For this research paper, I have decided to focus on the “model minority stereotype” and how it negatively impacts the lives of Asian Americans. To sum it up in basic terms, the model minority stereotype portrays Asian people as a demographic of people that are naturally smart, hard-working, self-reliant, wealthy, successful, and obedient. In my paper, I dedicated each body paragraph to debunking all of these seemingly positive stereotypes through credible sources and statistical research and to explain to my reader how each of these assumptions can negatively affect the Asian American community as a whole. First, I talked about the economic differences of Asian Americans between real life (poverty, etc) and what is stated in the model minority stereotype. Then, I moved on to talk about the difficulties that Asian people face in the workplace and how the model minority stereotype works against them in getting promotions, recognition for their work, etc. I then went into detail with the problems that the stereotype causes for Asian American women specifically. After that, I talked about how this stereotype negatively affects young Asian American students in school, which then led me to discuss about how this stereotype negatively affects the mental and emotional health of the Asian American community as a whole.
While writing my research paper, I was already initially aware of a lot of the issues regarding the model minority stereotype and had already developed my stance on them long before this assignment. However, by putting down my thoughts into words, I found that it helped me articulate my thoughts on this topic even more by helping me organize and dissect my thoughts into clearly separated body paragraphs. Furthermore, it was interesting and sort of satisfying to be able to find specific sources and research that backed up my thoughts and opinions. This search for sources has also caused me to acquire more knowledge and to educate myself more on the specifics of the model minority stereotype, which I actually found beneficial for myself to know about in the long run.
