Asian American men have distinct histories and experiences within the context of masculinity. In considering gender role conflict, a concept that examines the negative impact of prescribed gender roles on both men and women (O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 1986), it is important to note that Asian American men are situated within the United States' White hegemonic masculinity while also negotiating their racialized minority status. Asian American men, as do other racial minorities, experience gender role conflict in relationship to and interaction with their racial identity. The purposes of this manuscript are to provide an overview of how Asian American masculinity has been shaped and challenged by U.S. society, present existing literature on racial identity and gender role conflict with particular attention to intersections of identity, and address the implications of gender role conflict on Asian American men.
AlvarezA. N. (2002). Racial identity and Asian Americans: Supports and challenges. In McEwenM. K.KodamaC. M.AlvarezA. N.LeeS. & LiangC. T. H. (Eds.), Working with Asian American college students (New Directions for Students Services no. 97, pp. 33–43). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
AlvarezA. N., & HelmsJ. E. (2001). Racial identity and reflected appraisals as influences on Asian Americans' racial adjustment. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 7, 217–231.
3.
AnchetaA. N. (1998). Race, rights, and the Asian American experience. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
4.
CampiA. J. (2005). Closed borders and mass deportations: The lessons of the Barred Zone Act. Washington, DC: American Immigration Law Foundation.
5.
ChanJ. (2001). Chinese American masculinities: From Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee. New York: Routledge.
6.
ChanJ. W. (1998). Contemporary Asian American men's issues. In HirabayashiL. R. (Ed.), Teaching Asian America: Diversity and the problem of community (pp. 93–102). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
7.
ChanS. (1991). Asian Americans: An interpretive history. New York: Twayne.
8.
ChenG. A. (2004, December). The complexity of “Asian American identity”: The intersection of multiple social identities. Paper presented at the Counseling Center Research and Development Presentation, University of Maryland, College Park.
9.
ChengC. (1996). “We choose not to compete”: The “merit” discourse in the selection process, and Asian and Asian American men and their masculinity. In ChengC. (Ed.), Masculinities in organizations (pp. 177–200). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
ChuaP., & FujinoD. C. (1999). Negotiating new Asian-American masculinities: Attitudes and gender expectations. The Journal of Men's Studies, 7, 391–413.
11.
EspirituY. L. (1997). Asian American women and men: Labor, laws, and love. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
GoodG. E.RobertsonJ. M.FitzgeraldL. F.StevensM., & BartelsK. M. (1996). The relation between masculine role conflict and psychological distress in male university counseling center clients. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75, 44–49.
13.
GoodG. E.RobertsonJ. M.O'NeilJ. M.FitzgeraldL. F.StevensM.DeBordK. A. (1995). Male gender role conflict: Psychometric issues and relations to psychological distress. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 42, 3–10.
14.
GoodG. E., & WoodP. K. (1995). Male gender role conflict, depression, and help seeking: Do college men face double jeopardy?Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 70–75.
15.
HelmsJ. E. (1993). Black and White racial identity: Theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Praeger.
16.
HelmsJ. E., & CookD. A. (1999). Using race and culture in counseling and psychotherapy: Theory and practice. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
17.
HirabayashiL. R. (1998). Introduction. In HirabayashiL. R. (Ed.), Teaching Asian America: Diversity and the problem of community (pp. 1–12). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
KimE. J.O'NeilJ. M., & OwenS. V. (1996). Asian-American men's acculturation and gender-role conflict. Psychological Reports, 79, 95–104.
20.
KohatsuE. (1992). The effects of racial identity and acculturation on anxiety, assertiveness, and ascribed identity among Asian American college students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
21.
KumashiroK. K. (1999). Supplementing normalcy and otherness: Queer Asian American men reflect on stereotypes, identity, and oppression. Qualitative Studies in Education, 12, 491–508.
22.
LiuE. (1999). The accidental Asian: Notes of a native speaker. New York: Vintage Books.
23.
LiuW. M. (2000). Exploring the lives of Asian American men: Racial identity, male role norms, gender role conflict, and prejudicial attitudes. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
24.
NashP. J. (1991). On being Asian American. In LeeJ. F. J. (Ed.), Asian Americans (pp. 121–123). New York: The New Press.
25.
OkihiroG. Y. (1994). Margins and mainstreams: Asians in American history and culture. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
26.
OmiM. (2000). Racial identity and the state: Contesting the federal standards for classification. In AdamsM.BlumenfeldW. J.CastanedaR.HackmanH. W.PetersM. L., & ZunigaX. (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 73–78). New York: Routledge.
27.
O'NeilJ. M. (1990). Assessing men's gender role conflict. In MooreD. & LeafgrenF. (Eds.), Problem solving strategies and interventions for men in conflict (pp. 23–38). Alexandria, VA: American Association for Counseling and Development.
28.
O'NeilJ. M.HelmsB. J.GableR. K.DavidL., & WrightsmanL. S. (1986). Gender Role Conflict Scale: College men's fear of femininity. Sex Roles, 14, 335–350.
29.
PrashadV. (2000). The karma of brown folk. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
30.
SharpeM. J., & HeppnerP. P. (1991). Gender role, gender-role conflict, and psychological well-being in men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 323–330.
31.
StillsonR. W.O'NeilJ. M., & OwenS. V. (1991). Predictors of adult men's gender-role conflict: Race, class, unemployment, age, instrumentality-expressiveness, and personal strain. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 458–464.
32.
SuzukiB. H. (2002). Revisiting the model minority stereotype: Implications for student affairs practice and higher education. In McEwenM. K.KodamaC. M.AlvarezA. N.LeeS., & LiangC. T. H. (Eds.), Working with Asian American college students (New Directions for Student Services no. 97, pp. 21–32). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
33.
TakakiR. (1990). Strangers from a different shore: A history of Asian Americans. New York: Penguin Group.
34.
TakakiR. (1993). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
35.
WongS. (1993, November 1). Beyond Bruce Lee. Essence, 24, 64.
36.
WuF. H. (2002). Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White. New York: Basic Books.
