05.17.07
Weekly Poll: Why did CNN choose to make this a front page story?
On Wednesday, 5/16/07, this article regarding the high-suicide rate of Asian American women made the front page of CNN.com. Why did CNN choose to make this a front page story?
- A) This is Asian Heritage Month
- B) CNN cares for the health and safety of Asian American women, particularly during Asian Heritage Month.
- C) CNN often advocates for Asian American women on a wide variety of issues.
- D) Mainstream media often portrays women in one of two extremes: highly sexualized, or highly delicate and fragile
- E) Some Other Reason (type your answer here)
nu ren said,
May 17, 2007 at 4:38 am
Damn the media!… for stereotyping Asian American women as “emo” and suicidal.
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Because whites fear Asian men’s economic power.
jonyu said,
May 17, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Basically, it’s propaganda against Asian culture and academic excellence with a good dose of misandrism.
I mean, the REALITY is:
“Four men commit suicide for every woman, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and in 2001, white males represented 73 percent of all deaths by suicide.”
So why the focus on WOMEN at all…when 80% of suicide commiters are MEN? And 73% of them are White men at that?
And the most-ignored group in suffering here may actually be Asian men….just ask Cho Seung-Hui…
Bohemian said,
May 17, 2007 at 6:51 pm
I agree with the above. The promoting of Asian female suicide to the front page was ridiculous. Notice also the imagery associated with that… sleek black hair, and bareback anonymity! In a way, that too is subtle sexualization of Asian females.
The real offense here is the implication that it is the overbearing Asian male patriarchal, old-world attitudes who are opressing Asian women and driving them to suicide. It’s a back-hand really at the Asian male.
incidently, I found one of the few sites out there dedicated to promoting Asian male image: http://orientalis.sentientmind.com We need more of this and less of CNN
jonyu said,
May 17, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Word, just more of the *sob* Joy Luck Club syndrome…where poor horiental blossoms must be rescued from TEH EVIL AZN MENS by WHITE KKKNIGHTS in shining propaganda!
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I think it’s because men’s suicide rates are higher most everywhere. Men commit suicide three or four times more than women. What makes this different is Asian women have much higher suicide rates than white women hence the saliency of the issue.
Asian Americans need to change their approach to mental health. Seung Cho really needed help.
jonyu said,
May 17, 2007 at 8:09 pm
“What makes this different is Asian women have much higher suicide rates than white women”
But why is this a bigger issue than the fact that men commit suicide 4X more than women overall?
And why do troubled Asian-American MEN - like Cho Seung-Hui - get totally omitted from the discussion here? They are also heavily depressed because Asian-American women like these dying to be White shyt on them, for one…
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 8:29 pm
They totally should have put Yul Kwon’s two videos on the front page about male representation.
I do think Asian American heritage month and Seung Cho is why CNN has this whole series on Asian Americans.
They should totally address all these issues equally.
But like I’ve said, Asian and Asian American men are a huge threat to whites in this country especially economically.
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 8:31 pm
The three issues being Asian American women’s unusual high rate of suicide, Asian male representation in the media and Asian American mental health.
jonyu said,
May 17, 2007 at 8:46 pm
And what is the rate of Asian male suicide?
You’d think after Cho Seung-Hui this issue would have gained more attention…
But I love how this topic isn’t even addressed because still nobody flat gives a shyt.
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 9:35 pm
You’d think.
Asian men are just that much a threat. There were tons of stories on the CNN Uncovering series page but only Mail Order Brides and suicide made the front page.
Donna Darko said,
May 17, 2007 at 9:37 pm
jonyu,
I don’t know the rate of Asian male suicide.
But something like 73% of suicides in the US are white males’.
Donna Darko said,
May 18, 2007 at 12:25 am
I’ve read a study about Asian male suicide and will try to find it.
Donna Darko said,
May 18, 2007 at 1:23 am
These studies don’t seem right because they say Asians have lower incidence of suicide. But if Asian men have the same rates as white men (as the second link says) and Asian women have higher rates (across age groups as other studies show), Asians should have a higher rate overall.
http://www.west.asu.edu/sa/docs/hong/Asian_American_Student_Health.pdf
This study says men of all races have same rates that is three times more than women overall. It also says Chinese American men and women commit suicide at the same rate. BTW the highest rates are among Chinese and Japanese Americans.
Surgeon General Report
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/ch5_need_for_mental_health_care.asp
“Little research is available to shed light on the mental health needs of Asian Americans, but some information may be obtained by looking at suicide rates (Table 5-2). It is thought that Asian Americans are generally less likely to commit suicide than whites. A study by Lester (1994) compared suicide rates (per 100,000 per year) in the United States for various groups. Chinese (8.3), Japanese (9.1), and Filipino (3.5) Americans had lower suicide rates than whites (12.8). However, other sub-groups of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders may be at higher risk for suicide. For example, Native Hawaiian adolescents have a higher risk of suicide than other adolescents in Hawaii.”
anonymoua said,
May 18, 2007 at 1:50 am
CNN believes it is bringing hope to the Asian community by “proving” that stereotypes of Asian American women as fragile are not only true but perpetuated by their own dysfunctional and victimizing culture.
anonymous said,
May 18, 2007 at 1:51 am
fear of Asian men’s economic power
anonymous said,
May 18, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Not only cuz it’s asian heritage month, but also to try and bring a positive light to asians in general after the whole Vtech shooting, granted it’s a morbid topic (suicide), it shows that we’re not all the “model minority” that the media portrays us to be
Donna Darko said,
May 18, 2007 at 6:51 pm
If anyone finds more accurate studies on Asian men and suicide please post.
jonyu said,
May 18, 2007 at 8:06 pm
DD - good work!
Yes, I’d like to see the ACTUAL STATS for all these groups by race, age and gender.
Just so ridiculous how out of the overall stats for ALL RACES where men commit suicide 3X-4X more than women…that they have to focus these articles on the “poor Asian women who are victims of their own culture.”
Um, if they commit suicide 4X LESS than men, aren’t they actually more privileged and MEN more victimized???
Donna Darko said,
May 19, 2007 at 4:17 am
jonyu,
all you had to do is google asian male suicide. if you find any specific stats please post.
not really because men succeed at suicide 3 to 4 times more than women across most cultures. the links said men commit suicide at equal rates across races but if you can find more specific male stats please post.
Donna Darko said,
May 19, 2007 at 4:18 am
it is unusually high for asian women i.e. over women of other races especially white.
hence the attention.