We are so excited to announce
that we now have a line of weird girl merchandise. Which weird girl are you? “The nature of power is
that it belongs to no one, until it is taken
through sex, violence.” East Asian women onscreen have
long been haunted by the figure of the Dragon Lady: a violent
seductress who will do anything to achieve her goals. The fierce Dragon Lady is
the flipside to the passive Lotus Blossom (also known as
the China Doll or Geisha Girl). Both are highly sexualized,
but the lotus blossom is depicted as submissive and eager to
please a white male protagonist, “She say she very happy to
belong to handsome captain. She say she gonna
serve you well.” while the dragon lady is
sexually aggressive, and even weaponizes
her sexuality. “Sex is a weapon.” The dragon lady is exocitized
and mysterious, making her feel like an unknowable Other,
instead of encouraging the audience to empathize with her. She’s typically framed
as a ruthless antagonist “Just merciless vengeance.” to be overcome or killed in
battle by the end of the story. And in light of the recent
increase in violence against East Asian women in America,
we can see how stereotypical tropes like these can have
damaging real-life consequences. At the same time, a number
of characters who have been called dragon ladies have also
contributed a lot of dramatic and representational value. The dragon lady is unapologetically
driven, ultra-assertive, and has agency --disproving the widespread assumption
(fueled by both the lotus blossom and the model minority myth)
that Asian people must be “meek.” “[indiscernible mumbling]”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” “Hello, my name is
Lily Onakuramara.” She’s also in control of her
sexuality, using it as she chooses. Some elements of the Dragon Lady
trope are even contributing to more multidimensional East
Asian characters today. Here’s our Take on why modern
media is thankfully moving beyond one-dimensional dragon
lady caricatures, but can draw on her power as a blueprint for
more nuanced representation of East Asian women. "I hope you're saved your energy. If you haven't… you might not
last five minutes." If you’re new here, be sure to
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available for the next 30 days so click the link in the
description below to download Raid for free now. The dragon lady trope grew
out of longstanding prejudices and legislation that painted
Asian-Americans as a violent threat and associated Asian women
with excessive sexuality and sexual diseases. In 1875, US Congress passed
the Page Act, which explicitly forbid “the importation of women
for the purposes of prostitution.” This was used to prevent the
immigration of Asian women, who were stereotyped as sex workers,
perceived as a sexual threat, and used as a scapegoat for the
spread of sexual diseases. "Legislation in the United States,
such as the Page Act, discriminated and barred Asian women. They've been stereotyped as a
seductress, as subservient." More generally, an influx of
Chinese immigrants to the West Coast in the later 19th
century led to Yellow Peril-- a racist fear that Chinese
workers would ”steal” jobs and threaten the
“American way of life.” In response, the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act greatly restricted Chinese immigration
to the United States. “A letter appeared in the
pages of The New York Sun written by a young
Chinese immigrant: ‘This country is the land
of liberty for all men of all nations
except the Chinese.’” These fears and stereotypes
manifested in early Hollywood portrayals of Asian women,
especially through the career of Chinese-American
actor Anna May Wong. Wong starred in 1924’s
The Thief of Baghdad as a devious female villain who wears
exotic outfits and headpieces while using her sexuality to
undermine the protagonist. In 1931’s Daughter of the Dragon,
she starred as the villainous daughter of Fu Manchu, in a role that
also exemplified Dragon Lady tropes. “You will first have the torture of
seeing her beauty eaten slowly away by this hungry acid.” Throughout her career, Wong was
frustrated with a Hollywood that offered her stereotypical roles, rarely
let her be a romantic leading lady due to “anti-miscegenation” laws
that said she couldn’t kiss a white actor onscreen, and sometimes
even rejected her for Asian roles in favor of white actors in yellowface. In a 1933 interview, Wong asked:
“Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of
the piece, and so cruel a villain-- murderous, treacherous,
a snake in the grass? We are not like that.” While the comparison to a
dragon was already in vague use, the “Dragon Lady” trope name was
coined in 1934 when the comic strip Terry and the Pirates introduced a
villain literally called Dragon Lady, who was beautiful, seductive, and
dedicated to making herself rich. The archetype stuck--and
prevailed onscreen for decades. “You know how many people have
said to me he's doing his lawyer, the Chinese dragon lady?” The dragon lady is almost
always the villain of her story. “I want to slice those pretty
lips right off her face and bury her in the desert
with those two cops.” Unlike the vulnerable lotus blossom
who takes on the role of “object” to be won or saved, she aims to
thwart the typically white male character in order to fulfill
her own selfish agenda. But her evilness is usually
only explored at surface level. Instead of getting a fulfilling
backstory or clear motivation, she’s reduced to a plot device
or a dehumanized obstacle for the protagonist. Her weapon of choice is her
sexuality, which she uses to trick those around her,
in many cases seducing the white male protagonist
before betraying him. “I’m thinking of a partnership. Shall we um… come to the point?” And while there are many
one-dimensional white female villains who fulfill a similar
narrative purpose, they’re not universally exoticisized or
mystified the way that East Asian women are. “Why do Chinese girls taste
different from all other girls?” “You think we better, huh?” The dragon lady’s exoticism
Is expressed through elaborate Headpieces, traditional-seeming
Asian clothing, and strong makeup to emphasize her otherness. “I wish I could find
a word to describe her. Exotic! That's the word!” This is depicted as both
desirable and dangerous on screen, as if she is a sexy but lethal
creature rather than a woman. We don’t see any humanity
reflected in her character, as her makeup and dress literally
serve as a mask to prevent us from seeing anything other
than a caricature. Chinese actor Joan Chen has
spoken on how unrealistic the Hollywood Asian aesthetic
is to actual East Asian women, stating in a 2012 interview: "I didn't fit in that mold of what
they feel the Chinese girl should look. The image is a little unfamiliar
to what, you know, all these concubines or dragon women
should appear to them." The dragon lady is also
characterized by her cruelty. “Inspector Lee, this
is a ying-tao grenade. Please follow me. Or I’ll
push this detonator, and blow 32 teeth
into your brain.” Her stoic discipline and
disregard for morals make her a formidable opponent. And while her ruthlessness is often
pragmatic in the pursuit of her goals she’s sometimes even shown
delighting in the pain of others. “Faster! Faster!” In Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World’s End, Mistress Ching is infamous for being the leader of an
exceptionally brutal army of pirates. They do not just steal to gain wealth,
but pillage, behead, and take body parts as souvenirs
after defeating an enemy. She also capitalizes on other women’s
sexuality by running a brothel. Much like her Asian male counterparts,
the dragon lady often exercises her physical power through martial arts
or other traditionally Asian fighting styles. Echoing her exoticized makeup
and costuming, the dragon lady’s connection to martial arts--
a strange, “unknowable” art for Westerners--implies that she
has some otherworldly knowledge and strength, adding to the
feeling she’s less human and more intrinsically evil. “Silly Caucasian girl likes
to play with Samurai swords.” This dehumanization has
real world consequences. When Anna May Wong was
confronted by disappointed audiences on her first
trip to China in 1936, she realized that even she had
internalized Hollywood’s tendency to treat all of Asia as
a cartoonish monoculture. She confessed that she had
been thinking of China as “a place where the people always sipped
tea and philosophized about life.” “The Chinese heart is
very constant, Ron. It might be sadly wounded in
one of your Western affairs.” In 2020 we saw the rise in hate
crimes against Asian Americans, immigrants, and tourists as
they were once again scapegoated for the spread of disease. Asian women were the victims of 68%
of Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021, and there’s undoubtedly a link
between the hate and the longstanding hypersexualization of
Asian women onscreen. As Lucy Liu wrote, “Chinese women
have been depicted as either the submissive lotus blossom or
the aggressive dragon lady”-- and the key difference between
the two is that the dragon lady has agency over her sexual power. The fact that this makes her
a villain sends the message that Asian women who don’t
exist to passively please white men are a social threat. “And did it break his heart?” “I do that sort of thing.” Despite the dragon lady’s limitations,
it’s important to recognize that we don’t have to completely eliminate
all aspects of this trope. After all, there are East Asian
women who are ambitious, sexually in control,
and at times even ruthless-- “Bambi, don’t say another word till
after the hunter shoots your mother.” there’s just more to them than that. And similarly to the femme fatale
trope, the dragon lady is now being reclaimed by many as
a symbol of power. Lucy Liu, who has played a
number of characters which have since been deemed “dragon ladies”
--such as O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill, Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels,
and Ling Woo in Ally McBeal– wrote a Washington Post op-ed
discussing how the dragon lady label and critiques can be
limiting to Asian-American actors, cutting them off from potential
roles and dismissing the value of their characters. Liu argues that many of her
characters have been called dragon ladies simply
because she’s Asian. Quote: “Why not call Uma Thurman,
Vivica A. Fox or Daryl Hannah a dragon lady? I can only conclude
that it’s because they are not Asian. I could have been wearing a tuxedo
and a blond wig, but I still would have been labeled a dragon
lady because of my ethnicity.” “The price you pay for bringing
up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your f[BLEEP]ing head.” In Kill Bill, it’s true that
(like a stereotypical “dragon lady”) O-Ren Ishii dresses in a
“traditionally Asian” manner, fights with a samurai sword,
and is a cruel antagonist– but as Liu is getting at,
almost all of the featured female characters are ruthlessly
violent and mysterious, and O-Ren Ishii is given a well-
developed backstory which illuminates why she uses
violence to pursue her goals. “The half-Japanese, half-Chinese
American army brat made her first acquaintance with
death at the age of 9.” Do her dragon lady-like traits
negate the value we can otherwise find in her character? Liu’s words highlight the importance
of context in these discussions. If a supposed “Dragon Lady” isn’t
presented any differently than other characters in her narrative, is
the issue of othering still present? Josie Packard from Twin Peaks
sounds like she could potentially fit the dragon lady label because
she has her husband murdered, and shoots Agent Dale Cooper
to ensure her escape. (The show also leaves it up
to interpretation as to whether she seduces Sheriff Truman to
help hide her crimes or if she actually has
feelings for him.) “I miss you. I need to talk to you.” “I want to talk to you too. Josie, were you at the Timber
Falls Motel this afternoon?” “Ehh…I have to go.” Yet in the context of noir-ish
Twin Peaks, which is filled with sexualized, double crossing,
and violent characters, all of these behaviors
fit right in. Josie’s race seems to have little
to do with how her story plays out. There’s also nothing inherently
bad about some of the Dragon Lady’s signature traits-- in fact, they can be pretty
essential in successful people. The Expanse’s Chrisjen Avasarala--
a UN official of Indian descent played by Iranian-American
actress Shohreh Aghdashloo-- is ruthless and manipulative
(not to mention always dressed in the most beautiful
fineries of her culture), and her dragon-esque ferocity
makes her an outstanding leader who’s confronting a time full
of challenging wars while attempting to hold onto a humanistic vision
of the future she’s fighting for. More generally, the figure of
the dragon, a key figure in Chinese mythology and legends,
is an appealing, inspirational spirit to many. In the 2010s, white character
Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones set off a craze
for viewers who wanted to channel the power of a fire-
breathing dragon. “I am the dragon’s daughter.” In recent years, Hollywood has
allowed for more nuanced characters who may initially be perceived
as dragon ladies, but who subvert our expectations and prove that
Asian women can check some of these boxes while still
having depth and relatability. “Sometimes that's the price
of doing the right thing. No one will understand,
and it hurts like hell.” While Melinda May in Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. has a proficiency in martial arts and initially presents
a cold and emotionless exterior, her behavior is shaped by trauma
in her past, and we watch her become fiercely loyal to her teammates,
eventually comfortable enough to reveal her more emotional side. “That pain is love. I know, because... I was afraid of it, too. But you let me feel it.” Similarly, Cristina Yang might
appear to be a typical high-powered dragon lady in her relentless
pursuit of medical excellence. “Colleagues aren't friends. They're competitors.” But she’s a complicated character who
cares deeply about the people she’s closest to, and her platonic
relationship with Meredith Grey is one of the most central relationships
throughout the entire show. “You are my person. You will always be my person.” Lucy Liu’s character Kirsten
Stevens in Set It Up-- at first presenting as a harsh
boss with no compassion-- has adopted her tough exterior
as a defense mechanism in response to a cutthroat corporate
environment and a broader society that’s judgmental
of women like her. “But you have to have a tough skin. So, if I am the most awful person when this shitstorm of an
industry is hard on you, I know you'll be prepared." As these stories progress,
characters like Christina and Kirsten ultimately make us
think about how “acting nice” is less important than
offering authentic inspiration and meaningful support
to other women. “I learned so much
from you. You're my hero.” Ji-Ah in Lovecraft Country seems at
first to be a submissive lotus blossom who is then revealed to be a
dragon lady, and at times she is manipulative and dangerous. “You killed 100 men.” “It is my nature.” But the series also humanizes her
by making her character complex, showing the internal conflict she
experiences between her own desires and those of the kumiho
fox spirit possessing her. Paralleling our expectations of
dragon ladies, Ji-Ah initially believes herself undeserving of
love because she isn’t human, but eventually finds both platonic
and romantic companions who care for her and allow her to
reclaim her own humanity. “We've both done monstrous things,
but that does not make us monsters. We could be the people
we see in each other.” In Shang-Chi and the Legend
of the Ten Rings, Xialing-- who is both a kickass martial artist
and potential future antagonist-- avoids falling into the dragon lady
trope through her concrete and relatable motivations, as well as
the story’s questioning the gender roles society
has forced her into. “I wasn’t allowed to
train with the boys. But, I watched everything
they did and I taught myself how to do it better.” And while Crazy Rich Asians’
Eleanor Young initially appears dragon lady-level fierce and
intimidating without patience for anyone who’s less elite
than her uber-rich family, she’s eventually sympathetic due
to her underlying motive of doing what’s best for her loved ones. “It's nice you appreciate this
house and us being here together wrapping dumplings. But all
this doesn't just happen. It's because we know
to put family first.” The distinction underlines that
ultimately what’s most important in avoiding any one-dimensional
stereotype is giving us a window into a human being we can feel for. While Lucy Liu’s character in
Charlie’s Angels provoked criticism for her lack of depth, Liu wrote:
“As part of something so iconic, my character Alex Munday normalized
Asian identity for a mainstream audience and made a piece of
Americana a little more inclusive.” “Lucy Liu and Charlie’s Angels was
like the pinnacle of like everything to me. It changed the way that I
looked at myself and the world.” And Liu’s perspective,
like the history of the dragon lady trope as a whole,
raises the complicated question of whether flawed representation is still
a lot better than no representation. Undoubtedly, the cartoonish version
of the dragon lady as an “Other” is limiting, and risks perpetuating
exoticized stereotypes about East Asian women’s sexuality
and linking them with violence. But looking back, we can also
acknowledge how onscreen versions of the dragon lady carved out
an important pathway to East Asian representation. And moving forward, elements of
the dragon lady can be preserved in stories about nuanced, complex,
and powerful female East Asian characters of the future. “If my dad won’t let me into his
empire, I’m gonna build my own.” “This is The Take.” “Let’s take the tropes home with us.” “We are so excited to announce
that we now have a line of weird girl merchandise.” “It’s not just a question of:
am I the weird girl? You have to ask yourself:
which weird girl am I?” “Are you the dreamy space cadet
living on your own planet?” “Are you the delightfully
spiralling basket case?” “Are you the ferocious goth?” “Are you the awkward misfit?” “Are you the smart ass?” “I think there’s power in owning
the weird girl in all of us. You can now express it through
posters, mugs, a backpack, t-shirts, wear it on your sleeve, announce
that you are the weird girl.” “We had so much fun conceptualizing
these characters and drawing from our favorite weird girls of
film and TV to create our vision of the five types.” “One of our favorite designs is
this beautiful line art rendering of the weird girl. She’s got the iconic goth visual. It just looks great whether you’re doing a cute
backpack, a hoodie. You can grab a tote or a poster
with all of the weird girls. Or another approach is to
mix and match, so you grab your space cadet water bottle,
your misfit hoodie, and your basket case poster behind you.” “I love these shirts.” “It’s also super
soft, like really--” “It’s very soft.” “I really feel like
I could live in this.” “This is really quite lovely.” Click the link in the
description below to order from Spring right now,
and get the best possible deals on your merch. Get 10 percent off until December 9th
with the promo code “GETWEIRD” “To the weird girl!” “To the weird girls in all of us.” “Which weird girl are you?”
