Saturday, October 22, 2005

Model minorities

Letters to the "Style" section complain about an article last week about two Asian-American sisters who've written the book on how to raise high-achieving, hard-working, "Asian"-like children. The letter-writers don't like the stereotypes inherent in the sisters' project and don't think being a "model minority" ought to be anyone's goal. They have a point. But how exactly is Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers - and How You Can Too different from French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure? Where were the rallying cries of French-Americans sick of being stereotyped as thin and chic?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was an awful, terrible, no-good pun.

I liked it.

Anonymous said...

Model minorities are an endangered group.

Between the rampant cocaine abuse, and the eating disorders, one wonders how much longer the model minorities will be able to survive.

Tangentially, most model minorities thought themselves to be ugly in high school.

Anonymous said...

The problem with one group accepting the stereotype of model minority is that that implies that other minorities may not be so model.