#asian cassandra cain

[weirdnotal]

The bat kids don't deserve the bland whiteness that DC gives them, and as a mixed child who is often presumed as white, I would love to see DC explore this more honestly. Nothing has to change dramatically about their characters (except maybe some features)

[danidoodels]

trying to get over my dumb anxiety whenever I post somthn

anyway, little extra comic I doodles cause Cass actually reminds me of some older sisters I know

[theflashjaygarrick]

One thing that is important to me when discussing Cassandra Cain is the fact that she didn't develop her anti-killing moral position because of the bats. Neither does she have her moral code because she's Bruce's obedient golden child. Instead she decided at around age 8 that killing anyone (even some random criminal like in the 2000 batgirl series) was fundamentally wrong because it made them feel fear and pain. Finding out the bat-code had a similar perspective about killing was more validation than anything else. She would be saving everyone she could with or without batman.

She created her own moral framework against that her (in the 2000 series at least) white father. In spite of the fact the fact that her father literally objectified and dehumanised her, she fought to speak and be heard. She chose her own destiny, Babs and Bruce just helped her along the way.

As an Asian character it's important to me she wasn't 'taught' morals by white Americans, but rather she has a code that she developed herself. She doesn't listen to Bruce half the time, and she's more loyal to the concept of the bat symbol than anyone who wears it. She consistently disobeyed him in her original run. All these things aspects help her avoid being just a character with white saviour undertones, and allow her to instead be a heroic beacon of life and compassion in her own right.

[dumbassalex]

Do you think that the others let Bruce, the World's greatest detective, and Jason live down the fact they both considered that Lady Shiva not only hooked with a random goon, Jasons father, but that she's also Jasons mother? Like does Jason ever off-handedly mention "We thought that Shiva was my bio mom for a hot minute there." And Tim looks all confused like "But... you're WHITE?!" Meanwhile Cass is shocked. "My mother?!" And Damian in the back is like "*tt* As if your father had a single chance with someone like her, a two-bit thug like Todd sr." Before all of them take a second ask "Wait, WE?!" And Bruce is in the background hiding himself in embarassment.

Like either they're both fucking idiots or Jason is the whitest looking half-asian man i have ever seen.

[casscainmainly]

Cassandra Cain Meta List

Ones without a credited author are from me!

Disability

Cass' Disability Throughout the Comics by dailycass-cain

Cass' Ableism Towards Barbara by but-a-humble-goon

Why Disabled People Gravitate Towards Cass by but-a-humble-goon

Something To Be Proud Of by but-a-humble-goon

Cass and American Sign Language by fantastic-nonsense

Cass Using ASL Might Be Ableist by jupitermelichios

Cass is Not Mute by fantastic-nonsense

Gender & Sexuality

Cass and Asexuality by aingeal98 and mysteriousbeetle

Lesbians! (Ft. Kon) by aingeal98

Gender/Sexuality in Batgirl (2000) 1

Gender/Sexuality in Batgirl (2000) 2

Gruff With a Heart of Gold by theflashjaygarrick

Race

Cass and Asian Stereotypes

This is Not a White Saviour Story by theflashjaygarrick

Race and Perception in Batgirl (2000)

Cass Needs Asian Writers by deadletterpoets

What Ethnicity is Lady Shiva? by dragcnlady

Morality & Beliefs

Batgirl #19 is About a Hate Crime by lilacsandlillies

Nobody Dies Tonight by aingeal98 and magnetoeisenhardt

Punishment Vs. Redemption by magnetoeisenhardt

Might is Right by but-a-humble-goon

Remorseless Killers by but-a-humble-goon

Cass is Pro-Crime by but-a-humble-goon and littlemissonewhoisall

Mothers & Fathers

Parental Love and Batgirl #37 by aingeal98

Cass' Devotion to Bruce by fantastic-nonsense

The Person Or the Mission? by aingeal98

Cass and Her Mothers by but-a-humble-goon

Cass Has Two Mothers by teleportationmagic

Cass & Jason

Let Things Be Messy by fantastic-nonsense

Murder Victim and Murderer

Cass and Jason Are Foils by celestialdevils

An Extension on Jason by aingeal98 and tumblingxelian

Parallels by trust-and-jump

Miscellaneous

Why Batgirl (2000) Was Cancelled by dailycass-cain

Why Dick Was a Dick in Batgirl (2008) by dailycass-cain

"Stop!" by anniebuddy

Cass and Helena by gracefulplant

Cass and Tim by bitimdrake

Cass and Dick

Cass, Damian, and the Batman Mantle by marinsawakening

Cass and Onyx by mysteriousbeetle

Cass in Gates of Gotham

The Batgirl Mantle by franollie

Thank you to @sasheneskywalker and @but-a-humble-goon for helping me find a lot of these!

[this-canadian-girl]

Batfam in the News

Haven’t made edits in a long time! I get lots of funny fake gossipy type news posts on Pinterest, so I thought I’d try with the batfam.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Inspired by a convo with a friend who is blasian

[autistic-wolf-pack]

CASSANDRA CAIN WENT TO HONG KONG FOR ONE COMIC. ONE!!!

WHY IS SHE ALWAYS “IN HONG KONG” “ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR HONG KONG” OR “JUST GETTING BACK FROM HONG KONG” IN EVERY GODDAMN FIC I READ!!!

I swear yall see an Asian character and either immediately white wash them (like with the Al-ghuls) or just do this shit 😭😭😭

[goatsghost]

little big sister and big little brother

[blackbatcass]

sometimes the ghost of kelley puckett (he is still alive) haunts me. does he know. does he even know. he’s so detached from the comics community and he’s such a private guy (I RESPECT THAT WHOLEHEARTEDLY) that i really and truly do not know if this man knows how much cassandra cain means to us. does he know batgirl 2000 is heralded as the bible of dc solo books, as a lot of people’s favorite comic ever written. does he know how much we love cass. how we write essays over her character and how amazing she is and how she changed our lives. does he know how adored his writing is. does he know he wrote the best comics character introduction of all time. does he even. know.

[rotten7rat]

[ziggy-dunbar188917]

the woobification of Tim Drake is crazy

[shyjusticewarrior]

[theflashjaygarrick]

we need to have a term for when dc comics introduces a morally ambiguous/complex (or even heroic) woc and she gets turned into an irredeemably evil moustache twirling parody of herself. (Bonus round: already villainous woc loses any humanising or positive traits to become a irredeemable monster without any nuance)

examples

Amanda Waller

Talia al Ghul

Lady Shiva

Cassandra Cain (attempted)

Rose Wilson

Bonus round: Cheshire ( she was always evil but they took away her most humanising trait, her love for Lian, and made her only value her children as replaceable possessions)

this can be contrasted to the treatment of white woman villains who tend to become more anti heroic/heroic over time and are given more positive traits. (E.g. catwoman (I know she’s now Latina but dc seemingly forgot and it became canon after her redemption), Harley Quinn, poison ivy, etc).

[melody-han-wayne]

love how 'it's a white people thing' is a perfectly reasonable excuse in this family for literally everything

[casscainmainly]

Cassandra Cain and Asian Stereotypes

So I've seen people debating whether Cass is a racist character or not because she falls into certain Asian stereotypes. While this discussion is valid and important, a lot of the conversation (on this website and beyond) is steered by White/non-Asian people, or people who haven't read a lot of Cass' stuff. This is my take on Cass and Asian stereotypes as a Chinese Cass fan. I do not speak for all Asians, or even all Chinese people, who are absolutely free to disagree with any of these arguments.

Stereotypes I will cover here: Silent Asian, Model Minority, and Hypersexuality.

The Silent Asian Stereotype

The most obvious stereotype Cass runs into is the Silent Asian. I would recommend reading the linked article for more information. Silent Asian characters are Asians who are part of a core cast, but rarely speak. Kimiko Miyashiro in The Boys, Lilly in Pitch Perfect, and Katana in Suicide Squad are all examples of this. The article also mentions Ben from Umbrella Academy, who can only communicate with one character, thus limiting his dialogue.

Why does this happen? Removing Asian characters' dialogue reflects the Western conception of Asians as demure, rule-following, and meek, never speaking up or acting out. It also means writers don't have to spend as much time writing these Asian characters, who are secondary to White protagonists.

The problem with the Silent Asian, then, is not the silence itself, but the consequences of silence. Mute Asians exist, as do Asians who don't speak much; in media, Silent Asians are harmful because they indicate an unwillingness to focus on the Asian character.

This is why Cass, even before she learns to speak longer sentences, is not a Silent Asian. While her conception undoubtedly has unfortunate echoes of this trope, she defies it by being the protagonist of the story. A protagonist cannot be a Silent Asian, because a requirement of the trope is being a secondary character. Cass' feelings and actions are the center of Batgirl (2000), so allegations of this stereotype don't actually make sense.

Furthermore, the trope is about passivity and acquiescence to a White authority. From her introduction, Cass is neither passive nor acquiescent - her origin story is literally about defying David Cain, a White male authority figure. Beyond her not speaking much, she ticks none of the boxes for this stereotype. I think it's time for people to stop mentioning this stereotype in conjunction with Cass, who in every possible way subverts it.

The Model Minority Stereotype

The model minority myth is the belief that Asians are more successful and talented than others, particularly other minoritised groups. Like the Silent Asian, the model minority myth paints Asians as obedient and submissive. This is, in many ways, more insidious than the Silent Asian - there are still people who believe this stereotype (and jokes like 'of course you're good at math, you're Asian') is somehow not racist.

Though this myth seems positive, make no mistake that White people invented this tale for two reasons: to put down Black and Brown communities, and to prevent Asians from ever fully assimilating into White culture.

Cass plays on this myth very interestingly. I've discussed in this post how David Cain and Bruce's assertion that she's 'perfect' is a blatant reference to the model minority myth - by describing her as 'perfect' to them, they are centering their own desires, erasing Cass' individuality.

This is partially why I don't like 'Cass is Bruce's favourite' and 'Cass is an angel who can do no wrong' interpretations when people are just saying it without context. Cass being Bruce's favourite, or Bruce seeing her as an angel, is not a good thing - it is a representation of his biased attitude towards her. He is unable to accept her being a murderer because he is trapped within the model minority mindset. This is not saying Bruce is a full-on racist, but that his actions and perspectives are coloured by his Whiteness.

Cass' abrasive personality, willingness to defy Bruce and David, and very real flaws (her inability to see grey areas, communication difficulties, etc.) make her avoid this stereotype. Additionally, her close relationships with Black characters like Onyx and Duke are essential to combating the anti-Blackness at the core of the model minority myth. Her character evokes the stereotype (perfect martial arts silent fighter), but ultimately defies it through being the star of her own story (and also not being good at math. The fact she doesn't have anything to do with tech is actually one of my favourite aspects of her character, because I am TIRED of tech Asian characters).

The Hypersexual Asian Woman Stereotype

Asian women are often exoticised and fetishised as the ideal sexual partner; think of the term 'yellow fever', which describes men lusting after Asian women. The hypersexualisation of Asian women in media once again goes hand-in-hand with Asians being submissive. They are seen as innocent and child-like, while simultaneously being seductive and sexually experienced.

This stereotype is genuinely perpetuated in Batgirl (2000), mainly by the art in Horrocks' run. Where in Puckett's run there is refreshingly little sexualisation of Cass, once you hit Horrocks' run you get a LOT more shots of her lying down, sexually suggestive covers, etc. People have discussed this already, probably to more effect than I will do here.

However, as I wrote in my Gender and Sexuality posts, the writing is actually fairly defiant of this trope. Cass is vocally uncomfortable with hypersexualisation, and neither of her male love interests stick around. The problem with the Hypersexual Asian Woman is the focus on White sexual interests, where the woman is objectified for the White male gaze. Simply because Cass is the protagonist, the writing focuses on her sexual interests, and in the end it's about gaining control of her gender presentation and sexuality.

Cassandra Cain Vs. Asian Stereotypes

The through-line that connects all these Asian stereotypes is a lack of agency. There's a reason passiveness is the main trait for all of these tropes- the Asian body must be weaker than their White counterparts, in order to be tools or weapons against other minoritised groups.

Cassandra Cain, a character born from a choice that defies White male authority, rises above this passiveness with flying colours. The details of her character certainly fall into some of the above tropes, and the way her character is handled later (evil Cass, New 52), is certainly racist. However, the reason she means so much to me is because at its core, her story is a story of Asian agency. And that in itself is unstereotypical.