When it comes to stereotyping Asians, it is not that easy to classify all under one group because when you talk about Asians, you are also talking about Thai/ Vietnamese/ Indonesian/ Fillipino / Japanese / Korean / Malaysian …etc (Remember! We are all not Chinese!)
When it comes to religion and growing up background we are also very different too. Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Catholic, Christian are some dominating most of the population in different Asian countries…etc.
I lived in the United Kingdom for almost 4 years and sometimes, I do get very what I call ‘’funny’’ questions from white friends. Anyway this article is written in my own perspective on how I think Asian women are being stereotyped by white men.
1. Asian women look alike
It is a very common stereotypical thought that Asians all look alike. Probably because as Asians our hair colours are usually dark brown or black and straight, the skin color and texture might also not vary a lot too. The average height of women are quite and closely similar that leads to this pigeonhole classification.
2. Asian women have similar surnames
The westerners might think we have similar sort of names because we Asians have a little variety of surnames. Besides our chinese surnames being Wong, Tan, Lim and Lee probably don’t make much sense to them at all in helping them remember.
3. Asian women are great at cooking
When it comes to Asian Cuisine there is indeed a lot more varieties as compared to the western Cuisine. Especially in Singapore culture, we love to eat and food is definitely always on our minds.
When I went to live in England, it was extremely hard to find Asian food around. At that time, the only thing I could cook was instant noodles so missing Asian food and being home sick in a way forced me into becoming a good cook by looking up online recipes of the Asian food that I was missing.
4. Asian women are good at house work
The main obvious reason to this is probably due to our habit of not wearing shoes in the house. Generally in Singapore, and many other Asian countries, wearing shoes in the houseis considered rude and it is a big NO NO!!! Our houses in Asia are much smaller compared to those in the west therefore we Asians would be more proud in keeping our house clean.
It is not that we are good at housework; it is just that we cannot stand the place being dirty and have a much higher expectation in terms of level of cleanliness. Haha!
5. Asian women are submissive
As Asian women, we are told to ‘give face’ to our husbands in public and appear to let them have their way in front of their friends. We are not supposed to put men down and let them have their ego high.
But of course in exchange we expect the men to put family first, to honour our parents and to let us have control of his bank account.
6. Nerds that are good with mathematics
Western countries perceive Asians as nerds who study very hard and that we are so good at mathematics that we can calculate and solve the mathematical and quantitative problems with the blink of an eye.
This is partially a fact, because Asians have superior mathematics than the non-Asians because it’s usually the Asians winning the world mathematics contests and competitions. But it does not necessarily mean that all Asians have very good mathematical knowledge. As Asians, our culture is to always be reminded that studies are very important so we are always made to stress more on studies and be more disciplined in our traditional learning methods (Do -It-A-Thousand-Times-Until-It-Is-Done).
7. Asian women are quiet
I agree most Asians are naturally more reserved compared to our western counterparts because it is not part of our culture to talk to strangers. Thus, we might seem to be less outgoing as compared to western women.
Or maybe sometimes western men might think we do not speak good English therefore we prefer to remain quiet when in a group or at a party.
8. Asian women are patient
Remember the Chinese saying, "patient is a virtue" and the Japanese emphasise the word "忍" a lot which means tolerance.
Maybe we are more tolerant but everyone has got a breaking point. So don’t test our limits!
9. We are petite and small therefore need protection
We are small in size but we all know Kung Fu remember? ☺ That’s how westerners usually portray us all as martial arts experts.
We might be small but don’t you know the smallest chilies are the hottest. So maybe the western men are the ones who end up being protected by Asian women.
10. Asian women look younger than their actual age
It is no secret many people of Asian ethnicity look younger beyond their years. It is genetically proven that Asian skin ages slower and also our Asian diet is arguably one reason why many Asians look young, much younger than Caucasians of the same age.