Asian and Asian American culture is making its way into mainstream media through recent movies and TV shows highlighting the lives and experiences of Asians and Asian Americans. Popular films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” have captured the Asian American experience and stereotypic traits in their storylines and character portrayals.

As an Asian American, I have mixed feelings about the increased representation of my community in popular culture. On the one hand, there is delight that such exposure redresses the invisibility of Asian Americans and provides a powerful platform to highlight social injustices and disparities in a vastly diverse culture. On the other hand, while I can relate to and find the humor in the depiction of stereotypical Asian family dynamics, it calls into question the potential impacts of media popularization of Asian American stereotypes.

One such stereotype that has persevered through the decades is that Asian Americans are the model minority. This label stereotypes Asian Americans as having a strong work ethic, motivation, and determination and achieving success due to their adherence to meritocracy and perception of equal opportunity. This stereotype insinuates that Asian Americans are a hardworking and self-sufficient minority that overcame structural and racial barriers to success and place value on educational achievement and accomplishments. Such ideas about Asian Americans are hard to shake.

A prime example lies in the demographics of the Ivy League universities, where Asians were the second most common group behind whites. Data from the fall of 2023 student enrollment from three institutions report that 17.6% of undergraduate students were Asian at Columbia; at Princeton, 26% of new undergraduates were Asian Americans; and 16.7% of university-wide admissions at Yale are Asians.

Research has shown that the positive narrative of the model minority label ascribes a false perception that Asian Americans are well-adjusted psychologically. A social-identity theorist would argue that it is beneficial to be associated with the positive attributes of your identified group. However, as a clinical social worker, I do not concur. Any stereotype of a minority group is problematic, no matter the frame or the context.

The mental health needs of the Asian American community are underresearched and overlooked due to the lower reported rates of mental health issues and utilization of services among Asian Americans. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that 9% of Asian Americans reported a substance use disorder; however, only 1.5% of Asian Americans with a substance use disorder sought out treatment. In addition, among Asian Americans with a mental-health issue who thought they should seek treatment, only 3.7% sought treatment.

Structural, cultural, and language barriers to care are likely factors that result in the underutilization of mental health services among Asian Americans. However, we cannot neglect the detrimental role that the model minority stereotype presents. Studies have shown a link between the model minority stereotype and less positive help-seeking attitudes among Asian Americans. Additionally, the model minority myth implies that Asian Americans are non-problematic, and to maintain that perception, individuals will adhere to the cultural value of emotional self-control.

To explore the relationship between cultural values and professional help-seeking behavior, researchers report a similar relationship between cultural values, such as those associated with emotional self-control and help-seeking. Other studies have found that the pressures associated with conforming to the model minority label have adverse effects on mental health. This myth needs to end.

As an Asian American woman with biracial children, I object to this label and all Asian stereotypes. I am not good at mathematics. In fact, I am terrible at anything related to STEM. I am outspoken and not a submissive “China doll.” I am not a “Tiger mom.” What I am is a concerned social worker who hopes that her voice advocates for her community and that others will hear it as well and let us put this myth to sleep.

Vanessa Brugge is a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice in Maitland and a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky, College of Social Work.