SAPSA - A03 - Tristan Kwik, Sadaf Sadiq, Kathlene Ngo, Emerald Vang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6maJNXOPb8g

Subtle Asian Traits, a Facebook page, was recently created and over one million Facebook users already follow the page. Subtle Asian Traits is a page where members post about their experiences as Asian and Asian American individuals. This page creates a sense of community across the world, as it can be accessed by anyone connected to the internet. Many of the page’s posts consist of memes and videos that many within the Asian and Asian American community find humorous, entertaining, and relatable. However, many of the jokes target specific stereotypes of specific Asian cultures, mainly those of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture. Those that fidentify within these cultures may find these memes to be relatable and the characteristics that define what it means to be an “authentic Asian.” But what about those that aren’t Chinese, Japanese, or Korean? Are they still “authentic Asians” if they don’t identify with the content posted on the Facebook page? In our SAPSA video, we explore how the idea of an “authentic Asian” relates to the model minority myth through the context of this Facebook page.

Our intended audience is anybody who utilizes social media platforms, but is mostly directed at youth and young adults. Social media has become a global sensation that connects people from all over the world, and thus is a good platform to spread various messages and information as well.

Our main goal was to educate people on how the model minority myth can permeate into many aspects of our everyday lives, such as through our social media platforms. Memes, one of the most easily consumable forms of media, are such a commonly shared experience nowadays. It gives people a chance to spread messages that they can relate too. However, such simple messages can also perpetuate negative images and ideas of specific groups and create stereotypes. In our video, we describe how the page, although builds a sense of community, has the power to also create barriers through perpetuating the idea of the model minority myth.

The challenges of creating this SAPSA were trying to effectively use the correct memes to complement the arguments that we were speaking about. However, we spent a lot of time looking for images that really suited our topics, and were able to successfully illustrate our topic.

The only thing we could have done differently would be to use very specific examples to narrate model minority myth perpetuating specific stereotypes against Asians and Asian Americans. This would have allowed us to distinguish the specific subset of how model minority myth is creating rifts between Asians themselves, and that in the ends we all have different perspectives in life.

We hope that our SAPSA can reach many people all over the internet and help enlighten the masses. Of course, we love memes and understand that Subtle Asian Traits is meant to crest community for Asians and Asian Americans and hope people can continue spreading enjoyment and shared experiences. We hope people will be able to distinguish between humor and misplaced assumptions and stereotypes, and work towards educating others on these social issues.