i don't quite like the way this is formatted and it messes with me so i'm going to opt to not answer some of these quesitons and only answer a select few that i really feel strongly on. 

here are some things about me that are good to keep in mind while talking about this: 

i am a second-generation asian-american (specifically chinese) teenager. i am bisexual, afab, and i have adhd, anxiety, chronic depression, autism, mild schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and ocd. 

1. i am an asian-american who lives in a community where the majority of the population is asian-american as well, and i recognize this and am immensely grateful for this. i also recognize that some people may not be so lucky and may face more traditional stereotypes of how asian-americans may act. that being said, i do feel very strongly on the trope of the asian-american in media. 

the reality of the asian-american tropes, especially in movies and realistic fiction novels, is that we are characterized as naturally intelligent, hardworking, with a huge emphasis on respect for family and close familial bonds. we are characterized as "smart" -- overly so. especially in sitcoms (like crazy rich asians). 

now, many people vigorously consume these pieces of media -- more so than the pieces of media that actually explain what it is like to be, truly, asian. and so thus we are expected to be like those in crazy rich asians --- intelligent, hardworking, smart, etc. we are expected to be the model minority (something that was pushed on us). 

now the reality is many of us are not "model minority". i personally struggle a lot in school, even more so before i was diagnosed with adhd, etc. it is highly embarassing for us to reveal our grades, especially when they are not optimal or below average, as this standard of a straight-a model student has been pushed onto us by both our parents and those surrounding us. 

the second-gen asians have it worse in my opinion. we are both american and chinese and we are not sure of our racial identity, which defines so much of our life. we are taught to act the same way we would have acted had we been brought up in china, yet we are supposed to survive in a westernized world. these two things inherently do not mix. 

again, this kind of stereotype of us being "intelligent" and "hard-working" has been pushed onto us by media. we are expected, as asians, to be above the general population. even in a predominantly asian community, a lot of us missed out on our real childhood. we were constantly pushed to be the best we could be, and our parents would get angry when we couldn't go above and beyond. i vividly remember my dad kicking a hole through my door when i was in 5th grade because i could not understand precalculus level questions. 

there have been several studies showing that on average, an asian-american's mental health is significantly worse. our parents do not say "i am proud of you". they do not say "i love you". we assume this means that we are not good enough for them. they give us ways to improve. this is how they show love, but this is not how the western mothers show love. we do not think we are good enough. we believe we will never be good enough. this is the reality that the media does not show. the tears, blood, and sweat that goes into becoming "good enough". becoming the "model minority". the media does not show what we have given up. 

i haven't caught up with present media and how they portray asian-americans, but i assume it's largely the same. i think there is some degree of progress, especially after amy tan's joy luck club. there is a lot of literature on asian-americans and their struggle with identity, as well as their struggles with expectations and mental health. 

if you are interested in any of this or if any of this really piques your interest, i would highly recommend reading amy tan's works if you haven't already (starting with joy luck club and moving on to some of her other works if you enjoyed joy luck club).  

2. i genuinely hate some of the representation neurodivergent people have in media. i'm glad we are getting representation, but some of it mis-portrays it so badly. again, i do not keep up with modern media, but as far as i know, here are some common things i hear every day in the hallways of my school: 

"that's so autistic" (not in a good way.) 

"god i'm so ocd" (referring to how they have to keep things neat.) 

"guys i can't focus that's so adhd-core!" (said by someone who i know does not have adhd [as they went and got a psychoeducational evaluation and did not get diagnosed for adhd]) 

the list goes on. i don't want to speak for anybody else but the things that i hear are typically stereotypes of neurodivergence that are so blatantly wrong. i have spoken specifically to the first guy many times not to use "autistic" in that way, and he still continues to use it. i have spoken to many different people about my personal experiences with ocd (which i will not share, please do not ask me to) and as someone who was clinically/professionally diagnosed with ocd, it is not just "omg i'm such a neat freak!" 

i have an inkling of a suspicion that a lot of this has to do with social media and the way neurodivergence is portrayed. 

the worst part is those who are depressed / diagnosed with depression. in my case it is chronic depression, otherwise known as persistent depressive disorder (i think, correct me if i'm wrong, i only remember pdd). lately a lot of people (at least in my school) have adopted depression as if it is something "cool". here are some examples: 

"omg i scored sooo bad on my math test i'm soooo depressed!" 

[i am going to omit the rest of these as i realize they may not be so cb friendly] 

point is, depression is not something you can hang up at the end of the day. it is not a coat you wear during the day. it is not "fashionable" nor is it "cool" to be depressed. 

there is one specific kid in my school who has an obsession with letting everyone know he is depressed. he makes it his whole personality. his discord status, bio, etc. is all about it. whenever anything happens he's like "omg im so depressed after this i literally have depression omg" and lately i have been suspecting that it is for attention-seeking. i cannot speak for what goes on in his personal life or if he is genuinely struggling but he literally smiles while saying he's depressed. 

my friends all suspect that he likes me and we used to be in the same group chat, where i explained to them that i was diagnosed with chronci depression and told them to please tread with a little more caution around me because i was particularly sensitive about these topics. he then proceeded to break all boundaries and complain. his best friend later told me he had never said anything similar to that before i told him about it. 

i don't know if there is genuinely something going on with his personal life or if he is genuinely struggling and i am sincerely sorry if he is, but he is the prime example of how i believe people are beginning to think depression is "cool". 

i feel particularly strongly about this because i have been struggling with depression for over 3? years by now. depression is not sad because you got a bad test on a math score. depression is not the sadness you get after your ice-cream cone falls on the floor. those are what i call the sad parts of life. 

depression is feeling physically unable to be happy. to be crying on the bathroom floor at 3am in the morning because the cold tiles grounds you a little more. depression is not something you hang up at the end of the day. it is not something that you take off when you go to sleep. 

but yeah; tldr i really hate the representation of neurodivergence and depression/mental health related stuff in today's society. 

OKAY here are some recommendations for books with genuinely good representation: 

for asian american identity: 

1. anything by amy tan. she is an amazing author and i love her work so much. this should give you a lot to read. she really jumpstarted this entire... asian-american realism movement with joy luck club. it's great. absolutely amazing book. reread it at least 15 times. 

2. severance by ling ma. it's just... amazing. if you like joy luck club you should definitely read it. 

3. their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston. this one isn't asian-american identity so i cannot speak for it's accuracy but i enjoyed it thoroughly and it was a great read, and it does have a lot of complex themes regarding identity and culture/roots so i think it's a worthwhile read lol 

4. lady tan's circle of women by lisa see. i'm actually in the process of reading this one so i'll update you guys on how accurate i think it is personally soon.  

let me know if you guys want any more!! 

i'm not particularly involved in any other pieces of media regarding neurodivergence, but i'm sure i can dig something up in my library if you guys would like :p 

as always, if there are any questions or any concerns you ahve about this comment, just let me know, i will be more than happy to have discussions with all of you on this as these are some of the topics i am really really really passionate about. 

thanks, 

tmw <3  

OK, I'm back!

4. I think that as long as you show as many scenarios as possible, it's fine.

5. Agree. Sometimes, they feel like they have to lean on stereotypes to make it clear, like "Oh that person is from India." But there are ways to make it clear that aren't how they look and talk and act.

6. Kind of. People are trying, but it's really hard to show everyone, really really quickly.Accurate representation is a long way away.

7. Often, even though we're trying to get rid of the gender gap, it goes too much into "Women of Power." It should be like, "This is an amazing person who happens to be a woman." I'm not an expert, so IDK. When people are talking about Asian religion, It almost always depicts Muslim women. There are other religions, and men follow them too! How come I don't know anything about Bhudism (sorry if I spelled that wrong) and Hindu?

8. Enough to know that minorities exist, and to normalize them so kids aren't wierded out when they see someone in a wheelchair.

Gtg

1. First of all, do you prefer stories centering around representation ("rep") or having rep woven into the story?

   1. Centering around rep

   2. Rep woven in

   3. Other: 

2. What do you think media is doing now rep-wise, and do you think it's good/working? Why? I think that they are trying too hard to represent minorities to get good attention from the mainstream, and don't focus on the story itself or making it culturally accurate (for cultural minorities). 

1. What do you think is an appropriate amount of diversity for any given story/media, and are there any reasons it should vary? The diversity that one would encounter in day-to-day life. There should be as much representation as there would be in real life. I don't think it should be any other way.

1. Should writers/people creating/producing media go into the project thinking about plot or rep first?

   1. Plot. Representation is nice, but you still need to keep it interesting.

   2. Rep

   3. Other: 

2. How do you think rep should be subtly woven in? What do you want to see? (eg: scars, symptoms, etc) Friends or allies of those represented minorities teaching the main character about lessons from their culture.

1. Is the current representation in media playing too much into stereotypes?

   1. Strongly disagree

   2. Disagree

   3. Neutral

   4. Agree

   5. Strongly agree

2. Adding onto the previous question, explain your answer.

1. Do you think there is accurate representation in media today?

   1. Yes

   2. No

   3. Other:

2. About the previous question: Why? While there is representation, they are trying too hard to put it in without taking the time to think how to represent it correctly. In the media world, there are deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, and one of the things that no one takes the time for is to make sure the representation is truly good; the mainstream won't care, they wil just want a flag to rally behind.

1. What are some of your pet peeves when it comes to portraying
   diversity/rep in media (being as specific as possible is greatly
   appreciated)? Playing too commonly on stereotypes, or making them the joke.

1. How far should people go in regards to representation? As far as there is representation in real life.

Specific groups

1. What groups do you think have the best/most rep? Latin American

1. What groups do you think media has enough rep of? Latin American

1. What groups do you think media lacks in rep of? (Doesn't mean what you want to see, but in general) Jewish, Asian American, Eastern European

1. What groups do you want to see more of in media? Eastern European, Jewish, Asian American

1. In your opinion, which has more rep (disability version)

   1. Invisible/Neuro (eg: ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc)

   2. Physical (eg: Cerebral Palsy, ambulatory wheelchair users, etc)

   3. Other: 

2. Thinking about a minority group as a whole, there are typically
   subsets of that group (eg: LGBTQIAP2-S+ has many identities,
   neurodiversity has a wide variety, etc). What specific subset(s) do you
   think needs more recognition in media? Oh, definitely 2E (twice-exceptional). That is when someone has a really high IQ but also struggles in social, sensory, or executive functioning aspects; I think it is really reliant on stereotypes right now.

Stories

1. What types of stories/plots do you see a lot of (Could be in stories that have representation like this, but not necessarily)? 

1. What types of stories/plots do you want to see more of (Could be for stories that have good rep, but not necessarily)?

Examples

1. Examples of books/movies/TV/podcasts/other media with not-so-great rep and why? (You can spoil the story, I don't mind) In Young Sheldon (a television show available on Netflix, Paramount+, and CBS), a prequel to the more adult Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is a brilliant genius who has a very high IQ and knows more than his own teachers; I think it is really over-stereotyped, and Sheldon is the joke most of the time, having to rely on his parents or family to understand social cues. While in moderation it may be fine, in the show it was exaggergated.

1. 21. Examples of books/movies/TV/podcasts/other media with good rep and why? (You can spoil the story, I don't mind) In Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros (a book), Efren is a Mexican American kid who struggles when his mom gets deported by ICE (if you're wondering, that is a real agency that stands for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and later when he faces racism at his own school. It really portrays accurately some of the challenges that Mexican Americans face, and their culture; it turns out the reason for this impeccable accuracy is that the author is Mexican American himself. I met him once and got the book signed; the book, and he, is very inspirational.