Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Sex and Racism


Western representation of the female gender of the East has often been misrepresented as inferior and cloaked in the mystery of sexual eroticism. With the obsession of chinoiserie and japonisme in Europe in the late 17th and 19th century respectively, Asia, especially Asian women have become a hot commodity for artists and writers to perpetuate this man-made Asiatic fantasy. In America, the Euro-American perception of Asians, specifically the Chinese, was already tainted by the European concoction of Orientalism but they still cast their own Orientalist veil on their perception through which they saw the Chinese and interpreted their culture even before a large group of Chinese people immigrated to the American soil in mid-19th century. This primordial impression of the Chinese undoubtedly contributed to the shaping of American racist attitudes toward Asians and permeated the ethnocentric consciousness of Americans even before the first group of Chinese immigrants arrived.

This is how Asians got their first start in America.

But that was a long time ago. How does this really affect me now? In defense of America, I have to say that America has been very kind to me for the most part. Racist attitudes weren't very apparent to me as an Asian woman and if I detected them, they were very subtle, underhanded and infrequent. (Although my perceived-image associated with racial stereotypes as an Asian woman might be a totally different story.) Racism exists in America but I never felt heavily burdened by its presence.

Ironically, it is in Korea that I see a more pronounced, in-your-face ethnocentric American attitude toward Asian women that makes me want to puke. But I do realize that this idiocy is helped not only by the media's misconstrued portrayal of Asian women (think Lucy Liu, Ziyi Zhang, Sandra Oh, and other Asian actresses on TV--they are all made to exude the image of I-wanna-have-sex-with-you.) but also by the Asian corporations and Asian women themselves.

I recently saw an Asian airline ad in The New York Times with a beautiful Asian flight attendant with the banner "I just want to listen." These Asian corporations are commercializing these "idealized", subservient images of Asian women to target white men, thereby feeding and completing the supply and demand circle.

I think economical, and political strength of a nation reflects the personality of its citizens. I suspect that some Korean women, even with the dizzying speed of Korea's economic growth, feel that by being with an American, they have turned their socio-economic knob up a notch. These women perpetuate the myth that any Asian women will do anything to hook up with an American to get a second chance at life and reinforces the ridiculous idea that white American men are superior and more desirable. Yes, some American men (especially the military ones in Korea) are idiots and sometimes I want to sit them down and yell at them using $50 words to make them feel infinitely stupid and kick them in the balls but there are also Asian women who play the part of an innocent, stupid geisha just like Madame Butterfly. It resurrects the century-old Orientalist view of Asian women. It's a maddening thing.

And I am sure, when these American men go back to the States, they will harbor the same kind of racial superiority when they encounter Asian and Asian-American women. It is sickening that I, along with numerous intelligent, independent, strong women, am numbered among these stereotypical geishas if not consciously, subconsciously.(And I strongly believe that our racist attitudes are much more subconscious than conscious.)

The truth is that Asian fantasy has been created by western men and is perpetuated by both western and eastern cultures alike. And I am helpless in changing it and it frustrates me to no end.

5 comments:

  1. Hannah, I totally and completely agree and feel the same way. I would say that I see exactly the same thing, and experience the same, and the fact that I am a shorter Asian (not having changed much since I was 15), I also get the pedophilic glares and am really disgusted by white men in their 50s asking me to a cup of coffee, I when I could easily pass for an 18-21 year-old depending on the day. "I'm not going to serve you, and you have nothing to offer me" is my attitude. I also want to puke when randoms add me on facebook and their friendlist consists of all Asian girls.(Really?) And you really have a point--the fact that Asian women today still feed the fantasy by dating seemingly random white men, but not out of love. Of course I don't know the details of every story, but one can draw very simple conclusions when you see a young, flashy, attractive Asian woman with a nerdy, sloppy, average-looking white guy. Money? Green card? Social status? (although i doubt it would help if he looks like he wears the internet suncreen of SPF 8000)

    There are quite a few Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipina women in Germany who are often seen with some average German guy. Some of the women come here to work and then ended up staying b/c their employer fancied them. It is rare that you see a "well-matched couple" that appear to share similar interests and/or lifestyle. And that irritates me because now people here might assume I'm like these other fobby girls who hook up with any white guy. You know what? The whole submissive Asian thing is just irritating, because even Asian guys expect me to be quiet and submissive. It's not like I'm belching in public or starting spats with homeless people, but my personality is 'too much' for them. This generation has to work hard to show that we are nice but not pushovers, and powerful but not b*tchy, and intelligent but not exclusive to just math. If we can't spread this worldwide, it's at least worth it to educate those u know and meet.

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  2. Thanks for posting this, Hannah, and Errissa for your followup comment.
    I've thought about this a great deal since moving to Asia, and it's nice to hear the perspective of an Asian-American on the matter. I have few conclusions to add that you didn't touch on, except this:
    recently while discussing this with my female Chinese colleague, I remarked that the guys in these relationships are often balding, overweight or, at the very least, completely average-looking men with gorgeous, well-dressed, young Asian women. My colleague said, "Oh really?! Because when we see those couples, we often think, 'Why did that foreigner choose such an ugly Chinese girl?'"
    Just another perspective.

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  3. I agree with you Errissa. We can't change the world but we can initiate a dialogue to increase awareness of the issue! We need to be loud about it!

    Laura: I really would like to sit those Chinese girls down and say "Well, she may not be Miss Hong Kong but he ain't no Ken either! Are you freakin' out of your mind?!"

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  4. Jeremy has had some interesting comments thrown at him regarding his Asian wife. When he tells his friends about the nice things I do, some of his friends make comments like, "That's because she's Asian." or "Man, next time, I'm getting myself an Asian wife!" It ticks him off, and he finds himself having to defend my character in order to break down their stereotypical views of Asian women.

    Another food for thought: I once saw a youtube video (which was intended to be jocular but I thought it had some truth to it) made by a male Chinese college student who was trying to figure out why he couldn't get white girls interested in him and why Asian girls preferred to date white guys (hence depleting his dating pool). He came to the conclusion that Asian girls (he was referring to Asian-American girls) preferred white men not because they are superior but because they are more confident in pursuing their women of interest while Asian guys are culturally more shy when it comes to courting. Yes, some of these white men may be after Asian women in hopes of finding a submissive creature underneath her skin while these women have no intention (even subconsciously) of giving them such satisfaction. However, by dating men with such hopes, these women are allowing their suitors to learn who they are as a person rather than as a stereotype. Not that these women are dating such men with the intention of breaking down these stereotypes, but, perhaps in the process of the interracial dating game, stereotypes will slowly be dispersed. We can always hope.

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  5. Your post reads "Some Korean women feel that by being with an American, they have turned their socio-economic knob up a notch." This may be true among some Korean Americans living in America, but Korean Koreans' views are very different from it as far as I know. Most Korean Koreans feel being with a non-Korean including a white American is rather a thing of undermined class and thus not desirable. This kind of Korean Koreans' views in fact create added stress to the ones who're in such relationships that their non-Korean spouse's professional and financial status has to be notable to make up for it.

    Another thing I have to say is that as a Korean Korean living in the States, getting the added attention in general due to my being an Asian woman has been working positively for me. I can perfectly understand the stereotypical perceptions described in your writing of Asian women, but at the same time, the benefitting side of it that I've been personally experiencing can't be compared with the negative aspects of it.

    I grew up in Korea and it puts me in a different category from other Asian women having born and lived all along in the States, but hopfully the readers find my perspective interesting.

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