This set of lesson plans centers around Asian American masculinity and identity formation.
Objectives include seeking answers to the following questions:
- What role do laws and policies (immigration, labor market, anti-miscegenation) play in the historical construction of Asian American masculinity?
- What role do discourses, such as the trope of yellow peril, play in the construction of Asian American masculinity?
- How do Asian American men today engage in various practices in order to construct their own sense of identity and masculinity?
- What is the relationship between Asian American masculinity and the appropriation of black masculinity and hip hop culture?
- What impact do such practices have on Asian American women and Asian Americans who identify as LGBTQ+?
- In what ways is the construction of Asian American masculinity also tied to anti-blackness, homophobia, and misogyny?
- What roles do popular culture and new media play in the perceptions of Asian American masculinity?
- In discourse about Asian American masculinity, whose voices are marginalized?
The lesson plan is divided into multiple sessions. Session 1 introduces the topic of Asian American masculinity through new media and pop culture. Session 2 provides historical context regarding the immigration policies from which tropes of Asian American masculinity originated. Session 3 delves into the ethnography by Stanley I. Thangaraj, Desi Hoop Dreams, which explores the masculinity construction of South Asian American men who engage in “brown out” basketball. Session 4 will conclude by drawing connections between the sessions, invoking reflections, and identifying areas of further study.
Find Session 1 here.
Find Session 2 here.
Find Session 3 here.
Find Session 4 here.
