Gendered Perceptions of East and South Asian Men

Abstract

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.

Intersectional Race-Gender Stereotypes in Natural Language

“…Second, the "race is gendered" effect was replicated only in the contrast between Asian men and Black men, but not between Asian women and Black women. This gender nuance in racial stereotypes is consistent with recent findings (Goh & Trofimchuk, 2022) and may help explain why Asian men (but not women) are stereotyped as less moral/trustworthy, which is likely related to their lower prototypicality (Schug et al, 2015). Overall, this research reveals how English speakers naturally expressed intersectional stereotypes about Asian and Black men and women in the real world.…”

“…One recent study found a perceiver difference that Asian men and Black women (i.e., counter-stereotypical groups) held weaker race-gender associations, while Chinese (vs. American) participants held stronger race-gender associations (Axt et al, 2023). Another recent study identified a target difference that East Asian men (but not women) were viewed as less masculine and more feminine, compared to their South Asian, White, and Black counterparts (Goh & Trofimchuk, 2022).…”

“…Previous research on gendered racial stereotypes has indeed predominantly focused on the physical, rather than behavioral, attributes of masculinity and femininity. Most studies used an important feature of physical appearance-faces-as stimuli to examine the gendered race effect (Axt et al, 2023;Goff et al, 2008;Goh & Trofimchuk, 2022;Johnson et al, 2012;Lei et al, 2020Lei et al, , 2022Schug et al, 2015;Sesko & Biernat, 2010).…”

The face of getting over: Facial formidability informs expectations for the performance of male professional wrestlers.

“…Black and White wrestlers’ capabilities could appear differently to perceivers based on concomitant stereotypes. Additionally, the history of Asian wrestlers adopting underhanded foreign heel characters in the United States (e.g., Japanese wrestler Yoshihiro Tajiri using the “Asian mist”) could undermine an interest in booking Asian men as top stars for not appearing sufficiently masculine by American standards (Goh & Trofimchuk, 2022; Johnson et al, 2012). Nonetheless, Japanese wrestling promotions present Asian wrestlers as rugged (e.g., Kenta Kobashi and Tomohiro Ishii), suggesting many stereotypes are Western-specific.…”

The Face of Getting Over: Facial Formidability Informs Expectations for the Performance of Male Professional Wrestlers

“…Additionally, the historic employment of Asian wrestlers to adopt underhanded foreign heel characters in U.S. (e.g., Yoshihiro Tajiri using the "Asian mist") could undermine an interest in booking Asian men as top stars for not appearing sufficiently masculine by American standards (Goh & Trofimchuk, 2022;Johnson et al, 2012). Nonetheless, Japanese wrestling promotions present many Asian wrestlers as rugged characters (e.g., Kenta Kobashi, Tomohiro Ishii), suggesting these stereotypes are Western-specific.…”