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Asian fetish refers to sexual objectification of people of Asian descent, typically females, who are "objectified and valued not for who they are as people, but for their race or perceptions of their culture." The fetish has been used to primarily describe white men's desire for Asian women. The use of the term has been criticized for stigmatizing non-Asian males and condemning interracial relationships. Neither ICD-10 nor DSM-IV recognize Asian fetish as a psychological disorder.

Stereotyping of Asian personality traits

During the periods of yellow peril in the United States during the late 1800s, the image of Chinese women emerged as sexually corrupt, immoral, and threatening to the white population. During World War II when American soldiers directly interacted with East Asian and Southeast Asian women, the women were portrayed as obedient, passive, and exotic. Babysan, a cartoon character sketched as an exotic, curvaceous, slanted eyed woman, was published in the East Asian edition of the Navy Times during wartime.

In the afterword to the 1988 play M. Butterfly, the writer, David Henry Hwang, using the term "yellow fever," a pun on the disease of the same name, discusses white men with a "fetish" for Asian women. Hwang argues that this phenomenon is caused by stereotyping of Asians in Western society. Darrell Hamamoto, a professor at University of California Davis, has stated that the stereotypes are a result of Western imperialist influence in Asian countries and increased interaction between different races in the United States after immigration laws were relaxed in the 1960s. Hamamoto said American soldiers' contact with Vietnamese prostitutes during the Vietnam War have further contributed to reinforcing these images of Asian women.

Phoebe Eng wrote in her book Warrior Lessons,

While hypersexualized, commodifying images exist for all women, and especially women of color, the image of the Asian woman combines with this the notion of ultrapassivity. Sexuality for an Asian woman is so tightly wound up in issues of power and global economic order that it is virtually impossible to address the spector of an Asian woman's sexuality without examining the subtle roles of governments and enterprise in perpetuating this situation, especially in developing countries.

In her article in San Francisco Examiner, "Asian Women, Caucasian Men", Joan Walsh wrote that some non-Asian men pursued Asian females for "their appearance - and stereotypes about how they treat men." The article referred to a "feminist backlash" that drove Caucasian men away from Caucasian women. She referred to Asian fetish as partially as a result of "inability of men to have intimate relationships with women they see as equals." Practices of marrying mail-order brides from Asian countries is also sustained by sexual stereotypes of Asian women.

The term is also used in the LGBT community for a man, usually white, who exclusively date Asian males is named rice queen. In a similar manner as Asian females, gay Asian males are stereotyped as submissive.

Studies related to Asian fetish

In 2002, Jennifer Lynn Gossett and Sarah Byrne conducted a content-analysis study of 31 pornographic Web sites that advertised scenes depicting the rape or torture of women, and found that nearly half of the sites used depictions of Asian women as the rape victim.

Raymond Fisman authored an article published in Salon which claimed that the existence of Asian fetish is a myth. Raymond based his conclusions on the results of a study, "Racial Preferences in Dating," that he helped to conduct. The study, based upon speed dating experiments among Columbia University graduate students, found no general statistically-significant racial preference among males.

Sex tourism

According to Sheridan Prasso, prostitution in Thailand and prostitution in the Philippines is largely supported by men with Asian fetish.

Phoebe Eng believes that the sex tourism industry has a significant impact on the perception of Asian females in the United States and that Asian American females should be aware of this. She finds that some Asian females ignore such notions as they believe the lives of prostitutes overseas have no bearing on their lives.

Controversy

In May 2000, Bloodhound Gang performed at the campus of University of Maryland, where the band's unreleased song "Yellow Fever" drew controversy. With other student unions such as NAACP and the Jewish Student Union, the Asian American Student Union protested against the band by wearing bright yellow shirts and turning their backs during the band's performance. Jimmy Pop said he was perplexed about negative reaction to his song as he intended to humorously describe a sexual desire for Asian women.

In April 2006, Rumpus Magazine published a satirical piece entitled "Me Love You Long Time" written by Brian Hauss. The article featured the picture of a naked white male student whose body was covered with uncooked rice. Hauss wrote that white male students and Asian female students at Yale University are "building...intimate bridges between the Occident and the Orient in the privacy of their own bedrooms." The article characterized "yellow fever" as a term used by racists to condemn "conjugal bliss" between Asian females and Caucasian males. The article was panned by the Asian American Students Alliance at Yale University for emasculating Asian males while portraying Asian women as promiscuous. Rumpus co-Editor in Chief Sam Heller responded, "We weren't necessarily about it, but I think that you have to have a sense of humor. You shouldn't take it so seriously. We're not trying to tear down the Asian community here."

Other views

Phoebe Eng wrote:

Not all of us, for instance, agree that the current trend of "Asian fetish" is bad. In fact, for some of us, the new visibility of Asian women, even though stereotyped, can actually be liberating.

Erika Kim and Tracy Quan believe that the concept of "Asian fetish" is used to condemn interracial relationships between white men and Asian women. Quan has written that terms such as "yellow fever" or "Asian fetish" are meaningless as she feels that personal attraction is a complex result of many factors "some of which are too mysterious for words." The characterization of the term as "racist" has been criticized because it implies that a noted preference for a member of a minority group and the portrayals of minorities as attractive is abnormal.

References

1. ^ Prasso, Sheridan (2005). "'Race-ism,' Fetish, and Fever". The Asian Mystique. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. pp. 132–164, 141. ISBN 9781586483944. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |chapterl= and |month= (help)
2. ^ Walsh, Joan. San Francisco Examiner. Asian Women, Caucasian Men modelminority.com (2002-04-22)
3. Okamura, Raymond. 1976. Iva Ikuko Toguri: Victim of an American fantasy. In EmmaGee (Ed.), Counterpoint: Perspectives on Asian America (p. 86-96). Los Angeles: Asian American Studies Center, University of California.
4. ^ Uchida, Aki (1998). "The Orientalization of Asian women in America". Women’s Studies International Forum. 21 (2): 161–174. doi:10.1016/S0277-5395(98)00004-1. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
5. Hume, Bill (1953). Babysan: A private look at the Japanese occupation. Tokyo: Kasuga Bokkei. ISBN 0804800499.
6. Hwang, David Henry (1988). "Afterward". M. Butterfly. New York: Plume Books. pp. p. 98. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
7. ^ Sung, Helen E. "Dating Outside the Color Lines". Audrey magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
8. ^ Eng, Phoebe (2000). "She Takes Back Desire". Warrior Lessons : An Asian American Woman's Journey into Power. New York: Atria. pp. 115–142. ISBN 0671009575.
9. ^ Bohling, James. Embracing Diversity?
10. Ayres T (1999). China doll - the experience of being a gay Chinese Australian. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 87-97
11. Gossett, Jennifer Lynn (2002). ""Click Here": A Content Analysis of Internet Rape Sites". Gender & Society. 16 (5): 689–709. doi:10.1177/089124302236992. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
12. Fisman, Raymond. "The Myth of the Asian Fetish: An Economist Goes to a BarSlate magazine (2007-11-07). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
13. Fisman, Raymond; Iyengar, Sheena S.; Kamenica, Emir; Simonson, Itamar. "Racial Preferences in Dating". 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2007-11-09
14. Prasso, Sheridan (2005). "'Race-ism,' Fetish, and Fever". The Asian Mystique. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books. pp. 262–295, 307–317. ISBN 9781586483944. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors=, |chapterl=, and |month= (help)
15. Bliss, Karen (2000-05-05). "Bloodhound Gang Respond to Maryland Protest". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
16. Hauss, Brian (April 2006). "Me Love You Long Time: Yale's Case of Yellow Fever" (pdf). New Haven, Connecticut: Rumpus Magazine. p. 10. Retrieved 2007-12-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
17. Macbeth, Cullen. "AASA accuses publications of racismYale Daily News (2006-04-17)
18. Nam, Vicky (2001). YELL-oh Girls!. Harper Paperbacks. p. 207. ISBN 0060959444.
19. ^ Quan, Tracy (2003). "Asian fetish?". Salon.com. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
20. Chan, Elizabeth. "Fetish or Forever?". Audrey magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-26.

See also

• Asiaphile
• Asian American contemporary issues
• Racist love
• Rice queen
• Yellow cab (stereotype)

External links

• "The Asian America That Can Say 'No'", Modelminority.com. (Originally published in The Daily Californian, September 9, 1991) Accessed February 17, 2006.
• "The Yellow Fever Pages", Zukazuka.com, 2002. Accessed February 17, 2006.
• "The Myth Of The Rice King", Vancouver Sun, February 14, 2004.
• "Racial preferences in the dating world", Seacoast Online, May 11, 2007. Accessed May 25, 2007.

• Asian American issues
• Race
• Sexual fetishism