In 93 years, four Asian women have received nominations for an acting Oscar: only one has won.
Merle Oberon, nominee, Best Actress (1936)
Miyoshi Umeki, winner, Best Supporting (1958)
Rinko Kikuchi, nominee, Best Supporting (2007)
Youn Yuh-jung, nominee, Best Supporting (2021)
Let this sink in. No Asian woman has been nominated for Best Actress since 1936 and Merle Oberon had to hide her Asian ethnicity from Hollywood to get lead roles.
When Asian women have no access to lead roles in Hollywood and are mainly represented as sexual objects, this dehumanizes Asian American women and hurts how we are seen in society.
As @kryspia points out, there are mixed race Asian American women who received acting Oscar nominations:
Meg Tilly, Best Supporting 1986
Jennifer Tilly, Best Supporting 1995
Hailee Steinfeld, Best Supporting 2011
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