Asian fetish

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Asian fetish is a slang term that is sometimes used to describe attraction for people of Asian descent by those of non-Asian descent.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History and usage 2 Columbia study 3 See also 4 References

[edit] History and usage

During periods of widespread anti-Asian sentiment, in the United States in the late 1800s, known as Yellow peril, the image of Chinese women emerged as sexually corrupt, immoral, and threatening to the white population.^[1]

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.^[2]

Darrell Hamamoto, producer of a porn movie he claims to be research^[3][4][5] and highly controversial professor (even among Asians) ^[6] 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.^[7] Hamamoto said American soldiers' contact with Vietnamese prostitutes during the Vietnam War have further contributed to reinforcing these images of Asian women.^[7]

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.^[8]

Phoebe Eng wrote in her book Warrior Lessons, ^[9]

“

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.

”

But Eng does not agree that the attention that might be given to Asian women is bad. On the contrary, she calls it "liberating." ^[9]

“

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.

”

There is also a generalisation that exists among some white males, including Australian men, that Asian women are more courteous and do not complain as much as White women.^[10]

The gay slang term used for a man, usually white, who exclusively dates Asian males is "rice queen."^[11][12] In a similar manner as Asian females, gay Asian males are stereotyped as submissive.^[11]

[edit] Columbia study

In 2007 the economist Ray Fisman, in a two-year study he co-authored on dating preferences among Columbia University students, did not find evidence of a general preference among white men for Asian women. Furthermore, the study found that there is a significantly higher pairing of white men with East Asian women simply because East Asian women discriminate racially against black and hispanic men. As quoted on Slate.com, and also reported in the Washington Post [1] and The Review of Economic Studies [2] (a publication of the London School of Economics and Political Science [3] ):^[13]

“

We found no evidence of the stereotype of a white male preference for East Asian women. However, we also found that East Asian women did not discriminate against white men (only against black and Hispanic men). As a result, the white man-Asian woman pairing was the most common form of interracial dating—but because of the women's neutrality, not the men's pronounced preference. Men don't seem to discriminate based on race when it comes to dating. A woman's race had no effect on the men's choices.

”

This study was conducted over two years by psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Itamar Simonson, and economists Fisman and Emir Kamenica — all of Columbia University. They took data from "thousands of decisions made by more than 400 daters from Columbia University's various graduate and professional schools."^[14]

[edit] See also

• Asiaphile
• Interracial relationships
• Interracial marriage
• Interracial pornography
• Asian American contemporary issues
• Racist love
• Reverse Discrimination
• Yellow cab (stereotype)
• Stereotypes of Asians
• Amejo
• Sex tourism
• Ethnicity of performers in pornography

[edit] References

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