The discussion of stereotypes in last week’s class and in this blog have started to get me thinking about the ways in which Asian American women are seen in contemporary society. Susan commented on a Modern Family episode that stereotypically shows a Chinese landlady with a heavy accent. I think Mrs. Ko’s role as a landlady is in some way commenting on the white dominance in American society. Her role as a landlady gives the sense that she is the caregiver and doing maintenance work instead of being a Chinese American woman with a stable career and family. This connects to Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s article, in which she mentions, women of color “shouldered the burdens of household maintenance” (Glenn 18), which reflects upon Mrs. Ko’s character. Having a stereotypical Chinese woman as the landlady gives the white tenants a sense of superiority and focuses on the racial minority of Asian American women. In addition, I found it interesting that the actress was actually Japanese American, and it reminded me of Kathleen Uno’s essay, which discussed Orientalism and the notion of lumping all Asian countries together. By casting a Japanese American woman as Chinese American gives the sense that Asian nationalities are interchangeable, and supports the common stereotype that “all Asians look the same.”

On another note, I found the class discussion on picture brides and mail order brides interesting because I had never heard of these systems before. To me, these organizations seem somewhat corrupt, and also appear to be giving into stereotypes of Asian women as exotic, vulnerable, and quieter than Western women. I feel that this also speaks to the white dominance in American society, and the sense of white superiority. In my opinion, Asian American women’s struggles haven’t yet subsided, and the stereotypes showing inferiority of minority races still exist in contemporary society.