User:Tmanyrath/sandbox

Asian Americans' body dissatisfaction is largely due to the way they are often portrayed as the sexual yet innocent person or nerdy and emotionally inept character as well as the prevalence of White people in media. Asian Americans tend to have a wide range of body dissatisfaction, with some studies saying that they have less than White, Black, and Hispanic Americans while others say they range somewhere in between. However, unlike with many other non-White groups in America, Asian-Americans' body dissatisfaction does not have any relation to their levels of assimilation to American culture. This tends to be attributed to the fact that they are always viewed as "Forever Foreigners."

In the way this concept applies, the "true" American is considered to be the White American, and all other Americans are something else, first and foremost, then they are Americans. So, to try to fit in, many Asians attempt to achieve traits they consider White.

According to an article from the Autumn 2003 edition of The Journal of Negro Education, many Asian American girls and women strive to achieve what they see as White traits. These are often traits such as large breasts, green eyes, or light hair, which Asians are very rarely born with. In this article, Hmong high school girls were the main focus. These girls specified that they tried to achieve these traits because they were things that they believed White men and boys found attractive.

Many Asian girls and women believe that their aspirations will be achieved if they marry a white man. Therefore, they try to do what they can to look attractive to them. The opposite side of this phenomenon is the desexualization of Asian men. Many girls and women, Asian or not, do not see them as potential romantic partners because of the traits they are perceived to have such as being physically unattractive, emotionally cut off, and boring.

There are very few representations of Asian people in Western media. Women tend to be portrayed in two ways: as exotic foreigners, docile and nonthreatening and sexual but also innocent, or as the nerd who is still aesthetically pleasing, but also emotionless and career oriented. This leads many Asian women to believe that they have to be in one of these boxes. If they are smart, they cannot be sexual. If they are sexual, it has to be in a way as if they are almost not aware of it.

Most media in America is Black-White centered. This means that, if the character is not White, they tend to be Black. This makes it seem as if America is full of only Black people and White people, therefore putting Asians in a limbo space.

For Asian Americans, the ideal body is influenced by the media they see. Women tend to lean towards traits that distinguish between Asian American women and White American women. For example, one trait that is held up in Asian American communities is the double eyelid. Many Asians are born with the single layered eyelid, but this ideal is so prevalent that people get surgery to achieve it.