This attention has led to the idea that orientalist stereotyping is a specific form of racial microaggression against women of East Asian descent. For example, while the beauty of Asian American women has been exoticized, Asian American women have been stereotyped as submissive in the process of sexual objectification. University of Wyoming Darrell Hamamoto, Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis, describes Ling as "a neo-Orientalist masturbatory fantasy figure concocted by a white man whose job it is to satisfy the blocked needs of other white men who seek temporary escape from their banal and deadening lives by indulging themselves in a bit of visual cunnilingus while relaxing on the sofa." Hamamoto does maintain, however, that Ling "sends a powerful message to white America that East Asian American women are not to be trifled with. She runs circles around that tower of Jell-O who serves as her white boyfriend. She's competitive in a profession that thrives on verbal aggression and analytical skill." Contemporary actress Lucy Liu has been accused of popularizing this stereotype by characters she has played in mainstream media.