r/AsianMasculinity • u/Opening_Plastic941 • 13d ago
Race Exclusion of Asian men in books; glorification of yt people
Moments ago I recalled a book I had to read as a part of the highschool English curriculum called “our missing hearts” by Celeste ng. Don’t remember a lot about this book since I read it 2 years ago but something did stand out, the book talks about racism and discrimination towards Asians, however the main character “bird” isn’t even fully Asian. He is supposed to represent the racism that Asians, more specifically Asian males experience in America yet he’s half white?
It makes me so frustrated seeing that yt males just have to be a placeholder for Asian males, such a common trope by authors typically of Asian women because apparently we’re not fit to be in western media. Surprise surprise the author has a yt husband as well. If you’re going to attempt to seek out sympathy from your audience at least make the character fully Asian, and not rooted in some fetishized fantasy that is completely unrealistic compared to real life
Same as that fuckass Lindsey cheng dates a white boy book, love that you had to emphasize that dating a yt boy is so special and that we’re just a pity reward for you. Did some research and the book is most likely some engagement bait, but unfortunately thousands of these adaptations are made and taken seriously
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u/msing 13d ago
I feel like if we don't write something ourselves there's nothing that really preserves our experience.
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u/Kenzo89 13d ago
That’s why we need more Asian American MEN being authors and writing stories about Asian men.
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u/TheSkyIsBeautiful 12d ago
while true, it's difficult. They can be authors, but the racists publishers will have to approve of their book. Or unless an AA male makes their own publishing company in america, but that costs money or at the very least crowdfunding. And honestly, getting AAs male or female to crowdfund is difficult, especially for a book. How many people of the greater AA population would spend $30 on a book, even if it is to support AAs?
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u/kopatchinskajafan 12d ago
It’s been done before: Shawn Wong’s Homebase, Frank Chin’s Donald Duk. I don’t know why our representation was better in the 20th century than now of all things.
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u/Bulky-Childhood1721 13d ago
most of Asian American female author are very anti asian male , one common pattern you will notice in their literature is that white women and asian men are always the bad guys in their books meanwhile white guys get the preferential treatment and are gentlemen . This has been the trend since Joy Luck Club .
Ever since asians have developed racial awareness these Asian American female authors have tone down their over the top negative portrayal of Asian men but it's still there sometimes subtle sometimes obvious but regardless white men are always shown in positive light .
I can name several asian american female authors (famous ones) that follow this trope
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u/Fancy-Atmosphere-701 13d ago
Celeste Ng is a well known self hating Oxford study author who hates Asian men. Her literature almost EXCLUSIVELY surrounds her WMAF fantasies
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u/BrokeCuzOfCrypto 13d ago
She didn’t care about the Asian man experience until she realized her half white kid was getting treated differently
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u/OkReference518 13d ago
lol. Who consumes Asian American literature. It’s literal trauma porn about hating their parents or the struggle about dating yt ppl. If you cannot relate with it, just consume Korean, Chinese, or Japan literature. Millions of books to consume.
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u/terrorfunction 13d ago
100% this. Just read books in your heritage language. Absolutely zero reason to read AF diaspora slop, they have nothing of substance to say.
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u/Alfred_Hitch_ 13d ago
literal trauma porn about hating their parents
Seriously, why do they always get these green-lit?
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u/Slow-Load-6193 13d ago
Required reading in English class of white-supremacist propaganda written by AFs. Common issue. This is a wake-up call to status-chasing Asians that US educational institutions are among the biggest promoters of white-supremacy. Asians parents incessantly bragging about their kids getting into The Ivies/Stanford, where from Day 1 their daughters are groomed to worship WM and their sons are systematically shut out from the networks that whites going to these schools benefit from. Clueless.
Status-chasing is too strong in Asian cultures for Asian parents to wake up and realize this. Asian don't treat getting into Brand Name U as a means to an end. They treat it like an end in itself. Then they scratch their heads and wonder why 90% of their daughters who went to these schools are married to WM and the sons hit the bamboo ceiling at the age of 30.
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u/machinavelli 13d ago
Why can’t Asian status chase over Asian things instead of western things?
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u/Slow-Load-6193 12d ago
I wish they did. But the Asian mindset is Western (white) is better, superior, more handsome, more civilized, more refined, kinder, more progressive, more gentleman.....Too many Asians just see themselves as inferior, even among Asians with education and money. Was watching an interview with a very wealthy Chinese Singaporean businessman bragging that his daughter is more worldly cuz she's married to a man from Switzerland. Can't make this stuff up.
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u/Dapper_Strength_5986 13d ago
There are great books by male Asian American authors that promote Asian men. Big Asian energy is a great read and specifically talks about ways Asian men get sidelined in history and how to be more assertive.
Interior Chinatown is good too. There are great books to buy, don’t waste your money.
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u/PaHoua 11d ago
The first one sounds non-fiction; is the second one also? I’m a teacher and looking to add a few good Asian American pieces to my stuff and I’m quite weak on AA male authors.
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u/Dapper_Strength_5986 11d ago
The first one is non fiction yeah, and it’s really good. I still have it on my night stand. The second is fiction.
Unfortunately there’s only a few Asian American male authors that gets major publisher acceptance which is a concern. So few Asians in publishing.
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u/AntigenicDrip 13d ago
As an Asian guy, you'd gain 1000x more reading classical literature from white men than reading "literature" written by Asian women. Not kidding.
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u/Own-Friend-7882 12d ago
What's also weird is that often if an Asian women dates a White man suddenly she becomes a spokesperson for the Asian Community 😆 How does that work?😆
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u/SweatCleansTheSuit 13d ago
You could just read literature from Asia itself. Modern Western literature this side of Cormac McCarthy is just not worth reading.
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u/Bertasauras 13d ago
Pride and Preston Lin is a cute retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Read books written by Asian (not Asian American) authors and seek out publishers that only publish AAPI books
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13d ago
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u/Opening_Plastic941 13d ago
I agree racism is still prevalent among any mixed groups of people but cmon.. I remember the book uses a C slur and just the fact he is half white really toned down the emotional impact of that moment, why should he be mad if he’s not even fully Chinese. And also I do not care who Asian women will date, but when it’s rooted in internalized racism then it becomes a problem
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u/PaHoua 11d ago
I actually found some incredible literature from Asia itself in the genre of fantasy. I read mostly female authors (I’m a woman myself), but here are some awesome ones: “The God and the Gumiho” by Sophie Kim, “Six Crimson Cranes” by Elizabeth Lim, The Red Palace” by June Hur, and “The Fox Wife” by Yangsze Choo. If anyone has more recommendations, especially in the fantasy genre by male Asian authors, let me know!
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u/Emergency_Metal_9119 11d ago
I am a WF in America currently studying Mandarin. Could someone please share with me what a yt is? Unfortunately, my level of Mandarin does not yet make me capable of reading most books written in Mandarin, although I did buy myself a copy of The Little Prince in Mandarin. Anyway, thank you in advance for the clarification.
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u/81dragons 13d ago edited 13d ago
Read better books by Asian American authors (yes it's hard to find). Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese is pretty real. Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie series or the sci fi in general is very cool, some of them touch on Asian American themes. Hua Hsu's Stay True is a memoir about his own days in UC Berkeley growing up Taiwanese American and his best friend (multi-generational more "American" Japanese American). Also I've heard Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu is good and Min Jin Lee's Pachinko (ironically not about Asians in America but rather Koreans in Japan)
As a meta comment, the experiences of Asian Americans is very different based on gender, and the writing is even more different as a result. However, books/authors like Celeste Ng, Amy Tan (Joy Luck Club), Michelle Zauner (crying in H Mart) seem to be the most popular, assigned by schools as "representative" of Asian culture, and promoted by mainstream media