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Writer's pictureYenuli Wickramasinghe

South Asian “Representation” in Media

Representation of South Asians in the media is usually limited to exaggerated accents, comedic relief, stereotypes, and “what race wouldn’t you date”. Although I’ll admit that the portrayal of South Asians has gotten better, it’s still nowhere near good. Watering down negative depictions of a race to “it’s only a joke” or “it’s just my preference” will only further allow for inaccurate and harmful depiction to continue.


  As we live in a technology based world, it’s easy to say that the media is our main influence on our views and perceptions. Not only does this affect the self-esteem of south asians, but it also emphasizes stereotypes causing us to not be taken seriously in society and a normalized acceptance of racist jokes. 


Some examples of stereotypical south asian depictions are Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb and Ravi from Jessie, who are both portrayed as nerdy characters with an exaggerated Indian accent. There’s seriously not much else to their personality. What’s more concerning is the fact that both of these shows' target audience are children . This casual racism becomes ingrained within many from a young age. This also includes the internal racism that develops within many south asians. 


Furthermore, the classic interview question of “what race wouldn’t you date” is almost always answered with “Indians”. For one, every culture is vastly diverse, so encouraging people to make generalizations on groups of people who are so different from each other is kind of crazy. Furthermore, “Indian”  isn’t a race, it's an ethnicity. When asked “why wouldn’t you date Indians?”, the answer is almost always a stereotype such as “they smell bad”. What’s ironic is that India invented bathing. What’s even more wild to me is that there are always comments on these posts agreeing with the ones being interviewed. This is first hand evidence on the impact of media on perception. 


One thing I’ve noticed in the media is that South Asians have never been represented as pretty characters. This idea that one's race and beauty can’t coexist is insanely harmful and just wrong. The truth is, pretty privilege is a real concept and can truly determine the way society treats you. If the media fails to showcase the beauty of South Asians and their culture and only utilizes them for humor, society, in turn, will only view us in that same manner. 


I think it’s important to understand that the point of proper representation isn’t solely for inclusivity, but it’s also because it truly affects the way society treats a group. If generations grow up showcased with only negative stereotypes, then it’s more likely for them to have racist ideals. However, if the beautiful side of each culture is more commonly represented, then people will start to recognize the true beauty of our diverse world! I’ve  noticed that Disney is pushing for more diversity within their productions! Although we don’t have a South Asian based movie yet, I hope we’ll get one eventually! 


Now, of course, life exists outside of the media, but the fact is that society’s morals will naturally reflect what is most expressed in the media. This is why it’s important for everyone, as a whole to, take action and push for more proper inclusivity. This doesn’t have to take much effort. It can be as simple as not interacting with media that is harmful. The less popularity damaging posts have, the less effect it will have in real society. With that being said, negative portrayals of every race is inevitable. It's up to you to choose what you want to consume and ingrain within your morals. Remember that media is a form of entertainment and should never make you feel uneasy. It’s odd how the beauty of south asian culture is so commonly overlooked. However, the best thing we can do now is be our own representation.  


Picture used is a painting done by Raja Ravi Varma https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/800xn/p0cm3h0n.jpg.webp


Yenuli Wickramasinghe, 

Bentonville, 11th, 

@yenuli.w


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