AAS 345 OL - Contemporary Asian American Issues

UNIT OBJECTIVES

1. Critically analyze stereotypes
2. Analyze the role of the media and business/marketing
3. Identify ways of challenging stereotypes
   

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the history and context of Asian stereotypes in US popular Culture. What, when, where and why? Make sure to draw from the readings for specific examples to illustrate your point.
2. What was the Abercrobmie & Fitch controversy about? In particular, what was the substance or arguments in the protests against A&F?
   

TASKS FOR THIS UNIT

• Prior to class - Read the required readings
• Read discussion questions for this unit - SEE ABOVE
• Monday, May 26th - Take pre-discussion quiz 4:30-5:00pm (Link is now active. You may need to REFRESH or RELOAD the page in order to bypass the password page)
• Meet online @ 5:00-5:15pm - Open CHAT, Join channel asianamericas.net/aas345
• Participate in discussion 5:15-6:00pm - Join any of the five discussion groups
• Reporters reconvene in main channel, 6:00-6:30pm

Caution: This chat procedure is subject to testing and revision. This is a relatively new set-up so please keep that in mind and have patience. I will be logged in on AIM (profropp) during class so if you're having trouble connecting, I may be able to offer some assistance.

Pick whichever channel you want but there should be no more than 4-5 students per group. If there are too many people joining, please POLITELY remind to try a different one!

Note: Once you are in a channel, choose a moderator. This should rotate and everyone will have a chance during the semester. In future sessions, you can use whatever format you want (free-for-all, moderated, raise hands, etc) but for this first time, I prefer that you have people raise hands. The moderators will be reporting back to the professor.

READINGS

REQUIRED

• "The Cold War Origins of the Model Minority Myth (ch. 5)," Orientals...
• "The Model Minority as Gook (ch. 6)," Orientals...
• Stereotypical cartoon images anger Asians [SF Chronicle]
• Orientalist Kitsch - Opinion Piece on the Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt controversy [poppolitics.com]
  

OPTIONAL

• Retailer goes from 'Wong' ... to thong - Abercrombie's latest marketing snafu
• Callous Corporate Racism Strikes Again - Target stores follow the lead of A&F with offensive t-shirt designs.
• blacklava.net - Check out their t-shirt response to the A&F controversy
  

Comments (11)

	1. 02-06-2008 00:42
	Pre-discussion quiz 4:30-5:00pm Sorry I'm a bit lost, but does anyone know what the Pre-discussion quiz is referring to? Registered Report

Trevor Oishi

	2. 02-06-2008 09:02
	Pre-Discussion Quiz Excellent question Trevor. I'm glad that you asked. That link will be updated before the scheduled time for the quiz today (4:30-5:00). The link will not work prior to that time. The quizzes are not meant to penalize but more to help review the readings and what we will be covering in discussion. They are meant, however, to be done RIGHT before discussion so again, please don't click on the link prior as it will not work and/or be password protected prior to 4:30pm. Registered Report

Steven Ropp

	3. 02-06-2008 16:45
	PreDiscussion Quiz I am unable to open the quiz. I have tried reload and refresh as well as my login info, but to no avail. Help Registered Report

Theresa McGee

	4. 02-06-2008 17:24
	is anyone on chat? I've tried repeatedly to open the Chat feature but has been unsuccessful... each time, it just brings back to the Main homepage.   I will appreciate any help.   Thank you. Registered Report

Cathy Viado

	5. 02-06-2008 18:20
	Red Teams Discussion We discussed many different topics. We felt that A&F were very ignorant in putting out a line featuring Asian stereotypes. We discussed other scandals which A&F had been involved in with regard to racism and ethnicity. We also discussed oour own ethnicities and stereotypes people had placed on us. In addition we discussed stereotypes we had heard of in regard to asians and any stereotypes we may have. Registered Report

Emily Malfitano

	6. 02-06-2008 18:28
	Red Teams Discussion Yellow Teams Discussion:  We discussed some of the reading in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6. We had more discussion on the A&F screen T-shirts. Most of the user that are Asians in the discussion did not find the T-shirt offensive but funny. Registered Report

Kittipong Tontisukkarom

	7. 02-06-2008 18:31
	follow-up on today's discussion wow, that seemed to go well although it was kind of stressful at the beginning. i had some of the rooms set to moderated but then i guess it wasn't letting anyone talk in the room. i'm not sure why. anyway, as i've mentioned various time, please don't have a meltdown when something doesn't immediately work . number one is to read CAREFULLY what is on the website and then to let me know what's going on and i'll do my best to help you out.    in terms of today, the group reporter's will be posting a brief summary of their group's discussion. anyone else is free to post follow-up comments or questions here as well. along those lines, if you weren't able to connect today, let me know, come by my office hours next tuesday, AND post your own summary or reponse to today's discussion questions as well and that way you'll get full credit. but, keep in mind that we ultimately need to figure out why you're not able to connect so that way you can participate next time around. Registered Report

Steven Ropp

	8. 02-06-2008 18:49
	Green Team The Green Team was very open with the discussion about the A & F controversy. Someof us did not remember hearing about it. We also discussed the current and past uses of deregoatory stereotypes and names. Our discussion of the model minority had various opinions on whether this was a non-negative term or not. We used some of the A&F info to make comparisons to other ethnic groups and what the outcome of those would be. The group speculated on the current use of stereotypes and negative connotations. Some beleived it was less and some the same, depending on where you lived. It was a positive discourse and everyone participated. Registered Report

Theresa McGee

	9. 02-06-2008 19:44
	Putting in my two-cents worth (response I wish I were able to connect to chat earlier and joined in the interesting discussions...  Big thanks to Prof. Ropp who tried to help me with connectivity issue... and let's get to the issue at hand....    The A& F controversy, I think, at its core, is an issue about marginalization, dehumanization and adherence to old stereotypes. Michael Chang, vice chair of Stanford’s Asian American Students’ Association, was right with his indignation over the A&F stereotypical cartoon images. The images representing racial and ethnic groups and depicting century-old stereotypes are, as Chang pointed out, trivializing an entire religion and philosophy.     Now, I’ve always considered myself as someone with a good sense of humor but in the case of A&F, there was nothing amusing about those images. In fact, those rendered images are tantamount to racial profiling, or okay, let’s just say, innocuous exotification—none of which are flattering or funny.     (As an aside, I’d like to point out that the term ”Asian" actually refers to a lot of different people and it really is hard to define Asian Americans. One of the truths is that we come from too many places in Asia to have one face, one experience, and certainly one identity. The nature of Asian American is a fractured one full of complexity, contradictions, and cultural differences, differences that come with our various mother countries, our disparate histories, our changing priorities. It is as if our identities have been tied up too neatly under this umbrella we’ve been given---this Asian American umbrella we have been asked to huddle under.)  The A & F controversy Registered Report

Cathy Viado

	10. 02-06-2008 22:02
	Go Blue Team The Blue Team discussed mainly the targeted clientele of A&F. Many stated that they advertise mostly for rich, white people and pay no regards to the minorities. This is slightly evident in the advertisement itslef, with its naked, perfectly sculpted white bodies. We went on to talk about language in America and other countries and the parellels of underminded Asian-American racism and advertised African-American racism. There are diffences in their historical roots as far as the depth of the racism. However, we couldn't that one should not have more precedence over the other.  This was a great group. Very active and respectful of one another. Registered Report

Janice Ancheta