The Fetishization of East Asian Women
- bubblepuffizcool
- Jul 13, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14, 2022
By: Sarah Ahmad
There are a lot of stereotypes associated with East Asian women. East Asian women are viewed as docile, hypersexual, submissive, subservient, quiet, hyper-feminine, and weak. But where do these stereotypes come from? Why do countless pieces of media see East Asian women this way? Why can it lead to violence? The fetishization of East Asian women is due to historical legislation, war, and media.
The Page Act and Orientalism
The fetishization of East Asian women goes way back. Historically, Chinese workers came to the United States to help build railroads. There was a wave of Chinese men trying to bring their wives to the U.S. But, they faced an obstacle. The Page Act of 1865 was a law that prohibited Chinese women from immigrating to the United States based on the premise that Chinese women were ¨immoral¨ and ¨lewd¨. The U.S government perceived Chinese women as prostitutes and were worried they would corrupt American men. The Page Act of 1865 promoted an attitude that Chinese women were hyper-sexual beings. To dig deeper into why East Asian women are sexualized we have to look into orientalism. According to author Edward Said ¨Bodies of the east are always represented in opposition to the west.¨ So if we take that ideology of the east and west always opposing each other, if the west is strong, then the east is weak. If the west is rational, then the east is irrational. And if the west is masculine, then the east is feminine. The idea that the east is weak and feminine is a widespread idea that negatively affects East Asians.
Media
One piece of media that popularized these stereotypes is ¨Madame Chrysanthème¨. “Madame Chrysanthème” (1887) is a novel-diary about a French naval officer stationed in Japan whose sole goal is to find a doll-like Japanese wife to amuse him, only to unceremoniously leave her when it’s time to return to Europe. “Madame Chrysanthème has inspired over 3 decades of other adaptations. All renditions carry the same characteristic, a submissive docile East Asian women. One rendition of this French novel ¨Miss Saigon¨(1989) sold 4.4 million presale tickets. Over 4 million people are being fed the wrong inaccurate stereotypes about East Asian women. It’s not only ¨Madame Chrysanthème¨, but modern-day media also pushes harmful stereotypes about East Asian women. ¨Comedian¨ Amy Schumer made a comment on how she couldn’t compete with Asian women because Asian women are good at math, they have “naturally silky hair,” they cover their mouths modestly when they laugh “’cause they know men hate when women speak.” People like Amy Schumer unconsciously push negative stereotypes against East Asian women. Another form of media that perpetuates unreal stereotypes is porn. Just a quick visit to pornography sites and categories like ¨Japanese¨, ¨Hentai¨, ¨Asian¨, and¨Korean¨ pop-up. The sole fact that a whole nationality like ¨ Japanese ¨ is a category is disturbing.
War
The American occupation of the U.S in the east during the Korean and Vietnam wars contributed to the image of the sexualized East Asian women. Brothels popped up around U.S military bases and an industry called ¨juicy bars¨ emerged where the sole purpose of the brothels was to sleep with U.S soldiers. So impressionable young soldiers who have only had minimal to no encounters with East Asian women were coming back from war with the notion of East Asian women as hypersexual subservient beings, therefore pushing the stereotypes of East Asian women.
Violence
The sexualization of East Asian women can be lethal. In the Atlanta Spa shooting in 2021, a white man murdered 8 people. 6 being East Asian women. The man who murdered these women claimed he was not motivated by racism but insisted he had a ¨sex addicton¨ and wanted to get rid of his temptations. The inference of this statement is beyond disgusting. The vile notion that East Asian females are so hypersexual and dangerous and tempting that they had to be MURDERED? The dehumanization East Asian women face leads to violence. 41-61 percent of Asian women report physical/sexual violence by their partner. Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased 339% as of last year. East Asian women have become victims to widespread spread of stereotypes.
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