The Yale Daily News had an interesting article yesterday on the fetishism of Asian women that exists in American culture.
The article was written in lieu of the grad student from Princeton who was recently arrested for terrorizing over 50 Asian women on campus. (Check out Jessica's post on this for the disturbing details.) While the authors admit that this may very well be an isolated case of perversion, sexual assaults specifically targeted against Asian women do exist and the reasons behind it need to be addressed.
InSight, the only Asian-American women’s organization on Yale campus, held a meeting focusing on this issue of the sexual fixation on Asian women in the media, and society as a whole. They are typically portrayed as exotic, passive "geisha girls" who are sexually submissive and easily dominated. This oversexualization of Asian women not only causes the occasional sicko to terrorize a number of women, but has had more consequential effects than generally thought. For example, in a study conducted in 2002, out of 31 random pornographic websites that included the rape and torture of women, nearly half of the sites used depictions of Asian women receiving the abuse. The authors (who are members of InSight) also make it a point to show that while an estimated 26 percent of rape victims come forward to report the assault, only 8 percent of Asian female victims report it.
At the end of the article, the authors say:
“It may be easy to disregard the widespread existence of an Asian fetish as an ‘annoying’ but essentially benign phenomenon that does not need to be taken seriously. But, as the Princeton episode demonstrates, we need to be aware of the violent and perverse forms it can take and its serious ramifications.”
Word. Too many people just shrug off these racist and sexist images of Asian women (and all women of color, for that matter) that end up resulting in objectification, rape, and abuse. It’s time to wake the fuck up and smell the injustice.
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Does that mean it's wrong to think that Asian chicks are hot?
as long as you don't think that the fact that they are Asian makes them hot. I mean, they fall under same categories as anyone else, no?
I think the whole thing of "asian chicks are hot" is no more or less intelligent as a statement "Russians drink vodka." It's an ignorant stereotype.
Are you saying _all_ Asian women are hot? 'Cause I work with a lot of Asians, and guess what, there are some that are cute and then there are some that are, well, not.
On the other hand, the geisha fetish is very appealing in the Western culture, where women are increasingly "threatening" the established status quo and it's relaxing, I guess, to fantasize about a girl - exotic-looking, by Western standards - whose duty it is to fullfill any sexual fantasy you've got.
I'm just waiting for the day I hear some guy longing out loud for a "traditional" Japanese wife so I can point out that tradition would also demand that he hand over his paycheck to her (for household expenses); she would then dole some of it back as an allowance....
I am really beginning to regret writing about this at my blog. The whining and crying from these guys who don't like having their geisha fantasies disturbed is really fucking irritating.
Amanda, it's also pretty clear that half the commenters didn't even read the posts or stories you linked. I can always tell when you've struck a nerve by how hysterical, off-topic and ad-hominem the trolls get, and this one was a doozy. Where'd those people come from?
My favorites are the guys who think that if I don't think treating women like ciphers for their fantasies instead of human beings is right, then I must be a prude.
"Russians drink vodka." It's an ignorant stereotype.
russians *do* drink vodka. not all, but most who drink do.
the fact is, stereotypes exist for a reason: human brains are biologically predisposed to order based on generalization, and all things being equal, the stereotypical quality is true in more than half the cases.
i would maintain it's more ignorant to deny statistics for no other reason than adherence to some politically correct ideal. of course stereotypes are not true in every instance, but the same can be said for *any* descriptive quality. is it an ignorant stereotype to say that "women have uteruses?"
My favorites are the people that are making shit up out of wholecloth, like the person ranting that white women think that Asian women don't know about the fetish and need help figuring it out. The fuck?
(aka Brian Vaughan)
There are all sorts of complications for even the best interracial relationships in a racist society, internal and external to the relationship. But not much is going to be said of the subtler aspects of the problem when folks are busy denying the clearly stated attitudes of drunken frat guys on Saturday night.
>as long as you don't think that the fact that
>they are Asian makes them hot. I mean, they
>fall under same categories as anyone else, no?
Strictly speaking, you're right - every person's attractiviness should be judged on an individual basis.
However, when a person (here I'm using a male heterosexual, but naturally it generalizes to all combinations) says "he has a thing for Asian women", it usually means that of all the women he passes by, he tends to prefer Asian-looking women. I don't see any contradiction with the above.
Granted, an Asian-fetishist *would* certainly go for a caucasian girl if she really looked Asian, but I guess empirical evidence shows this is immensely rare (it was you who used the phrase "exotic-looking, by Western standards").
I don't see anything wrong with a look-based fetish. Anyway, rape fetishes are always questionable, regardless of the race of the "target".
>Too many people just shrug off these racist
>and sexist images of Asian women (and all
>women of color, for that matter) that end up
>resulting in objectification, rape, and abuse.
One has to be very careful with arguments like this, because you could pull a similar one about, for example, anti-immigration: "we can't tolerate immigration because it leads to increased crime statistics!" (this argument is unfair for the well-behaving immigrates; just like anti-porn arguments are unfair for the peaceful porn-watcher.)
You're conviently ignoring that so-called fetishists actually want Asian women, not a certain look. Some Asian-American women report experiences of guys chatting them up and then running off the second they heard an American accent. The issue is that a) they want a submissive woman and b) they have a racist belief that Asian women are submissive and so they are looking for that.
Well, if *that* wasn't a generalization, then what is?
I already said I find fetishes for certain behaviour models (e.g. submissiviness, and also "chivalry") questionable, but that look-based fetishes OK (you wouldn't attack fat fetishists like this, assuming they're not feederists?)
I made no claim about the relative proportions of behaviour-fetishists and look-fetishists (both of them certainly exist), but you seem to have made your opinion.
Sweedish chicks are hot, too.
When men clearly state that they want Asian women because they believe those women are submissive, I am not going to pretend something else is going on. Sorry.
Why is it that when a white man says he likes Asian because they are nicer, and more agreeable, you white women assume it is a fetish? Yet if a black man says he likes white women because they are easier to get along with and docile, you do not?
I have been seeing an abundance of black male/white female couples for over 10 years now. It has been and still is far more prevalent than the white male/asian female couple. There have even been talk-shows regarding this. I have heard black men give all kinds of demeaning answers like: they like the way people look at them when they are with a white woman. they think that white women are more docile than black women, and I've even heard some saying that they feel it is their way of getting revenge at the white man for slavery.
Yet, even after all of this is said, I've never heard it considered a fetish. But, in more recent years, some white men start having a thing for Asian women, and suddenly it is wrong.
Certain fetish for Asian women is quite clear. In a society where gender roles are somewhat confused men's preferences are quite understandable. Taking into account that Asian women often are depicted as obedient and nice which corresponds with the "feminine type", it inspires them to appeal to force and outline their masculinity.
Generally speaking, fetishism may be considered as a part of D/S relations. Sometimes it can be a major part of D/S play. There is an interesting opinion about fetish&BDSM relations:http://www.bondage-guide.net/post/fetish.html It is interesting and I'd like to discuss this topic.