That SNL Asian American Doll skit

By now, no doubt, many of you have seen this faux commercial for “Asian American Doll” that aired on Saturday Night Live last weekend:

For international viewers

There’s been a lot of discussion about the segment among Asian Americans, and opinions vary from “It’s funny and shows our clout” (e.g., the Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Yang), to “A bigger issue is a lack of Asian American representation on the show itself” (e.g., AngryAsianMan.com’s Phil Yu), to “Meh” (e.g., 8Asians.com’s Joz Wang).

My wife and I thought it was quite funny. That’s partly because the sketch gets a lot right – we Asian Americans, as Jeff Yang says, are becoming better known for speaking out. I tell folks to just take a look at Yelp.com. Asian Americans dominate Yelp! We are online a lot and willing to give a loud thumbs-down when we don’t get our money’s worth.

The faux SNL ad is also correct that a toy company would get a significant backlash if it mishandled the cultural portrayal of a Native American doll. My Native activist friends would respond quickly, and I would be right there with them. (I’ve previously written several times about the misappropriation of Native culture.) The company would indeed not hear the end of it, nor should it – at least not until it showed a good faith effort to portray Native culture respectfully and accurately.

I also liked the mom character, well played by SNL’s Vanessa Bayer. The mom represents a person I have not often met in real life – a white person who’s knowledgeable about micro-aggressions, and takes care to avoid them. Most white people I’ve known at least know that they shouldn’t use the term chink to refer to Asians, or that it’s highly offensive to mock us with “ching chong, ding dong” gibberish. Those are among the more obvious slurs. But relatively few understand, more subtly, that the Model Minority tag is harmful, and it’s one that we resist for a slew of good reasons. Few also get that we hate it when we’re asked where we’re really from.

The greatest bit of irony to me about the commercial – and it’s probably not what the SNL script writers were attempting to skewer – is that there’s no major toy company out there that actually would do this. The big toy companies usually just do what they want to do, and they rarely recall or change racially offensive toys. It would actually be nice if they showed just some of the sensitivity possessed by the fictional makers of SNL’s Asian American Doll. And once in a while, a toy company has indeed been responsive. But by and large, when consumers complain about racial stereotypes, or about the misrepresentation or misappropriation of cultures, the big toy companies shrug and say, “Well, we can’t please everyone.”

Such was the case earlier this year when Mattel discontinued, or rather, “archived” Ivy Ling, the only Asian American doll in the American Girl historical doll series. The move sparked a substantial degree of protest from Asian American girls and their parents. Two sisters, Taylor and Ayden Her of Minnesota, started a petition through 18 Million Rising, an Asian American advocacy organization, asking Mattel to produce another Asian American historical doll. To date, they’ve collected over 2700 signatures. To my knowledge, Mattel’s response has simply been to say they appreciate the feedback, and that they take customer opinions into account when planning future products.

In fairness, Mattel has demonstrated some cultural sensitivity in the past. The books about its historical character and doll Kaya, a Nez Perce girl living in the 1760s, were written in consultation with the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. And the one book that centered on Ivy Ling was written by an Asian American author, Lisa Yee.

But these days, Mattel appears to be entrenched in the usual toy company practice of doing its own thing, and paying little mind to what Asian Americans have said. If only it were half as responsive as the toy company in the SNL sketch!

How do I know Mattel is “entrenched”? Well, earlier this year it retired Ivy, the only Asian American historical doll, right? Just a couple of months ago, Mattel brought back a previously archived doll – a white one named Samantha Parkington.

Sure, you can’t please everyone, Mattel, but couldn’t you at least look like you’re trying?

Eugene Hung has written the Raising Asian American Daughters blog here on AsianceMagazine.com since early 2013. He also serves as the lead organizer in the Los Angeles area for the Man Up Campaign, a nonprofit that mobilizes men worldwide to stop violence against women and girls in their communities. Follow him on Twitter via @eughung.