Yellow Fever | The plight of the Azn
It's been told, by many girls and boys, that I should count my lucky stars being Filipino and living in Vancouver.
...At least in the dating scene.
I've grown fairly weary of this statement. Maybe it's due to the INFINITE times I've watched the Breakfast Club during my childhood, adolescence, early, and mid-adulthood: Remember Claire and Bender?
I've always thought that love (or dating) knows no boundaries when it comes to aesthetics.
Vancouver though is a little different. There's been this epidemic running rampant in the city. Unfortunately, it's not the "zombie apocalypse," that I've been anticipating. Though, depending on how you look at it, it comes pretty close to the real deal!
For those unaware of this "Urbanized" vernacular, 'Yellow Fever' entails individuals (of the male category), being PRIMARILY attracted to another individual (I cringe at using heterosexual hegemony...but in this context, an individual of the female) and most importantly, of the ASIAN category.
It's something I've seen, over and over again around the city: A sea of banana/vanilla sundaes.
Don't get me wrong. This isn't a femi-rant or lecture on why men should look beyond the superficial and date someone for their character (...in my opinion, that's straight common sense).
Consider this more of an observation (an expository piece if you will), of the thoughts and theories that surround this ongoing phenomenon.
Albeit, your source of humor for the day.
Also, for me to state that I'm an exception of this trend, would be a big fat lie. While I'd like to think that the gwailo-ness of boyfriend (both past and current), is PURELY COINCIDENTAL, apparently, it's a "thing."
I proactively sought out reasons for why this is #trending in Vancouver. These were the unscientific reasons why:
(1) "I'm big on their hair. There's something about it being long and silky:" While it's flattering to hear these words lobbing off a man's mouth, the tragic truth is that hair is hair. I'm fairly certain that if my non-Asian, dark-haired friend and I stood side-to-side with our backs towards a male, our ethnicity would be undecipherable. Having a long "flowing" mane isn't all rainbows and butterflies. It often has a mind of it's own and swallows everything in its path. It also has the ability to get in the way of many affectionate activities. Dare I say, it's a potential clam-jam.
(2) "Skin is soft as a baby's bottom:" While growing body hair -conveniently- takes an eternity, I put in work for baby soft skin. That entails drinking plenty of water, exercising, detoxing, and if need be, violently scrubbing myself with an industrial grade sugar scrub WITH an exfoliating glove. Ladies, if you want to know my beauty secret: there you have it.
(3) "You look exotic:" I look like a 25 year-old version of Dora the Explorer. I guess that's a "thing" too now.
*DANGEROUS* ASSUMPTION OF SUBMISSIVE BEHAVIOR
It's not like I have a large label across my forehead that states "Oh, white man, please colonize me."
Let's get with the times here, that's fairly passe.
Most Asian women my age are either first or second generation Canadians. Meaning, we have fairly Western-left Wing and progressive values when it comes to gender-specific roles.
Not to mention, our experiences have made us critical of what is and isn't patronizing of gender biases.
...also, Beyonce taught us a thing or two about how to Run the World.
So men of Vancouver, thank-you for loving the Yellow. But just know, that there's more than one color on the Rainbow, and they are just as beautiful.
