Gendered race theories argued that Asian male faces are perceived to be more feminine and less masculine than other racial groups like Black male faces, but extant research focused exclusively on East Asian men while overlooking South Asian men. Four studies (N = 1,329) examined the perceived masculinity and femininity of East and South Asian men and women using facial photographs. We consistently found that East Asian men were perceived to be more feminine and less masculine compared to South Asian, White, and Black men. We identified a crucial facial feature that hyper-masculinized South Asian male faces. South Asian men with facial hair were perceived as less feminine, more masculine, and more threatening compared to South Asian men without facial hair and men from other racial groups. Facial hair hyper-masculinized South Asian men likely because of stereotypes associated with terrorism following the September 11 terrorist attack that led to increased surveillance of and hate crimes against South Asians. We did not find consistent patterns of gendered perceptions for South and East Asian women. This research highlights the importance of disaggregating the diverse Asian American category in extending former theories and findings in face perceptions.

The American flag is an important and ubiquitous national symbol that presumably represents the nation’s core values and beliefs, yet the flag seems to have become a controversial partisan issue. Two studies (total N = 768) examined found that Democrats were more likely than Republicans to associate the flag with power, racism, and negative affect. In contrast, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to associate the flag with egalitarianism and positive affect. Study 2 showed that these emotional differences were largely driven by Democrats’ perceived lack of ownership over the flag. When Democrats perceived the flag as belonging to their political ingroup, they felt more positive and less negative affects. However, when Democrats perceived the flag as belonging to their political outgroup, they experienced less positive and more negative affects. Republicans’ affective experience did not shift according to perceived party ownership of the flag.