Na Yeon Park

Professor Houda Allouche

ANG 1005- Reading Popular Culture

11 April 2023

Challenging Stereotypes and Orientalism: An Analysis of Asian and Asian American Women

in Crazy Rich Asians

In the novel Crazy Rich Asians,

Kevin Kwan explores the complexities of identity, class, and gender dynamics among

Asian and Asian American characters mainly from Singapore and China in origin. Ra

chel Chu, the protagonist, is an Asian American woman who falls in love with Nick Y

oung, a charming man from one of the richest families in Singapore. As she visits Ni

ck's family and friends in Singapore, Rachel faces discrimination not only because of

her double identity but also because of her class and gender. In this essay, I will discu

ss the relationship between female characters in the novel and explore how the depicti

on of Asian women in Crazy Rich Asians is related to Orientalism. Through an interse

ctional analysis of Rachel's double identity,

the role of class , and the portrayal of Asian femininity in the novel, I will determine

whether the novel perpetuates or challenges Orientalist stereotypes. Thereby, crystalli

zing its significance in representation of Asian and Asian women in popular culture a

nd its implication on media.

Rachel Chu is a Chinese American economics professor at New York University. Alt

hough she is from a chinese descent, Rachel was born and raised by an immigrant sin

gle mother in the U.S,which is more likely to consider her with having American

identity rather then Asian.

Early in the book, Rachel makes many biased American remarks on Asian men during

her conversation with her friend Sylvia. When Sylvia tries to arrange a blind date for

her, Rachel is very uniterested and goes through explaining her bad experiences with

dating Asian guys, even insisting on her institution on “No Asian guys policy”. Thoug

h she realizes very soon that her prejugment had been wrong as soon as she meets Nic

k, her generalization of Asian men clearly shows that she is more intimate with the A

merican cuture and identity and separates herself

from the Asians either consciously or unconsiously. Moreover, her American values o

f individualism, hard work and passion

(Vijay 4) inspired from her life in America contrasts persistently with Asian values of

family and sacrifice(Vijay 4)emphasized by Eleanor, Nick's mother.

When Rachel arrives in Singapore, Rachel is challenged with many obstacles from El

eanor's aversion and opposition to their marriage, to being the target of gossip and hat

red from the jealous Singaporean girls

and receiving offensive jokes that are very discriminatory. For instance, Eleanor says t

hat “Now that America is broke, all these ABCs want to come to Asia and sink their c

laws into our men. They are even worse than the Taiwanese tornadoes because they ar

e westernized, sophisticated, and worst of all, college educated.”

(1.13.40) This shows her disdain for America and American Chinese women like Rac

hel. In addition, she continuously emphasizes on the sacrifices as a woman and how A

sian

women and also men should all the time put family first instead of chasing one's passi

on. From this, it is important to acknowledge that this is not just Eleanor's personal op
inion but it

represents the very different cultural values and traditions of both countries.

Rachel pursues her individual dream, goal and freedom which is the reason why she c

hooses to leave Nick when she was faced with Nick's family's opposition on their mar

riage. She cannot sacrfice her career and dream for her man. Thus, Rachel identifies f

ully with the American culture and people. She represents the individualistic, assertiv

e, free spirit of the Americans. However, she also shows deep respect and bond with h

er mom which shows her Asian traits as well and endeavors to

learn, understand and respect one's culture.

Another interesting aspect of the novel is its profound impact of class discrimination

on Rachel's relationships, hightlighting the extreme divisions within the society. Rach

el is a middle class Chinese American economics professor. On the other hand, Nick i

s from one of the wealthiest and prominent families in Singapore. Furthermore, the w

ealthy elite Singaporeans are again distinguished into 'old money' and 'new money'. H

ence, the novel shows Asian

obsession of identifying characters according to their social status and hierarchies bas

ed on factors such as family background, wealth, education, and social connections. F

or instance, Rachel was first viewed as unworthy and suspicious by Nick's family and

social circle just because she was an outsider from a middle-class family and lacks fa

me and social connections.

In addition, when the Young family was rejected from the hotel at the start of the stor

y,

it highlights how issues of class and race can intersect in the context of extreme wealt

h, rather than in poverty. Their wealth did not matter at first, and only when the mana
ger was informed by the current western owner of the hotel, he acknowledges the You

ng family as his guest.

Along with Rachel, what the female characters(Eleanor, Kerry, Astrid, Nick's grandm

other )in Crazy Rich Asians have in common is that they are “independent, self-made,

'empowered' women.”(Vijay 7) The presence of father is erased throughout the novel.

Rachel was raised by her mother alone, and it is Eleanor and Nick's grandmother, Am

ah who holds the decision in Nick's education and marriage. Astrid is nevertheless a

figure of empowered women who graduated as the top in Oxford, is a successful entre

preneur, and a fashion icon married to a “commoner”

man where she plays the patriarchal role in the family. This gives us into the idea of n

eoliberal feminism and meritocracy. Neoliberal Feminism “recognizes gender inequal

ity, advocates for empowered, self-sufficient women, while disavowing socio-

economic structures mediating gender lives. Neoliberal feminists espouse attitudes of

individual drive, motivation, and entrepreneurialism.”

(Vijay 7) The novel constantly places emphasis on the neoliberal ideas of meritocracy

and the self-made empowering women. Rachel is an independent, strong, confident an

d intelligent woman and is described as an educated renowned economic professor. S

he shows wisdom and strives hard to earn recognition from Eleanor and Amah. Her m

other is also an immigrant chinese woman who started from the bottom to earn a job a

s a real estate agent and raised her into a wonderful individual. In addition, the fact th

at Nick's password is his mother's birthday tells Nick's attachment and respect towards

his mother

and implies that it is the women who is playing a reversed role of patriarchy. This neo
liberal feminism continues by recognizing the superiority of men and by constantly str

iving to surpass men.

Lastly, it is clear that the objective of this novel was to break such stereotypes of Asia

ns as the author is an Asian American himself. However, despite being a novel with A

sian characters of Singapore and China, it reproduces the discourse of orientalism. Ori

entalism is a style of thought about the East- represented in writing, imagery or study

- based on Western consciousness, and which aligns with the interests of Western em

pire.”(Said 1979) The novel constantly lines with Western Culture, and displays the c

ontrast of Asian and American values, where what is American is seen as superior

throughout the story.

From the title itself, “Crazy Rich Asians” suggest that Asia is again generalized by Si

ngaporean/Hong Kong/Taiwanese/American Chinese when in fact,

there are multiple of

other nationalities living in Asia. Moreover, the novel portrays Asian values as family

over individual, patriarchal, family hierarchy including absolute authority of one's mo

ther-in-law, sacrifice, succession of family business to their children. This is very und

erstandable from my perspective as an Asian,

however, the problem lies in that the novel does not draw these values as something p

ositive, or at least even neutral. Rachel who symbolizes the American values is depict

ed throughout the book as someone intelligent, calm. compassionate, and superior, em

bodying the poor migrant family's dream of 'making it', while Eleanor clings to traditi

ons, sacrifices herself to take care of her family, and manipulates Rachel and Nick's re

lationship. (Vijay 6)
In conclusion, the novel reproduces

a distorted, and oversimplified image of the Other, which keeps reinforcing the idea

of a division between what is familiar (the West “us”) and the exotic (the East

“them”). (Said 43) It is important to analyze this representation of Asian and Asian

women in popular culture, as media is one of the strongest ways to influence society,

by functioning to add or dismantle the stereotypical images of Asian and Asian

women. In order to create a more inclusive and better society, we have to be critical in

accepting what the media displays to us.

 Works Cited

Vijay, Devi. "Crazy Rich Asians: Exploring Discourses of Orientalism, Neoliberal Feminis

m, Privilege and Inequality," Markets, Globalization & Development Review: Vol. 4: No.

3, Article 4. 2019.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Penguin Classics, 2003.

Kwan, Kevin. Crazy Rich Asians. Doubleday. 2013