ASIAN FETISH

:''This article is not about love and/or interracial relationships. For the latter, see interracial marriage.''
'Asian fetish' is a slang term meaning the sexual preference for Asian people.

Contents

Asian fetish as a stereotyping of Asian personality traits

Use as a condemnation of interracial relationships

References

See also

External links

Asian fetish as a stereotyping of Asian personality traits

In the afterword to the 1988 play ''M. Butterfly'', the writer, David Henry Hwang, using the term "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. M. Butterfly, , David Henry, Hwang, Plume Books, 1988,
According to Sheridan Prasso, Asian fetish denotes a perceived sexual attraction favoring Asian women for their race and perceptions of their culture.^[1]
Vanessa Hue argues that there is a distinction between individuals who are attracted to Asians for those stereotypes and individuals who are attracted to Asian culture. However, some Asians do not accept the explanation of a generalized and gender-specific attraction toward Asian women, given the diversity of Asian cultures and different degrees of acculturation among Asians and Asian Americans, and the prevalence of non-gender-specific cultural differences between Asians and Asian Americans. Some Asians also argue that the interest in Asian culture is limited to the most accessible aspects of the culture such as cuisine and fashion.^[2]
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 disempowered minority.^[3]

Use as a condemnation of interracial relationships

Vicky Nam, a Korean American magazine editor, thinks that people object to the term Asian fetish as an attempt to marginalize white-Asian relationships as a type of pathology, as the term fetish connotes an obsession with a certain practice, object, physical characteristic, ethnic type, etc, that is desired compulsively and without reason.
Erika Kim, one author in an anthology written by young Asian American women, YELL-oh Girls!, , Vicky, Nam, Harper Paperbacks, 2001, feels that the concept of the Asian fetish pressured her to associate with Asian men and feel guilty about attraction to white men. Tracy Quan, a ''Salon'' sex advice columnist, believes that non-Asian men in relationships with Asian women feel pressure because of the possibility of having an Asian fetish.^[4]

References

1.
The Asian Mystique, , Sheridan, Prasso, Perseus Books, 2005,
2. We all scream for chinoiserie
3. Warrior Lessons : An Asian American Woman's Journey into Power, , Phoebe, Eng, Atria, 2000,
4. Quan, Tracy. Salon.com. "Asian fetish?" 2003. May 23, 2007. [http://www.salon.com/sex/col/quan/2003/12/04/asktracy_thur/index_np.html

See also

★ Interracial marriage

★ Rice queen

★ Asian American contemporary issues

★ Asian pride

★ Asiaphile

★ Japanophile

★ Sinophile

★ Goldsea Asian American Daily

★ Popular psychology

★ Yellow cab (stereotype)

External links

★ AMPHA | Asian Male Public Health Association (another satire website on yellow fever)

★ Asian Fetish

★
'News reports:'

★ "Facing Up to Facebook Racism", Campusprogress.org, May 24, 2005. -- News survey of campus racial bias cases. ''Accessed February 17, 2006.''

★ "AASA accuses publications of racism", Yale Daily News, April 17, 2006. ''Accessed May 3, 2006.''
'Editorials:'

★ Princeton Incident Shows Extreme Case of Asian Fetish, AsianWeek.com.

★ For Asian women, 'fetish' is less than benign, YaleDailyNews.com.

★ "The How's and Why's Behind the Fetish - Opinions of an ABC", asiazine.com.

★ "The Asian America That Can Say 'No'", Modelminority.com. (Originally published in The Daily Californian, September 9, 1991) ''Accessed February 17, 2006.''

★ "Why Do Asian Women Date White Men?", Modelminority.com. (Originally published on Usenet, April 22, 1992) ''Accessed February 17, 2006.''

★ "The Foreigner as Fetish", Salon.com, July 23, 1999. ''Accessed May 3, 2006.''

★ "The Yellow Fever Pages", Zukazuka.com, 2002. ''Accessed February 17, 2006.''

★ "Asian Fetish?", Salon.com, December 4, 2003. -- Sex-advice column. ''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 Fetishes", Punchandus.com, October/November 2005 issue. -- Humor. ''Accessed February 17, 2006.''

★ "Confessions of a 'Rice King'", The Asians in America Project, May 2005. ''Accessed June 4, 2006.''

★ "Racial preferences in the dating world", Seacoast Online, May 11, 2007. ''Accessed May 25, 2007.''

★ Deconstructing "Asian fetish" - the appeal of physical appearance and/or cultural traits, ColorQ World, ''Date Unknown''. ''Accessed June 11, 2007.''
'

★ "Asian Female Fetish Syndrome", Asiance Magazine, September 2006. ''Accessed June 11, 2007.''

★ "Yellow Fever - They got it bad, and that ain't good.", Village Voice, November 8th, 2006, ''Accessed June 11, 2007.''
'Multimedia:'

★ Yellow Fever (Video) Humorous take on its title by Asian American filmmakers

★ Some Questions for 28 Kisses (8 mins, ©1994) by hapa filmmaker Kip Fulbeck Clip (requires Quicktime plugin) Preview examines Asian fetishes