. She does not spare the people who honor her for Margaret Cho day of the alienation they have caused her in her youth.

By the way PBS did a documentary recently about the difficulties of Asian American performers in the entertainment and film industry. It was eye opening.

It would be such a joy to see Asian American comedians on PBS speaking their minds and doing what they feel is true to themselves.

Anyway, because other races receive less representation, every image counts—and as it happens, many of those images count toward reinforcing a stereotype. And that ends up being culturally marginalizing, because it says, “Look how different all those Asian people are from everybody else.” And I think if you look at a lot of Asian stereotypes, what makes them pernicious is that they reinforce this idea that Asian Americans are “foreigners.” The language thing, the food thing, the karate thing, even the driving thing all, at their core, portray Asians as strangers, no matter how long they or their families have been in the States.

As for “self-fulfilling prophecies,” YES: sometimes stereotypes create expectations, and that’s why negative stereotypes are so bad. And if everyone expects you to be good at math, and you turn out not to be so naturally skilled in math and fail to meet those expectations, that’s not good either.

Some of the stereotypes Eugene points out are more obvious than others. I'm not sure I would have ever thought a bowl cut was a stereotype of an Asian person, especially since I just don't see a lot of people of any cultural heritage wearing a bowl-cut. I thought it was a stereotypical cut for a nerd, which perhaps is saying Asians are stereotyped as nerds…but there was a nerdy white guy, too. So to me, that stereotype was aimed at nerds rather than Asian people, or white people for that matter.

For me a good rule of thumb is to avoid those racial references that are blatantly stereotypical, and if someone points something out that they find offensive, to apologize and be more sensitive about it in the future. And with that said, I do think it is important for Eugene to point out the stereotypes he and many Asians find offensive, especially when many non-Asians may not realize they are offensive.

http://www.classof1986.net/images/lionelritchie...

Have you ever considered that the stereotypes that we have adopted of Asian-Americans can actually be an asset? Rightly or wrongly, we have come to expect that Asian-Americans are intellectually superior. When you are part of a culture in which others have high expectations of you, then sometimes those can be self-fulfilling prophecies. (See the article above on the mixed race adoption.)

What is it about these commercials that nearly made you puke? Is a bowl cut an Asian stereotype? Then every time someone on TV has a mullet it's a Caucasian stereotype. The KFC one is just odd.

I live in Korea right now. As you are probably aware, Eugene, there is plenty of racial stereotyping here and in Japan. It may not be right, but it's natural and usually harmless.

Next time you watch commercials count how many times a white male is the foil.

I worshipped at Quest when I first moved to Seattle, about three years ago. (Now we live elsewhere.) I didn't make a church home there, because in the two times I worshipped there, no one said a word to me. Not a “welcome,” not a smile. It's water under the bridge now–but I thought I'd mention it anyway, since I really enjoy your posts on GP, and I liked your services and preaching, too.