// some talk about fetishization of asian women, and why it’s really not flattering in any sense. rambles. nothing good. gonna go to sleep now wah
In my home city my family is part of the local Chinese Community 中华协会, my dad is super active and always running between volunteering and fundraisers and helping out the community etc. and putting on events to promote our culture and give the children of the community a place to learn about their roots. They know most of the people there, my city isn’t very large, and most people are regulars although some come and go. They also host wechat groups to help newcomers settle down, get citizenships, learn English, etcetera.
There’s a pretty large trend of young women straight from somewhere in China who are brought over by rich, older white dudes from the city, stranded, and although I’m sure people ‘fall in love’ despite language barriers and age and all that or whatever, but this trend (and trend of these women being manipulated with their lack of English ability) is very um. Interesting and common. Sometimes they come to the community for help, when their husband makes them sign things they can’t read, when their husbands die and leave them with nothing and they can’t hire a lawyer alone without knowing the language.
This happens in SEA and parts of east asia, I admit I only really know a bit about the stuff that happens in China because I’m very aware of it I guess, there are a lot of white expats who go there and are treated better than even the locals. Expats who go and pick up Asian girls exist, and maybe it’s not ‘harmful’, but their view of Asian women that causes a lot of them to specifically go there and target Asian women sure are. Way too many seem to go on to become that ‘libertarian guy with his submissive asian wife’ trope, and they’re way too proud of it. It’s not great being a trophy, either.
Weeb guys and fetishizers are pretty common over here in Canada and the US. I’m definitely not the only asian women who’s been harassed or taken advantage of by ‘I just really like asian girls... wanna watch anime with me?’ guys, it’s depressingly common from what I know. Sooner or later you bump into them. They’re creepy and predatory, there’s a few reasons it’s not ‘just a preference’ but one big thing I will cite is that there’s a strangely pedophilic slant to it, our perceived smaller stature and ‘baby face’ and ‘innocence’ is highlighted (even tho it doesnt?? exist???) and we are infantilized in the process of being racialized. There’s nothing flattering about your race being relegated to this, even if ‘feminized’ doesn’t sound that bad, it’s made us the target of violence and abuse, and predators who specifically seek out asian girls at a very young age.
The peak of this fetishization is seen in Mdm Butterfly, or more accurately, Miss Saigon. The asian men who’ve been denied masculinity and humanity are relegated to seedy and lowly and weak, the asian women are turned into mindless sexualized objects in need of saving or existing to represent exotic sexuality, an entire group of people deprived of humanity, and that results in (and is then informed by) reality. The US army marched in to ‘liberate’ Korea, but many comfort women were not liberated, they were just turned over to serve the US troops. You see this happen time and time again in US occupied places, Vietnam, sexpats in SEA, violence against women around military bases in Japan and S. Korea is more common. In Asia, the soldiers dispatched there are trained to mow down asian people in general, and sexualize + dehumanize asian women.
Before all this, in Mdm Butterfly and all associated media, its the repetition of asian men as weak and demasculinized and lowly, and asian women as pining submissive lotuses in need of saving, or exotically seductive dragonesses. And then, of course, there’s cyberpunk, where asian aesthetics are plastered all over the place, and asian presence is removed except for in sex workers to be placed around like decoration, underground, and usually one single heavily sexualized asian woman, the violence against whom is glamourized and sexualized.
This isn’t flattering, it’s not fun, and I’d not experience it if I had the choice. Accusations of being DESPERATE to be oppressed are always interesting to me for that reason, especially because it usually comes from white people? yeah idk man