Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Saranghae honey (talk | contribs) at 07:44, 24 December 2007 (→Controversy: ce). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The topic of this article may not meet Misplaced Pages's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Asian fetish" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (November 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Asian fetish is when people of Asian descent, typically females, are "objectified and valued not for who they are as people, but for their race or perceptions of their culture". This objectification is usually sexual in nature.

To some Asian fetish is not a fetish at all. "Some say Asian fetish' is just a harmless preference for specific physical characteristics, such as narrow eyes and flatter noses, as harmless as some people's preference for dating, say, fatter partners."

Stereotyping of Asian personality traits

In the afterword to the 1988 play M. Butterfly, the writer, David Henry Hwang, using the term "yellow fever,", a pun on the disease yellow fever, discusses white men with a "fetish" for Asian women. Hwang argues that this phenomenon is caused by stereotyping of Asians in Western society.

Media studies

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.

Asian fetish as a cause of crime

While many consider an Asian fetish as a benign phenomenon that does not need to be taken seriously, some Asian American authors and activists claim that the proclivity has dangerous implications . There are critics of the negative connotations of Asian fetish that claim that Asian fetish is a harmless behavior or preference. Although some Asian women view it as harmful, others find it empowering .

There are those who claim that Asian fetish is the cause of sex crimes targeting Asian American woman. In an article in AsianWeek, author Lisa Wong writes:

Asian American women across the country are outraged and disgusted by the arrest of a Princeton student two weeks ago for harassing fellow Asian women students. Many believe the incident is symptomatic of larger problems, including stereotypes and the exotification of Asian women.

Sex tourism

Prostitution in Thailand and prostitution in the Philippines is largely supported by men with Asian fetish. Trafficking in human beings is needed to support these industries.

Adoption of Asian babies

Salon Magazine published an essay, "Identity crisis", by an adopted Korean girl. She describes being very much aware that her mother has an Asian fetish and that this was part of the reason why she was adopted.

Controversy

Bloodhound Gang an American alternative band, wrote and performed a song entiltled "Yellow Fever", which caused controversy within the Asian-American community.

OC Weekly caused a lot of controversy after publishing an article, "Yellow Fever - They got it bad, and that ain't good." This article was also published in "The Village Voice".

Sandra Fey defines what she calls the "Asian Female Fetish Syndrome" and indicate that it can be avoided by Asian females by dating Asian men.

In 2006, Rumpus Magazine published an article entitled "Me Love You Long Time" which was panned for emasculating Asian men while portraying Asian women as promiscuous. After protests from Asian American Students Alliance at Yale University, 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."

University of Virginia students were criticized for their Facebook group "Americans for the Increased Importation of Asian Women." While they stated that the group was intended as a joke, the group was eventually renamed to "Americans Who Value Females of Asian Descent" after pressure from the university.

In an article published on ModelMinority.com, "Asian Women, Caucasian Men", it was revealed that some non-Asian men pursued Asian females because they "were into their appearance - and stereotypes about how they treat men." The article referred to a "feminist backlash" that drove Caucasian men away from Caucasian women. Some non-Asian women referred to "Asian fetish" as an "inability of men to have intimate relationships with women they see as equals."

Asian preferences in dating

"Racial Preferences in Dating," a study published in the Review of Economic Studies, found no evidence of the stereotype of a white male preference for East Asian women in dating. The study found East Asian women, who generally prefer East Asian men, do not discriminate against white men, but often discriminate against black and Hispanic men. As a result, the white man-Asian woman pairing was the most common form of interracial dating found.

Opinion that Asian fetish is not all bad

Phoebe Eng has argued that not all Asians feel that Asian fetish is bad, since it has given new sexual visibility and liberation to an otherwise invisible and disadvantaged minority. Asian American writers such as Erika Kim and Tracy Quan have written that the term is used to condemn interracial relationships between white men and Asian women.

References

1. Prasso, Sheridan (2005). "'Race-ism,' Fetish, and Fever". The Asian Mystique. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. pp. 132–164, 141. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors=, |chapterl=, and |month= (help)
2. Deconstructing 'Asian fetish' - the appeal of physical appearance and/or cultural traits
3. Hwang, David Henry (1988). "Afterward". M. Butterfly. New York: Plume Books. pp. p. 98. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
4. Gender & Society, Vol. 16, No. 5, 689-709 (2002) DOI: 10.1177/089124302236992 © 2002 Sociologists for Women in Society
5. Wong Macabasco, Lisa (Apr 29, 2005). "Princeton Incident Shows Extreme Case of Asian Fetish". Asian Week. pp. 115–142.
6. Kim, Sallie and Stockdale, Shannon (April 14, 2005). "For Asian Women, 'Fetish' is Less Than Benign". The Yale Daily News.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. ^ Eng, Phoebe (2000). "She Takes Back Desire". Warrior Lessons : An Asian American Woman's Journey into Power. New York: Atria. pp. 115–142.
8. Prasso, Sheridan (2005). "'Race-ism,' Fetish, and Fever". The Asian Mystique. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. pp. 262–295, 307–317. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors=, |chapterl=, and |month= (help)
9. Sherer, Theresa Pinto. "Identity crisisSlate magazine (2001-11-29). Retrieved on 2001-11-29.
10. Lee, Tom. AsianWeek "Bloodhound Gang Draws fans and Protesters to Fillmore" June 1, 2000
11. ^ Chang, Vickie. "Yellow Fever - They got it bad, and that ain't goodOC Weekly (2007-11-02). Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
12. Fey, Sandra. "Asian Female Fetish SyndromeAsiance Magazine (2007-09-04).
13. Macbeth, Cullen. "AASA accuses publications of racismYale Daily News (2006-04-17).
14. Rao, Mythili. "Facing Up to Facebook Racism Campusprogress.org (2005-05-24).
15. Walsh, Joan. "Asian Women, Caucasian Men modelminority.com (2002-04-22).
16. Fisman, Raymond. "An Economist Goes to a BarSlate magazine (2007-11-07). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
17. Fisman,Raymond; Iyengar, Sheena S.; Kamenica, Emir; Simonson, Itamar. "Racial Preferences in Dating". 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
18. Nam, Vicky (2001). YELL-oh Girls!. Harper Paperbacks. pp. p. 207. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
19. Quan, Tracy. Salon.com. 2003. May 23, 2007. "Asian fetish?"

See also

• Asian American contemporary issues
• Asiaphile
• Rice queen
• Yellow cab (stereotype)
• Mail-order bride
• Sex crimes against Asian women in the United States
• Prostitution in Thailand
• Prostitution in the Philippines
• Korean adoptee
• Anna Mae He affair

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.
• "Sex and the Campus Case 6: Attack of Yellow Fever", The Harbus Online, January 26, 2004. -- Op-ed piece from Harvard student newspaper. 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.

• Articles with topics of unclear notability from October 2007
• Asian American issues
• Race
• Sexual fetishism