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April 5, 2022
Written by Megan Moran
On April 20, 2022, Olivia Rodrigo will be performing a local, sold out show in Chesterfield, MO. What some people may not know about Olivia Rodrigo is that she is an Asian American. Her great grandfather immigrated to the United States from the Philippines when he was young and her family continues to celebrate Filipino traditions. Her ethnicity isn’t a widely talked about or known thing about Rodrigo despite the fact that it has been mentioned during her career for Disney. She participated in Disney channel’s Asian Pacific American Heritage month campaign while on the TV show Bizaardvark. Also, on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series her character’s Filipina grandmother shared her story of starting over in the United States after immigrating from the Philippines.
There haven’t been Asian American pop stars in history like Rodrigo, so in an interview with V Magazine she talks about being an Asian American role model for young girls like her. “I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position,’” she says “And I’m literally going to cry, like just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also, it was always like ‘Pop star,’ that’s a white girl.” Representation in media matters, and artists who are a part of marginalized communities, like Rodrigo, can help raise the self esteem of young girls and boys and can help reduce stereotypes about the group. In an interview with People, Olivia Rodrigo says, “Representation in TV and media is so important. And I’m so glad that I can hopefully be an example for a little Asian girl out there, that they can do anything they set their mind to.”
An article by racetoacure.org talks about representation and how we can help achieve it. “The entertainment industry, media creators, and society can benefit significantly by confronting implicit bias and stereotypes and actively commit to fostering inclusive environments.” We can do our part to help increase representation in media so every little boy and girl can grow seeing people like them in media. To learn more about representation from a doctor of Psychology read the first article linked in the sources.
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