Orientalism is chiefly defined as the manner in which the West constructs and implements an exotic sheen to Asian culture, while broadly construing Asian culture as “Asian,” rather than perceiving the different societies of each region in Asia as distinct societies and cultures. Orientalism provides a means of justification for European colonialism situated on a self-serving antiquity in which “the West” constructed “the East” as wildly different and subservient, and accordingly a cry for appeal, in need of “rescue” from the West.

Some of you may be familiar with the term Yellowface, which is the practice in cinema, theatre and television where East Asian characters are portrayed by actors of other ethnicities while wearing make-up to give them a stereotypical oriental look, often with the application of powder to make their skin more pale and the utilization of eyeliner to make the eyes appear slanted. Yellowface has often been used simply to facilitate comically insulting representations of East Asians. Though this practice may be considered “a thing of the past”, It is interesting to note that the ridicule of the orient never gained the same stigma associated with blackface, and still remains far more acceptable in Western media.

Look around you, how many Asian faces do you see on ads or in film in modern day? Probably very few. And those “lucky” few who have made it in Western mainstream media are ultimately given roles that inevitably perpetuate stereotypes. The media has long been a sea of information and with the Asian population largely underrepresented in the North American media, it fails to address the diversity of North American Asian community and restricts them to stereotypical roles such as the model minority, hyper sexualized woman or the emasculated Asian man which perpetuates misconceptions among society. Lucy Liu is a prime example in playing sexually charged roles such as Ling Woo on Ally McBeal, a character who is a “a self-described “tramp” … simultaneously addicted to casual sex and uses sex to have her way with men.” Although the Western media has made modest attempts to the inclusion of the oriental minority, it is evident that racism is still largely pervasive and requires some radical change.