Role Models
May 17, 2008
Dear Q,
I was having an argument with a friend the other evening about Asian Americans in the media. She claimed that there just isn’t enough representation. I think we are way beyond that; I don’t care about seeing myself on television. What I want is power and access. If Lucy Liu gets another role, that’s not helping my bottom line. Can you settle this for us?
— Not a Model
Dear NaM,
Your friend is right. So are you. But just because you’ve dispensed with the need to see yourself reflected somehow doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need to exist at all.
Political movements, representations in media, and equitable distribution of resources all contribute to a harmonious society. And think of all the individuals who had to be the first to do something to make it possible for others to see themselves as capable. Insert Lucy Liu’s predecessors. And though it might get tiresome when people start to blame the lack of role models in media for what’s happening in their lives, you have to ask yourself: If Asian Americans don’t police and speak out against marginalization, who will?
Finally, I’d like to point out that you probably wouldn’t be able to write to a newspaper called AsianWeek if people like your friend didn’t exist.
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these women have dumb preoccupations. Did askQ just run out of questions?