The psychology of Asian American women.

Abstract

The racial legacy of Asian Americans in the United States has made the declaration of identity much like a competition between two mothers: race and nation (Thornton, 199215). This tension creates a dynamic of change. However, the Asian American woman also must struggle with loyalty to a "third mother,'' gender, which has often rendered her a secondclass citizen even within her own family.Compared with only 20 years ago, the Asian American woman is less defined by the men in her life (i.e., her father, her partner, her sons, or by traditional familial roles). The Asian American woman cannot be characterized by a single description; she is represented by more than 30 different ethnic groups that vary in religious and philosophical orientations, matriarchal versus patriarchal organization, and language. She may be an immigrant, refugee, or American born, first generation or fifth generation.Several colleagues contributed to the development of this chapter with interesting conversations and critiques of an earlier draft. I especially thank

The Double Binds of Our Bodies

“…The stereotypes of Asian American women in the dominant U.S. culture include: concubine, prostitute, mail-order bride, Miss Saigon, war bride, exotic geisha, dragon lady, lotus blossom, China doll, and precious pearl (i.e., Espiritu, 1997). The fetishized (Durham, 2001;Espiritu) and exoticized (Root, 1995) portrayals of Asian American women are also represented in the popular media (Marchetti, 1993;Tajima, 1989). When not being sexually objectified, Asian American women are often absent, portrayed not as ordinary individuals (Tajima), or seen as invisible and dehumanized "busy worker bees" (Root).…”

“…For Asian American women, body dissatisfaction may be related to the contrast of the Asian body with the White beauty ideals (Iijima Hall, 1995) and eating disorders may be more aligned with racial loathing than with body weight (Root, 1995). The devaluation of the racial features in women of color may lead to a denigration of one's own race and an embrace of White beauty standards in order to gain power and respect (Root, 1990).…”

“…The devaluation of the racial features in women of color may lead to a denigration of one's own race and an embrace of White beauty standards in order to gain power and respect (Root, 1990). Skin color has been a standard by which Asian women can gain social mobility much like thinness is a means for White women to gain mobility (Root, 1995). Racially specific parts of the body such as the eyes, nose, skin color, leg length and width, and hair texture may represent departures from the White ideals of beauty (Iijima Hall).…”

“…The inseparability of the body from gender and sexism has been discussed in the literature on body image and eating disorders (Root, 1990(Root, , 1995(Root, , 2001. These interwoven dimensions of race, gender, and the body can only be understood within sociopolitical contexts such as racism and sexism.…”

“…These interwoven dimensions of race, gender, and the body can only be understood within sociopolitical contexts such as racism and sexism. In the dominant U.S. culture, Asian American women contend with racial and gender-specific stereotypes ranging from facelessness (Durham, 2001), quiet invisibility (Root, 1995), and model minority to esoteric sexual objectifications such as the lotus blossom (Tien, 2000) or dragon lady (Shah, 1997). Many of these images relate specifically to the Asian American woman's body.…”