Imagine that it’s the year 1944. You’re a Chinese American teenager in a dark theater, ready to watch the film Dragon Seed. It has an all-star cast, and you’ve heard that the protagonist is a Chinese heroine who rallies her village to stand up to Japanese invaders. The screen lights up, and the protagonist appears, but it’s not an Asian woman. It’s Katherine Hepburn, the most popular Hollywood actress at this time.

Her eyes are pulled back with tape, and she wears heavy eyeliner to create an exaggerated slant. She opens her mouth to speak, and the audience doesn’t hear her iconic, confident voice. Instead, she speaks like a timid and soft-spoken woman in a jarring interpretation of a thick Chinese accent. With a sense of confusion, you ask yourself, “What does it mean to have an Asian character played by someone who has never lived as an Asian person?”

This module explores different ways to understand the relationship between Asian American and Pacific Islander women and media by examining the history, discrimination, and changes in policies of US laws and media representation.