Negotiating racialized gender identities as Japanese women while studying abroad

Previous researches on Japanese female international students (JFIS) have focused extensively on acculturation and assimilation. Only few researches have examined racialization of JFIS within the context of the Model Minority Myth and intersectionality. For this study, I use the Looking Glass Self to articulate how JFIS construct their racialized gender identities through interaction with U.S students. Using the concept ofintersectionality within the framework ofthe Model Minority Myth, I illuminate how JFIS's racialized gender identities are constructed differently than that of Asian American students as the result of their master status as international students. The findings from interviews with eight JFIS indicate that social and familial expectations acted as motivations to study abroad. Such expectations are managed through physically distancing and sense of independency. For many JFIS, close affiliations with Asian American and Asian international students indicate that such social ties function as a form of collective group identity where JFIS feel safe in navigating through racial and gender inequalities. When interacting with non-Asian students/professors, their master status as international students excludes JFis from becoming the model minority students. Furthermore, some experienced institutionalized form of racial inequalities with professors and school curriculum. In conclusion, JFIS' s unique social status as international students stood as a wall to share similar experiences as the model minority students, differentiating and labeling them as outsiders and foreigners. Keywords: racialization, gender, identity, Model Minority Myth, intersectionality, Japanese females, institutionalized racism, higher education