One of the characteristics of these stars is that they have facial features that are prominent of "Asianess." The no-double eyelid-ness is one of the biggest similarities between the Asian actresses who are successful in Hollywood. Also, another characteristics of some of the Asian stars who are
quite Americanized. Actresses can speak fluent English and also some are second-generation Korean or Chinese. This assimilated Asians are not particularly the full depiction of all Asians.
Examples of stars who has prominent Asian features
Examples of stars who are born and raised as Asian American
The success of female Asian stars and celebrities or any non-white female stars and celebrities of race and ethnicity seems like it speaks to the fetishization of these women as a whole. Like the term "Asian fever", these representation of Asian woman or even the recent discussion of Jennifer Lopez and her embodiment of a hispanic/South American body all seems to serve the male fetish.
Furthermore, unfortunately, there is still a scarcity of depiction of Asian culture in Hollywood. Although most recently, due to the growth of international market in China, South Korea, and Japan, there are a lot of Hollywood movies that goes on location to these countries. However, there are rare movies that deals with Asian culture or has a protagonist who is Asian. In TV, there is Fresh Off the Boat, but one can say there is still lack of representation of Asians and Asian culture.
I definitely wish that we would have taken some time to discuss Asian celebrities and the complexities of their existence within white popular culture. The construction and portrayal of Asian femininity and masculinity in white culture has long been a very narrow and harmful one that has been built upon the created concept of the "model minority". Asians, especially Asian women, are reduced to depictions as both hypersexualized and submissive, something that has been perpetuated by the histories of imperialism in places like Vietnam and Korea and reflected by depictions of Asian women in media and porn today. Without more realistic, well-rounded, and multidimensional representation of Asian actors/actresses and characters in media, these depictions will not provide true representations of real people and their experiences.
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