Asians in general were now represented poorly in the
United States by the Newspapers, but it wasn’t until 1924, that Asian
women were represented as the “Dragon Lady.” As the media looked more into
Asian culture, they found that a particular Asian woman would do anything to
dominate. Her name is Tsu-hsi, a Chinese Empress that believed in monarchy and stopped at nothing to be in control. A journalist stated that she was “a
reptilian dragon lady who arranged the poisoning, strangling, beheading or
forced suicide of anyone who challenged her rule” (Shah 3). That
gave Americans the perception that there was more to be said about the “Dragon
Lady,” therefore Hollywood brought the concept of the dragon lady when Raoul
Walsh featured his film Thief of Baghdad in
1924. Shah, states “In Hollywood
films, Asian women were depicted as diabolical, sneaky, and mean, but with the
added characteristics of being sexually alluring and sophisticated and
determined to seduce and corrupt white men. The prototype of this role was developed,
albeit reluctantly, by Anna May Wong in serials and feature films such as the Thief of Baghdad” (Shah 3). The stereotype hasn't diminished and as more writers continue to misrepresent Asian women, it will continue to portray the angry, dominant Asian woman as the Dragon La.
Work Cited
Shah, Hemant. “‘Asian Culture’ and Asian American Identities in the Television and Film Industries of the United States”. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education, Volume 3, Issue 3 (August 2003).
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