Welcome to The Dragon Lady! This podcast episode explores the evolution of the Dragon Lady stereotype in Western film and television. Contributors include Jisu Lim, Frank Liu, Aamina Farooqi, Katelyn Cheng, and Chengkai Jin, as well as interviewees Faith Liu, San San Kwan, and Crystal Song, who offer their expert analyses on the Dragon Lady, her modern-day adaptations, and the current state of Asian American representation. Within the rise in discourse on the lack of Asian American representation and its contribution to the historical erasure of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry, we aim to shine a spotlight on exaggerated portrayals of Asian American women, specifically, and how this erasure continues to inform Orientalist ideas of Asian American women. Through our podcast, we hope to educate listeners on the origins of the Dragon Lady stereotype dating back to 20th century colonial projects and sexual conquest of Asian women fueled by the military sexual complex, and encourage a lens through which we consume modern Asian American representations that is mindful of this history. As young Asian Americans ourselves, we offer personal insights alongside interviews to discuss what the future of Asian Americans in film and television looks like and how our pursuits of Asian American history factor into that.

Date of Publication: May 7, 2022

Cover art by Jisu Lim