A Study on the ABG, a Racialized, Gendered Social Label
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Abstract
The Asian Baby Girl (ABG), a racialized and gendered social label, is a recent social phenomenon occurring within the Asian American community. It is a new Asian American archetype amongst the Dragon Lady, China Doll, and Lotus Blossom that targets and constructs racialized femininity. Hinging on its visual appearance, the ABG is a persona whose performance evokes positive and negative connotations due to its ability to subvert Asian American stereotypes and create a hybridized Asian American persona, while also creating new and restraining stereotypes imposed onto Asian American women. This study intends to investigate how this new racialized and gendered social label, the ABG persona, impacts the experiences of Asian American women by focusing on the allure and rejection of the label, and the operation of this label under the male gaze and within academic and professional settings.