Overwhelming Majority of Asian American Men Surveyed Say They’ve Been Harassed

 
By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
 
A survey of nearly 500 mostly young Asian American men has found 85 percent of the respondents have experienced some form of harassment at school. 35 percent experienced similar harassment in the work place.

The Asian American Man Survey was conducted in October and the results were just recently released.

While not scientific, The Asian American Man Survey provides a glimpse into the lives of an often underrepresented demographic.

Jason Shen who is a product manager in New York City started the survey in 2015. East, Southeast, and South Asian men were asked 40 questions. Shen says the respondents are heavily weighted on both coasts and among those in the tech industry. The majority were between the ages of 25 and 34.

“Up through my mid-twenties, I didn’t spend much time thinking about how my race/ethnicity affected the way others perceived me or interacted with me,”Shen writes about himself. “I had close friends who were Asian and those who were not. But over time, through conversations with many Asian American men, I’ve come to realize that our ethnicity cannot be ignored. And running this study is one small way I hope to add to the conversation on race in this country.”
 

85 percent feel they are strongly American, but just 61 percent feel others feel the same way about them.

Nearly two-thirds say they’ve encountered someone who has told them they don’t date Asian men, yet 70 percent say they’ve dates someone who’s White versus 75 percent who have dated someone Asian.

The stereotypes encountered by these men varied among the various Asian American subgroups. East Asian men say they were stereotyped being good at math, being good with computers, having a small penis, having slanted eyes, and having kung fu / martial arts skills.

Southeast Asian men say they are stereotyped as having a small penis, being good at math, being quiet / shy, being good at computers, and having kung fu / martial arts skills.

South Asian men face stereotypes of being good with computers, being labeled a terrorist, not being a “real” American, and being undesirable as a romantic partner​.
 

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