Although the model minority myth may seem like a positive representation of the Asian community, it fails to acknowledge the darker side of constant perfection
The model minority myth paints Asians as highly successful individuals due to their innate intellect. However, is their intelligence truly innate or does the pressure of conformity cause the Asian community to succeed in this standard? Society tends to view this community as perfect individuals that all racialized people should aspire to be.
However, is their intelligence truly innate, or does the pressure of conformity cause the Asian community to succeed in this standard?
However, the conceptualization of the Asian community as a "superior" minority group also isolates them from the broader racialized population.
This narrative has also been perpetuated in television as it reflects how society views Asians compared to other racialized individuals. For example, The Proud Family episode titled "Teacher's Pet" explicitly perpetuates this narrative that all Asians are high achievers with innate intelligence.
The model minority construct places the Asian community within a confined box where there is immense pressure to achieve success. Then to ensure success, Asian cultures tends to prioritize nurturing their child's intelligence, though sometimes to the detriment of other aspects of their lives, including their mental health.
Just as in any other community, there are those within the Asian community who may struggle in STEM-related subjects, while others may have challenges with the arts. However, for this community in particular, failure to live up to this myth can cause a disconnect between an individual's actual self, and ideal self, in turn further degrading their mental health as they may feel like they are not living up to their potential. Furthermore, to achieve this standard set forth by the model minority myth, people hide the areas they struggle in which leads to neglected mental health.
The model minority construct enacts harsher consequences on outliers, inducing stigma around mental health that prevents the Asian community from accessing the support they need. Additionally, this construct limits appropriate support for Asians as society sees their success and not their struggles. Why would an intelligent and successful population require support?
We also tend to overlook the socioeconomic barriers Asians face, hindering their ability to achieve the model minority construct.
The model minority construct especially can impact Asian individuals who experience adverse circumstances beyond their control; they are still expected to perform as well as their peers, or better, as the pressure to achieve perfection remains constant, even at the cost of their mental health. Success is the only option, leading their needs to be overlooked as society fails to see beyond the model minority myth.
However, by acknowledging that this myth often does more harm than good, we can work towards rewriting the dominant narrative and creating a safe space for people to relieve the pressures of perfection.
The Proud Family reboot, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, aired "Curved," an episode paralleling "Teacher's Pet." During the lunchroom scene, Penny frantically asks the Chang Triplets to join the debate club, thereby perpetuating the dominant narrative. As Penny is desperate to win the debate competition, it is implied that Asian individuals will give her the best chance of succeeding due to their intellectual superiority.
However, as we grow more aware of the dominant narrative, we learn to resist it. "Curved" demonstrates this as the Triplets confront Penny about perpetuating the model minority construct. Rejecting Penny's requests demonstrates that each triplet holds interests beyond stereotypically academic activities associated with the model minority ideals, reinforcing that society should recognize individuality rather than the stereotype.
Similarly, we can resist the dominant narrative by confronting and educating those perpetuating it. Creating alternative narratives that showcase contrast to the dominant narrative creates opportunities for society to change its perception of Western constructs.
By acknowledging that this myth often does more harm than good, we are working towards rewriting the dominant narrative and creating a safe space for people to relieve the pressures of perfection. By allowing the Asian community to explore their interests and be who they truly are as opposed to what society expects them to be, it also opens the conversation on mental health and accessing support.
By: Eden Wondmeneh
Faculty representatives and Maroons can shape incoming students’ initial impression of the McMaster University community. They guide us through Welcome Week and are meant to play the role of mentor and role model.
A few days into Welcome Week, new students grow accustomed to the vibrant suits and are well-aware of the colour distinctions of each faculty. Suddenly the suit, which at first glance may appear as a horrendous fashion statement, is at the top of many first-year students’ wish lists.
For some students who hope to mentor and inspire incoming students, becoming a faculty representative during Welcome Week is not feasible.
Even if they do make it through the competitive application process, they are unable to participate due to representative fees that candidates are not made aware of at any point during the application process.
On Jan. 22, a call was released on the DeGroote Commerce Society Facebook page for 2019 business faculty representatives. Applications were due by Feb. 1, with prospective green suits contacted for interviews.
The role requires faculty representatives to attend two training sessions prior to summer break and another session the week prior to Welcome Week. Green suits are also highly encouraged to participate in May at Mac and Shine-o-rama, both orientation events running during the summer break.
Despite the large time commitment and the cost of the $60 green suit itself, students who made it through the application process and ultimately became a green suit, were immensely excited about the experience to come.
This excitement, however, was soured with the introduction of a representative fee of over a hundred dollars that was not advertised at any point during the application process.
The representative fee is a confusing, hidden fee that prospective and new faculty representatives are appalled by. The fee is estimated to be around $120.00, but with the McMaster Students Union funding cuts, new representatives expect this to be a low-ball estimate and have yet to be informed of the final cost.
This cost is said to cover training, food and participation in Welcome Week. This contribution to Welcome Week especially annoys students who never signed up to subsidize part of Welcome Week that as first-year students we already paid a mandatory $120.98 First-Year Orientation levy for.
For business students fees to join clubs specific to their faculty is not uncommon. Most clubs require students to pay a small fee for registration.
However, in the case of the representative fee that impacts all faculty reps, the fee is substantial, and no one made them aware of the fee prior to joining. With a lack of discussion of financial support, some students are genuinely happy they didn’t make the cut.
It is simply unfair for students who underwent the incredibly extensive process to become a faculty representative to be cut from the position because of an inability to pay for the high fees.
The faculty representative fee ensures that those who are willing and chosen to volunteer their time to enrich and support incoming students secure their spot by coughing up money.
If this is the inequitable model the green suits and other faculty society representatives decide to rely on, then they should at least be transparent to their applicants.
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From Feb. 26-28, approximately 150 McMaster students gathered at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre to discuss and find solutions to global issues.
Acting as delegates representing nations around the world, the weekend was the first large-scale effort in hosting a Model United Nations at McMaster University. Model UNs serve as both a conference and simulation to allow students to immerse themselves in numerous complex issues that they can debate and learn about from other students.
Saad Ejaz was one of these students and a delegate for the United States at the Economic and Social Council, one of three groups that discussed recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues.
“ I learned a lot from this conference ... all the delegates that came were well-informed about their topics,” he said.
“I had to defend different topics that I didn’t necessarily agree with, topics that certain countries had strong stances on.”
Each student delegate was assigned a country whose stances they had to defend. In preparation for the conference, they had to research its policies and produce a paper on the subject.
Teddy Saull and Ramya Kancherla, the Secretary General and Director General at the conference, respectively, echoed the value of defending an unfamiliar country’s position; in many ways, this was the cornerstone in hosting a model UN.
“The reason why it is important ... is because it provides the opportunity for student dialogue through a mechanism they haven’t [used] before,” said Kancherla.
“When you’re given a country to represent that isn’t necessarily aligned with your own views, it truly allows you to empathize and get a better understanding of views that may not be similar to your own,” she said.
The conference was the latest milestone in the Perspectives on Peace initiative that McMaster President and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane has worked on with Saull since late 2014.
Originally started as a project under Forward With Integrity, Perspectives on Peace has grown to involve various events and speakers on understanding different cultures and issues in the world. Previous Perspectives on Peace events have recently included speakers like Marc Kielburger, a co-founder of Free The Children, and Samantha Nutt, the director of War Child Canada.
As Saull explained regarding the focus on a model UN, “it fits well with the idea of coming to know other people’s perspectives. This campaign is all about trying to complicate people’s world views and trying to come to understand the world as something that everyone sees in a different way.”
Kancherla expressed her excitement for the students at McMaster’s first model UN, having been a veteran of seven previous model UNs herself throughout high school and university.
“Those experiences through those opportunities really allowed me to get a better perspective of world issues and how that is so important in an ever-globalizing world,” she said.
Despite her experience, she said that the enthusiasm and diversity of the students surprised her, even after all these years.
“A lot of these events, it’s mainly political science students, individuals who are really passionate about these issues based on their undergraduate program. However, we had such a diverse planning team of people in Health Sciences, Arts & Sciences, Life Sciences, Communications ... it brought together a diversity of individuals.”
Photo Credit: Monish Ahluwahlia
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