Asian Americans and Latino Families: Race and Ethnicity

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Table of Contents

Background

Jane the Virgin show was selected due to the stereotypes that are enhanced by the show;
Also selected due to the relations it portrays between races;
Fresh off the Boat was selected due to the cultural diversity it portrays;
One show that was considered was Modern Family in place of Jane the Virgin;
Modern Family was ruled out due to the mixture of cultures within one family through extensive kin.

Jane the Virgin supports the stereotype that Latinos are often janitors and maids;
Jane is a maid in the hotel of her future husband;
Also portrays that Latino extensive family include someone who cannot speak English. For example, Jane’s grandmother, Alba Gloriana Villanueva;
Fresh off the Boat main stereotype is that Asian American moms are tiger moms;
Also enhance the bias that Asian Americans always have fictive kin.

Culture and diversity represented both positively and negatively in both shows;
Diversity clearly brought out through the parenting styles highlighted in Jane the Virgin;
For instance, Jane wants to use positive reaffirmations to raise her son when the father of her child does not;
Blended families also brought out in Jane the Virgin as the father of her son also has other children with his ex-wife;
Diversity also brought out in “Fresh off the Boat” through comparison of Asian-American family values and Caucasian-American ones.

Similar in that they are both minority groups living in the US;
Similar in that they put some focus on extended kin and fictive relatives;
Different in their cultural representations of family;
Race influences the differences as Asian-American subscribe to different cultural biases compared to Latinos;
Learnt that individual cultures have their own biases that oth prolongs the longevity of their societies.

Race – group of people with similar or near similar social and physical characteristics;
Ethnicity – a group of people tied together by either national or cultural values and beliefs;
Difference lies in the fact that race is a broad term that can encompass people with similar or near similar physical characteristics but might have different cultures and languages. For instance, Asian-American is a race that includes Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese among others;
On the other hand, ethnicity includes similarities in cultures, languages. For example among the Chinese there are Zhuang, Manchu and the Hui among others.

Traditional gender roles represented in both families;
In Jane’s family the women are mainly household maids and cleaners;
The men run the businesses and have careers such as musicians and actors;
In Louis’ family the woman is the house manager while the father works;
Similarity can be drawn on gender roles in both races;
A gender role that is specific to the Latino family is the holder of religion – the woman;
A gender role that is specific to the Asian American family is the family provider – the man.

They are presented as one and the same thing when they are in fact, different;
Can be argued that the two aspects are presented as one in the media;
There is often misrepresentation and misappropriation of culture in an attempt to show either race or ethnicity;
Films often rely on cultural stereotypes and biases to push their stories;
Media representation of both race and ethnicity has recently been called out by societies and critics.

The two films selected were Jane the Virgin and Fresh off the Boat;
Jane the Virgin depicts the life of a Latino family;
Fresh off the Boat depicts the life of an Asian-American family;
Both shows highlight racial and cultural aspects of the two families;
A similarity is that they clearly separate gender roles based on their individual cultures;
A difference is the extent of relationship between the nuclear families and the extended kins.