Dragon ladies and China dolls: Images of Asian American women in American film

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

11/07/2008

Category :

Arts & media

Sub category :

Film studies

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Summary :

Introduction.
Dragon lady, China doll and yellowface.
1. The 1920s image of the 'oriental woman'.
2. Other most common roles for Asian American actresses.
The 1940s, 50s and 60s.
1. Change in the film industry for Asian and Asian American roles.
2. The demeaning roles of the 1950s and 60s.
Changes in film careers, academia and literature.
1. The creation of Asian American Studies as an academic discipline.
2. New portrayals of Asian American women.
3. Yuan Shu's book 'Cultural Politics and Chinese-American Female Subjectivity: Rethinking Kingston's Woman Warrior'.
The joy luck club.
1. Based on of the Amy Tan novel with the same title.
2. Tanaka Tomoyuki's arguments and writings.
Current images.

Abstract

The image of asian american women in film has undergone many changes from the 1920s to today. With stereotypes such as "dragon lady" and "china doll" and the practice of yellow-face, asian american actresses had plenty of obstacles in the world of film. Actresses such as Anna May Wong encountered all these things in her career throughout the 1920s and 30s. The 1940s saw a drop in roles for asian american actresses because of the american political climate. Although acting opportunities did pick up in the 1950s and 60s, war only further contributed to the demeaning roles available. It was not until the 1970s that roles for asian american actresses changed and even expanded into the realm of television. This change coincides with changes in academia and literature. With the creation of asian american Studies departments and works like Woman Warrior, the image of asian Americans was clearly changing in american society. This evolution is evident in popular films such as The Joy Luck Club.