Jessie Benedict, A01, Week 3

      This week’s reading “The Time to Fight Is Now”: Asian American Women, Academia’s Socially Engineered “Privileged Oppressed,” Go Rogue.” discusses the roles and expectations of Asian American women in academia. The author states that “Asian American women are seen by academic administrators as ideal representations of diversity because of assumptions that they will present exotic faces while remaining silent.” (Valverde & Dariotis, 35) Asian American women in academia were brought in under the pretence that they were valued for their knowledge and skills. In actual fact, they were only invited in because they were thought to be quiet and submissive. I can only imagine the shock these women had once they realized that their opinions didn’t matter, not when it was pre-decided that they had no voice in academia. These were women who had invaluable knowledge and skills, women who really wanted to contribute to society and make a difference. Yet, they were oppressed, shamed and punished for wanting to speak out and help. It’s disheartening to see how undervalued these women were by their colleagues.  

      However, though they risk suffering the consequences, there are Asian American women who are not discouraged and silenced by this. I admire their courage to speak up and fight for their rights in academia, to challenge the oppressive system that they find themselves in. I believe that their actions and spirit will change how women are valued in the system and encourage more women to voice out and fight for their equal rights.

Question: In what other industries or sectors are Asian American women being oppressed?

References:

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Image: Campaign Honours Women Human Rights Defenders. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/WomenHRDefenders.aspx