Masculinity and the Attack Of the Asian Athlete
June 27, 2008
With the emergence of Asian/Asian American male sports figures in the world of national sports, many question what this entails for the APA community at large. The variety of successful sports athletes and personnel prevalent in multiple fields gives warrant to well-deserved recognition for APA contributions to the nation’s culture of sports. But is there a cost to this success? Has the typecast math-wheeling, asexual APA male been replaced by the hot-blooded, “jockified,” hypermasculine APA male?
As APAs, we know these excessive stereotypes of Asian American masculinity are completely unwarranted. But with a media-driven culture that can perpetuate these generalizations into becoming a conscious reality to unaware observers, APAs may want to think twice about the side effects of this success in the sports world.
Sports figures such as Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and Hawaiian/Korean American ultimate fighting champion B.J. Penn reflect the undeniable presence of Asian/Asian American males in combative sports. Many have begun to associate APAs with combative sports, which can cause APA males to further fall into the hypermasculine typecast.
The Spike TV network recently aired the Guys Choice Awards, a show nominating celebrities based on their appeal to a predominately male audience. Examples of awards given were “Most Dangerous Man” and “Most Unstoppable Jock.”
The hosts of the show were Asian American actors John Cho and Kal Penn. Both Cho and Penn gained stardom from the Harold and Kumar film series, featuring two friends going through outlandish drug-induced and racially comedic situations in order to retrieve White Castle hamburgers, while meeting beautiful women along the way.
The awards show consisted of a sexual montage of beautiful girls posing on walls, giant mugs of beer, and a lifetime achievement award given to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. It was an extreme celebration of being a straight male, with Cho and Penn egging on with frank humor and antics that some may construe as stereotypical “manliness.”
In our society, the gratification of sex, violence and sports brings a level of increased masculinity to those who partake in them. With the combination of a media that has begun to associate APA actors with exaggerated forms of comedic masculinity, and the dominance of Asian/Asian American male figures in the so called “violent” combative sports of boxing and ultimate fighting, the perception of the APA male in accordance with public veracity has come into question, with old stereotypes possibly being perpetuated by success.
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Manny Pacquiao Wins!
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Filipino Boxer Pacquiao Draws Crowd at Berkeley Visit
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3 Responses to “Masculinity and the Attack Of the Asian Athlete”
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Athleticism goes hand in hand with thoughts of racial superiority. Who would’ve ever thought to see an Asian win a track & field event in the last Olympics? Who would’ve ever thought to see Asians playing in the NBA or before that professional baseball? Why do you think Westerners always have the suspicion of steroid use of Asian Olympians that win medals? Why when there are so many Korean women that can play the LPGA, there are calls by others female golfers to limit their number because they’re not “personable?” If sports were really about celebrating athleticism, then how socialable one is should not be an issue. Oh how about when mainstream media sources infer that Kristi Yamaguchi or Michelle Kwan aren’t Americans. Modern sports is more about what Hitler had in mind… Showcasing one’s own belief in their “own” superiority. They may give blacks the stereotype that they have an atheltic edge. They may give Asians the stereotype that they have an educational edge. But what they won’t give up is say any of them has both which is reserved only for them. Which is why if an Asian is successful in sports, it’s because of steroid use. If an African-American successful in education and business , it’s because of affirmative action. Asian athletes out there but if you’re looking for Western acceptance, you have a long wait.
listening to sports commentators
use the word “sneaky” to pepper their adjectives
in describing asian male athletes prowess or court sense
bowls me over…check the tapes!
Guys:
“AsianWeek Staff,” above, have outdone themselves this time out.
And I presume the distaff half? were more than involved, which is as it should be.
However, you too, Pswing, they might have caught the “predominantly” vis-a-vis “predominately,” the latter being the verb and not the adjective form.
That said, “Staff” is right-on about the entire “male” “jock” “masculinity” bit.
If you’ve got it, you don’t have to flaunt it, and if you flaunt it, you really doubt you “have” it.
Besides, it’s such a stale and juvey joke. All the way to the bank, that is.
The problem is that far too many American “boys” never achieve true “manhood,” well, make that “maturity,” because of their inability to grow out of their pubertal beliefs in what “manliness” is or means.
But why should that bother any other male of the species who HAS matriculated, unlike the entire Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld crowd, from said juvenile status of arressted gonads?
Mo’ bettah we-uns strove for less childish emulations, and focussed on our individual needs and goals and aspirations, which are problematic enough sans such puerile puntings.
And, dis”staff”ers, you pounded THIS nail properly on its square head.
Frank Eng
P.S.: Nor that I undervalue, estimate, OR diss the likes of those Japanese baseball stars or seven-footer? Mainland basketballers, and especially those impersonable Korean ladies dominating the LPGA links. On this subject, “race” only matters to the racists, who blast a Bonds and find it necessary to imply steroids and mushrooms in the success of others. Maybe it’s just “karma,” guys. Or the lack of a good press agent.