True or false: How accurate are Asian stereotypes?

My friend once told me a joke in the cafeteria. "One American married couple adopted a newborn Chinese baby. People asked the couple, ‘Isn't it hard to teach English to a Chinese baby?'"

There are a lot of stereotypes out there, and racial stereotyping is a major one. Stephens has a much lower Asian student population compared to MU and Columbia College. I have been at Stephens for two semesters as a Korean exchange student. I have not experienced any discrimination, but some stereotypes. I am going to introduce three of them in order to curb these common misconceptions.

1. Are all Asians smart?

It is one of the very common stereotypes that being Asian makes you smart, especially in mathematics.

"Asians are like tiny walking calculators. But I think it is because the value of education is emphasized in Asia. Many of my Asian friends' parents push their children to study," said Christine Twyman, a sophomore performance theater major.

And Twyman is right. If Asians are smart, that would be because they learn a lot rather than because they are born intelligent.

Changsoo Chun, an MU student, completed middle school in Korea and went to high school in America. He was good at mathematics in high school, but said it was not because he was born that way, but because he got a high level of mathematics education in Korea.

"I was good at math when I was in high school. My friends told me, ‘All Asians are good at numbers.' But when I was a middle school student in Korea, I had two private math lessons after school," said Chun, a senior statistics major.

The large amount of allotted study time could be another contributing factor.

Korean students ages 15 to 24 study seven hours and 50 minutes per day, while the same age range in American students study five hours and four minutes a day, according to the National Youth Policy Institute in Korea.

The high value of education in Asia traces back to ancient China. There was a hierarchic social class structure called Four Occupations. It included scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants. The four occupations were not like a caste system in India, but it still ordered the importance of occupations.

It influenced other East Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam and still remains a small part of the culture today.

2. Are all Asians ninjas?

I am on a team for a human-versus-zombies game. All team members have nicknames and my nickname is ‘scarf ninja.' I could not guess any other reason why my friends named me "ninja" other than the fact that I am the only Asian on my team.

Once I met an American girl who said all Asians are ninjas as a joke. She called me ninja because I learned how to crochet really fast.

In actuality, I don't even know what kind of jobs ninjas do and what they even look like.

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and "Ninja Assassin" are representative Hollywood movies boasting Korean actors in leading roles. Surprisingly to me, both Korean actors, Byunghun Lee and Rain (Jihoon Jung), played ninjas in those movies.

Perhaps it is because of the exposure many Americans have to Asians in film that this particular stereotype is reinforced. The reality is that most Asians aren't remotely interested in ninjas.

3. Are all Asians sexually conservative?

Jessica Slaten answered yes to that question. "Especially older generations it seems," said Slaten, a freshman creative writing major.

"I am not sure why I think so. Just the grandparents of Asian friends I have had, they were always people who have only been with one person, and they were uncomfortable with their grandchildren dating lots of people," Slaten said.

This is the one stereotype I have experienced most at Stephens. I think I am a sexually conservative person, but it does not mean I am sexually ignorant. Sometimes my American friends, however, treat me like I am a 10-year-old girl.

I live in the C wing of Hillcrest Hall, and in the hallway, there is a shy box with condoms in it. I went to a women's university in Korea, but I can't imagine condoms in a women's dormitory hall. So, I asked my friend why condoms were there. She proceeded to provide me an unneeded explanation of what condoms are and how they work.

Here is another story.

Two of my friends and I were walking downtown and one wanted to go to a sex shop. She hesitated to go, however, because of me, despite the fact I was the oldest one there.

I can't say all Asians are sexually conservative because I know some Asians who like to date many people. But in my experience, Asians don't like to share their sexual stories in public and have a strong belief that a promiscuous life is shameful.