Joy Ride

The model minority myth paints a story in rather broad strokes. It’s a term of phrase used to summate the idea that ethnic minorities, particularly Asian Americans, face no barriers to upwards social mobility due to an inherent propensity for hard work, assimilative obedience, and general ‘good behaviour’ that sets them apart from other ethnic groups.

It’s less helpful to understand this as a homogenising and monolithic phenomenon, and more interesting to look at the ways these narratives – though clunky – have been internalised, reproduced in our cultural touchstones, our upbringings. Interesting, too, is the way the notions perpetuated by the model minority myth intersect with gender – and what expectations are then generated for Asian American or diasporic East Asian women, who are not only expected to be demure, but excellent, too.