To ask if people of asian descent feel underrepresented?

[josil]

Please keep this thread polite I don't want it deleted! It's a sensitive question to ask which I'm aware of hence why I'm starting with the disclaimer to please keep the tone non-inflammatory this isn't intended to create any arguments just genuinely want to explore an issue.

I'm asking the question because particularly since BLM a lot of media corporations and people in general are much more aware and inclusive for black people (whilst it's not always perfect I think a lot of people are making the effort to be more inclusive for black people) you see us much more on tv ads and on clothing websites etc.

I just wandered how Asian people feel because I think there is a lack of representation - but also no one really campaigning for it?

I'm interested to hear your perspective on if it bothers you or not? Do you think there's an imbalanced focus on BLM and not on other races?

I appreciate each race has their own unique struggles but I do feel non white people have a unique understanding of each other in many ways when it comes to inclusivity.

@josil - We all have different interests. I don’t watch v much tv now and not much of a sports spectator, so representation in these areas doesn’t matter as much as in my career in tech. Politicians are in the media as much as footballers in my opinion.

I think it would be nice that tech-minded black people can find successful IT/engineering careers and sporty south and east Asian People can become elite athletes. Part of the answer may be to encourage a change in mindset of parents (as we get a steer towards these things quite young). At least from an East Asian point of view, we are encouraged to doctor, lawyer, engineer, finance jobs - which there’s nothing wrong with, but not everyone fits that mould.

I can't quite figure out what you're disagreeing with.

The question was, do Asian people feel like they're underrepresented, not do black people feel they're underrepresented?

I don't think Indian people are underrepresented (and I think you're agreeing with that), but I do think Chinese people are underrepresented (and I think you're agreeing with that too).

It's the people behind the screens whether it's factual e.g. news or fiction e.g. drama that is more important for true representation.

Just having obviously black and asian, whether south or east, faces on the screen isn't enough. As the faces on screen don't control the narrative.

Btw one thing I've noticed is that if you are a minority in this country many white people expect you to fit in one stereotypical box. They don't realise due to your own family's history, who you mix with and where you live will mean you fit into many boxes. The thoughts on this thread from posters who are clearly white are an illustration of this.

I think it depends what you watch on TV! If you watch the news you’ll see Naga Munchetty on BBC breakfast every day, Nina Hossain on ITV, Krishnan Guru-Murthy anchoring the channel 4 news, etc etc. You seem to be thinking more along the lines of light entertainment and pop culture which is perfectly valid but you do need to specify.

I think humans are hardwired to want to stick people into boxes, as ridiculous as that is.

We feel it a lot with ethnicity - people want to find a box for us to sit in, and they want ethnicity, birthplace and culture to all neatly line up. You're just difficult when you're born somewhere else and you're raised in a different way.

However, the box way of thinking applies to matters other than race. Humans just seem to love labels (even when they're wrong).

I think humans are hardwired to want to stick people into boxes, as ridiculous as that is.

We feel it a lot with ethnicity - people want to find a box for us to sit in, and they want ethnicity, birthplace and culture to all neatly line up. You're just difficult when you're born somewhere else and you're raised in a different way.

However, the box way of thinking applies to matters other than race. Humans just seem to love labels (even when they're wrong).

Indeed, and some of the communities mentioned on this thread are the worst for this! It is interesting to compare notes with friends who also grew up in migrant and minority communities and to find that across the board, regardless of our ethnicities, we all had the common experience of meeting someone new within our own communities and undergoing an interrogation - who are our parents, what's our surname, where did we grow up? We all knew that they were working out where to 'place' us.

@Namenic a very good point you make actually the representation of most cultures is the industries our cultures tend to steer us toward. I'd like to see a shift in more tech minded black people going into those spaces etc

@HermioneAndRoger completely agree - sometimes our own communities are worse than others for doing this!

7.5% of the population in England and Wales is Asian. Only 3.3% of the population is black. There is no way in hell you would think that from looking at ads or clothes modelling. Diversity seems to equate to black in this country.

Came here to say something similar.

If you break down the media by something similar I would expect diversity to be over represented if anything!

This is the point I've been making. Thank you for this statistic.

7.5% of the population in England and Wales is Asian. Only 3.3% of the population is black. There is no way in hell you would think that from looking at ads or clothes modelling. Diversity seems to equate to black in this country.

But tbf Asians have their own areas to a much greater extent than black people, and you see much more targeted advertising when you drive through those areas. Granted there are also areas with high population of Jamaican British and the accompanying Caribbean food shops etc, but not the same degree as the Muslim areas full of halal butchers, sweetshops, bakeries, etc.

And its nearly always a black man with a white (usually blond) woman too if a mixed race couple in a relationship is portrayed. Especially in tv ads. Very rarely the other way around.

You would almost think that Asian people of Chinese or other East Asian descent didn't exist.

I'll bet most of the people on this thread are white. It's what my Jamaican mate always points out. 😂

@TruthHertz Well you don't know what ethnicity people are on this thread - anonymous forum-and you are missing the point when you talk about 'areas'. The OP is talking about Asians being underrepresented in media e g TV adverts.
I am Asian and though I am so pleased to see more black people in media, I would really like to see more Asians.

I'm just not convinced from my observations that the majority of the Asian community is particularly bothered about their lack of representation in Western media.

I may if course be wrong, but I just don't see the same level of cultural integration with Asian culture vs black culture. I'm not talking about people integrating, more that black/urban music has been mainstream for decades (soul, hip hop, etc) whilst Indian music and film seems to be quite separate.

Define what you mean by 'Asian' and perhaps what makes you qualified to say that.

If you are including East Asian in that, don't mistake a lack of campaigning as contentment. Even those of us who identify as Western have a lot of Eastern influence that is hard to shake off that makes us reluctant to kick up a fuss, because it's disrespectful/impolite. Don't equate one set of cultural standards with another.

When I speak to my East Asian friends and family, I assure you, we're all bothered. We just don't feel able to speak about it to other people because 1) it feels like we're going against our inherent behaviours and 2) we don't really think anyone else would give a shit.

Chinese people endure a lot of casual racism.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean woman endure a lot of involuntary fetishism. All women have to put up with being objectified, but there's something even ickier about it when you're East Asian.

But no one else cares.

Indian people do quite well professionally. They get a lot of representation in TV and films too. East Asian people don't quite enjoy that same level of success. 80% of the people at the top of my profession are old, white men. The other 20% are old Indian men.

Generally, black people have the freedom and the will to protest and campaign and make their points. Non-black people tend to think twice about doing something that might get them accused of cultural appropriation, or anything else that could cause offence. Black people's ancestors put up with a lot of shit, and the current generations aren't having any of it. I think they're doing pretty well in the UK, TBH, and fair play to them.

But the debate always comes down to black vs white. There are even 'little things' now like brown plasters, because we're sooo inclusive and diverse in the UK.

Other colours exist. Hello. We're here too. Did no one think of other shades?

We're often invisible.

It's a bit like, just because the introverts in the room aren't speaking up, it doesn't mean they agree with the extroverts. You can't judge everyone by the same set of behaviours when trying to work out how they really feel.

I was mainly talking about Muslims/Sikhs/Hindus, which I appreciate aren't ethnic categories but they're the communities I'm most familiar with. I work for a Sikh company and 90% of the people I work with day in an out are Sikhs. I also live near to and work in a city with a very high Muslim population.

I admittedly don't see many Indians on TV, especially compared to black actors, but there seems to be a separate industry which I'm not very familiar with, catering to that demographic. Also the Bollywood film industry. In terms of other Asians, I wonder if we don't see as much integration into our media because Japanese cinema, for example, is already a well established and popular medium. Same with kpop, Korean horror, etc. Chinese I'm not sure outside of the obvious stars like Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, etc.

I personally get annoyed with the dominance of American media over European films etc, as I usually find European dramas/noir etc to often be much better than a lot of the ubiquitous American cop shit. I think a lot of people are too lazy to read subs though.

Black people's ancestors put up with a lot of shit, and the current generations aren't having any of it. I think they're doing pretty well in the UK, TBH, and fair play to them.

I agree but I daresay (and I hope this isn't offensive) that I'd like to see black people in more diverse roles. A lot of universally popular black culture is of the urban/street type - Dave, Stormzy, the Top Boy series, etc. There seems to be more mainstream black media in the US (comedy etc) than we see here, although rap music still seems to be the most mainstream cultural influence of black origin given that something like 93% of teens liked it several years back going by surveys.

I don't really see much black horror/sci fi etc, although His House, Us, and Get Out have all been very good examples in the past few years. I'd like to see more like that instead of the usual drugs/gangs/crime stuff.

and sporty south and east Asian People can become elite athletes.

I was thinking about this watching DS1 in the swimming pool yesterday. He's so keen on sport but by the time he's a teenager most of the other boys will likely be a lot taller and broader than him. He spent a lot of time spinning around under water and shouting "back flip" so maybe he'll like to try diving when he is a bit older.

@Camomila - yes, for elite sport picking a discipline to match physique probably matters a lot - and this will be unevenly distributed across ethnicities. My brothers did find this for rugby - that they were on the smaller side after puberty. But they were happy at school level and did well there.

I think this is where sports with weight categories are good. Manny Pacquiao, for example, was one of the best lightweight boxers of all time.