True Story: What Reality TV Says about Us

by Danielle J. Lindemann

Another group whose stories seldom get told on reality TV are Asian Americans. Asian American women occasionally appear, sometimes as submissive or unmemorable background players (The Bachelor), sometimes as hypersexualized personas (Tila Tequila), sometimes as exoticized creatures (the Asian American contestants on America’s Next Top Model), and occasionally in the role of abrasive and demanding “Dragon Lady” (Ryan’s mom on Child Genius). Other than in a few notable cases (e.g., Dr. Pimple Popper’s dermatologist Sandra Lee), they’re generally marginal to the main action of the show. Asian American men, though, are even less visible. For example, while some Asian American females have appeared on The Real World, during its entire run there has never been an Asian male on the show. Similarly, between 2013 and 2018 The Bachelorette included only five Asian men, four of whom did not make it past the first round.