Stereotyping Asian Americans as universally hard-working and successful has made America forget that they face inequality, too

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• In the year following the multi-industry #MeToo reckoning, it's important to recognize that Asian American women still face the "model minority" myth — which stereotypes the entire demographic as hard-working, educated, and successful due to their quiet discipline.
• The model minority myth overshadows the real hurdles Asian Americans face, from career advancement to poverty.
• This myth also manifests itself in especially ugly forms that derive in part from a cultural fixation on Asian women as sexual objects.
• As a result, Asian American women face struggles in their careers, and are often overlooked for promotions into manager and executive positions across many different industries. 

A woman in marketing says she finds herself toning down her assertive personality around white male colleagues. Another, a photographer, says she's never assumed to be the one behind the camera. A university professor says she's regularly mistaken for a student on campus. Others, such as Ellen Pao and Charlyne Yi, have found themselves in the headlines for workplace sexism stories familiar to many women. But these women, all Asian American, may find the usual "glass ceiling" explanations of what they face miss the mark. But neither does the idea of a "bamboo ceiling" quite capture the ever-present obstacle hanging just overhead. In the year following the multi-industry #MeToo reckoning, Asian American women are still struggling to bust the "model minority" myth and to have their professional setbacks recognized and addressed.

The model minority myth overshadows the real hurdles Asian Americans face, from career advancement to poverty. Although some see the myth — which stereotypes the entire demographic as hard-working, educated, and successful due to their quiet discipline — as something that protects Asian Americans from the hatred and targeting experienced by other racial minorities, others argue that it assumes Asian Americans don't face barriers — and even have an edge thanks to their Asian-ness.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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