Shang-Chi star Simu Liu has discussed toxic Asian masculinity and how the community should improve.
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Hollywood Remixed podcast, hosted by Rebecca Sun, Liu said he hated how Asian men attack Asian women.
“I think there’s very dangerous rhetoric that sometimes circulates around our community where you see Asian men attacking Asian women and saying, ‘Well, you’ve got all this privilege as Asian women’, because Asian women are seen as more desirable and are seen as higher on the social hierarchy,” he said.
“I detest hearing that in-fighting within the community,” Liu continued. ”
We should be uplifting each other and sticking together, but more than that, it’s not difficult to see that Asian men and Asian women both suffer from the same problem, which is that our experiences have been defined by a predominantly white gaze, and so we each experience the consequences of that and they’re different.”
“There has to be a lot of nuance in my response,” he replied. “I feel like this idea that, by over-correcting our emasculation we’re actively celebrating toxic masculinity at its most stereotypical core – which is, these buff, tough people who don’t talk about their feelings or act a certain way towards women – I feel like that’s very, very valid.”
Looking ahead, the Chinese Canadian actor said he hopes conversation starts within the community.
“My hope – as Asian men begin to talk about masculinity, talk about the ways that they’ve been emasculated, and talk about our goals or how we want to develop the discourse – is that we can redefine what ‘masculinity’ really even means, because Asian American masculinity as a term really hasn’t been around for all that long, and so why use it to describe all of the flaws of traditional masculinity?”
“Why not define masculinity for ourselves in a way that is body-positive, but [also] body-positive for all types and inclusive for all gender norms and sexual preferences?”
The 32-year-old actor said he hopes the Asian community can help to uplift each o ther.
“And why not celebrate male vulnerability and being able to communicate feelings with your male friends and circles, and why not talk about respecting women and uplifting our Asian American sisters and uplifting all minority groups and being a better ally? Why not talk about those things as well?”
“That’s something that I very much believe in, because if it’s just about abs and it’s just about looking buff and shredded and trying to out-man the men, then I don’t think necessarily that’s a conversation I want to be a part of.”
In related news, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings broke Labor Day weekend records and brought in $71.4 million.
