Professor Bui-Women in media

Professor Bui gave a lecture on how Asian women are represented in media. Women are represented negatively in film. They are looked at as sex workers and the way their bodies are portrayed. She gave examples of that from 3 movies. The part of the lecture that stuck out to me the most was when she shared her own experience. Professor Bui was in Vietnam studying, she would hang out at bars and was part of the nightlife. Because she was in that place she was seen as a prostitute. Once even approached by a man, soon the word spread around the bar and she wasn't even allowed to buy drinks or get a ride home because she was considered a prostitute. Because of this frustration she shaved her hair of, and then was teased about being bald.

I found this lecture to be familiar to that of Professor Meraz. They both talked about how women are represented. Professor Bui focused on Asian women in media and Professor Meraz talked about women in the work place.  Along with that, I found Indira's lecture on the Hitchcock film to be very useful in this lecture. The way that Marnie was represented was very sexual. This is similar to what Professor Bui was saying about Asian women and how they are sexualized. The use of proxemics and power play a huge role in this. Similar to the Hitchcock film, 'Heaven and Earth' the women was very petite and the man was tall and strong. He had some sort of power on her, she would have to look up to talk to him and he could just pick her up if he wanted. So film already does a very good job in making women look weak and then as prostitutes. The stereotype that has slowly been put into our heads about Asian women as prostates is going to take a while to get out. Towards the end of the lecture someone asked about how our perspective of Asian women will change. He talked about a show that positively showed these women but the Professor said that it would take a lot more than one show to make a difference. All these stereotypes have been burned into our heads and we need more mainstream media get them out. Even though media can be a very negative thing at times, it can be very impactfull. There can be many things done as well to improve these negative images. Small steps can be taken to make a bigger difference in the future.