The Sexualisation of Asian Women

The recent terrorist attacks in Atlanta has highlighted a prevalent but highly concealed and unaddressed racial issue in our society — the sexualisation of Asian women. The killer’s association of his sexual addiction with Asian massage parlours is enough to conclude that the attacks were racially motivated. I don’t need to hear any more explanations justifying how the attacks were not.

In this article, I will dig deeper into the issue relating back to my own personal experiences. I will trace back to some of the histories that have spurred on Asian fetishism and highlight examples of where mainstream media in the Western world clearly sexualises Asian women. I will then discuss some of the ways in which we could all help tackle this deep-rooted issue which has always been there but seldom talked about.

I hope if you are an Asian woman reading this that you do realise how strong and powerful you are in this world. We should not succumb to others’ judgments. We should not let others put us down.

1. The issue from my own personal experience

I have often wondered why some of the men I have dated exclusively went out with Asian women. I didn’t shy away from asking about this and have heard a whole host of explanations. ‘Asian women are exotic.’ ‘Asian women are more pleasing to the eye.’ ‘Asian women tend to have less attitude.’ ‘I am just more attracted to Asian women’s dark hair and brown eyes.’ ‘I love the mystique of Asian women.’ Of course, as individuals, we all have our own preferences but I did wonder whether these men dated me primarily because I am Asian and they assumed that I would exhibit certain features. My other qualities are not so important.

A lot of the time, the same men show little interest in understanding the variety of cultures, traditions and values Asian countries have. I have used the term ‘Asian’ very loosely here — the historical examples I refer to below are set in mainly South East Asian countries but the term includes the various ethnicities all of which are incredibly culturally diverse. I am half Chinese and Vietnamese and although I was born in the UK, this often gets overlooked. Yes, I was formally educated in the UK but my parents and grandparents have embedded principles deep inside of me that I will carry for the rest of my life. However, for a lot of these men, the fact that I fall within the general superficial category of being Asian carries much greater weight. There are so many differences between us as individuals yet some of the men I have dated have treated me as part of one large monochrome group.

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Outside the realm of dating, I can tell how Asian women have been sexualised just by walking down the street. I have personally experienced this in the UK and when visiting countries overseas from when I was a teenager at school. Men have thrown remarks at me such as: ‘Konichiwa sexy!’ ‘China, China!’ ‘Massage for one dollar!’ ‘Me love you long time!’ ‘Chink!’ ‘Asian sket!’ ‘Ching Chong!’ Men have made slanted eye gestures at me. Men have asked me to perform sexual acts for sums of money, referring to their thoughts of how ‘tight’ I am down there. Men have tried to touch me without permission, clearly thinking that I am less likely and capable to resist.

In one or two relationships, I have experienced men making both subtle and unsubtle advances to other Asian women — this possibly raises a separate issue of infidelity but nonetheless, I have experienced strong feelings of disrespect.

I know that many Asian women have been subject to similar and even more degrading treatment and it really upsets me to think about this. In the context of the Atlanta case, it is clear to me that the sexualisation of Asian women has caused the killer to carry out abysmal acts. We must do our best to prevent this in society going forwards.

2. History and the Media

The sexualisation of Asian women has been around for quite some time not just in Western history but in Eastern history. Concubinage has long existed in China before the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) where women were formally recognised as sexual partners of a man and were expected to bear children for him. In China during the Tang Dynasty, foot-binding was a practice carried out on young girls from three years of age to make their feet as small as possible solely because small feet were considered an attractive quality to men. It was an excruciatingly painful practice that disabled and maimed the feet of millions of girls and women in China for centuries. The role of geishas in Japan originated from “serving girls” (saburuko) jobs in the past where girls were used to pour sake and entertain customers, sometimes sexually.

Asian women have endured the most horrific and unimaginable crimes which to this day is widely unknown to most people due to the lack of education and cover-up attempts. “Comfort women” were women who were forced to be sex slaves by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied areas before and during the Second World War. Through reading and watching the various accounts of survivors, in particular accounts compiled in the book titled ‘Rape of Nanking,’ I was shocked and disgusted to learn about the indescribable actions committed by Japanese army officials — an estimated 200,000 comfort women suffered from repeated rapes, extreme physical torture and beatings at “comfort stations” set up across the occupied areas. My words here undermine the pure evilness manifested under the regime. Many of the comfort women never received justice.

In Western history, the sexualisation of Asian women can be traced back to when trade routes started to open up between the West and East which facilitated the collection of oriental artifacts. (I am aware that oriental artifacts were also looted during this period and that there is a lot of debate about whether items should be returned to the country of origin.) From reading French writer Pierre Loti’s 1887 novel, Madam Chrysanthèm, it appears to me that the notion of collecting also extends to collecting Asian women — the naval officer travels to Nagasaki and takes a temporary wife who he desires to be a “little, creamy-skinned woman with black hair and cat’s eyes. She must be pretty and not much bigger than a doll.” “Graceful,” “dainty, “slim,” “little,” “delicate hands,” “miniature feet,” “natural skin of deep yellow” are just some of the words and phrases used to depict Japanese women. Puccini’s famous opera which I have seen many times, Madam Butterfly, tells a similar story of a white American man taking a temporary wife in Japan, only to return to the West to legitimately marry an American woman. From watching Madam Butterfly, I can feel the pain and turmoil of the Japanese wife — she sacrifices everything including her family, her son, her religion and eventually her own life to be with him yet he sacrifices nothing in return.

This story repeats itself in another form in the famous musical, Miss Saigon, the setting of the plot being in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the spectacles of the opera and musical however I cannot help but think deeply about why the Asian women were shown to be victims in both storylines yet the American men simply got away.

A key scene that sticks out for me in Miss Saigon is the scene set in the nightclub Dreamland — as per the image above, scantily dressed Asian women erotically dance around the American soldiers and there is a prize for a “Miss Saigon,” the hottest of them all. Just take a look at the lyrics to the track, ‘The Heat is On” and you can tell how derogatory the lyrics are to Asian women, referring to the women as slits.

“The heat is on in Saigon, the girls are hotter ’n’ hell one of these slits here will be Miss Saigon.”

If we step out of the comforts of the West End theatre venue for a moment and imagine what life is like back then as a woman who was forced to be a sex worker in such conditions, will we be happily flirting and dancing with those who have just invaded our country? Will we say the phrases below as featured in the lyrics?

“See my bikini, it’s just the right size. Don’t you enjoy how it rides up my thighs? Look from behind, it’ll knock out your eyes. I’ll show you my special trophy of war. For a marine, I’ll show more.”

The likely answer is no. The show completely glosses over the fact that many of the Asian women were forced into providing prostitution services in such dingy bars and brothels, created solely to serve the American soldiers.

In ‘Full Metal Jacket,’ a film by Stanley Kubrick which follows American soldiers in the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese female prostitute utters to them, “Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky.” Perhaps this explains why I have heard similar phrases when walking down the street.

The US military presence in Asia beginning in the Second World War then continuing through the Korean and Vietnam Wars is arguably one of the greatest causes of sexualisation of Asian women in the West. The history is dark and often concealed. For example, ask how many people know about the My Lai Massacre carried out by American soldiers during the Vietnam War? The My Lai Massacre involved the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers. As part of the massacre, American soldiers also committed acts of mass rape and sexual abuse towards Vietnamese women. The massacre has been acknowledged as a military atrocity, however less so as a series of acts of mass rape and sexual abuse.

By re-interpreting history, and painting false and stereotypical images of Asian women in the media, we risk being ignorant to the abhorrent events that have gone on in the past and go on even to this day. Today, sex tourism continues in many Asian countries — although some women choose to perform sex work as a means to survive, many are still forced and as a result, enslaved.

3. Moving forwards

Historical entrenchment and the media are partly to blame for the continuing issue of the sexualisation of Asian women— the ignorance, the lack of willingness to learn about the variety of cultures, traditions and values, the lack of respect for women in general, as well as sheer arrogance play a much greater part.

• Stop making assumptions that all Asian women as well as men have identical features, personalities, eat the same food, have the same socio-economic backgrounds and live the same experiences. If you cannot help but make certain assumptions, ask yourself critically where these assumptions come from.
• Stop fetishising Asian women. We are people with feelings, not sexual objects. Think about it from a woman’s perspective — would you like to be treated in such a way? Imagine if you had a daughter, would you like your daughter to be treated in such a way or do you want her to have the best treatment she deserves?
• Stop with the rude Asian stereotypes. We have had enough with the demeaning comments and gestures. I get deeply embarrassed by those who make these as it displays pure ignorance.
• Be interested and open to learning about the variety of Asian cultures, traditions and values. Be interested and open to learning more about the individual — race forms a part of someone’s identity but it is not the only part. There are many different aspects to someone’s identity.
• Be conscious and supportive of those around you. If you see a racist attack, try to stop it. Try to make people see how unacceptable it is. If your friend is upset, make sure that you take some time to listen to their feelings. Tell them that you are there for them and be there for them.
• Do take the time to share social media posts about the issue — raising awareness helps others who may not be ordinarily exposed (for example because they don’t live in communities where there are Asian people), understand more about the issue. There are many organisations set up such as Hate is a Virus, Asian and Pacific Islander Woman Lead, Dear Asian Youth, Diet Prada etc. sharing very thought-provoking and educational social media posts. Follow to learn more about the issue and how you could help. Raise awareness at work.
• Speak up. I no longer walk silently past a man who chooses to say something derogatory to me. I will let a man know if he disrespects me. I will speak about my opinions and feelings more openly without too much concern for what others might think.

The above shows a number of examples of how we can help tackle the issue together — education is vital to breaking down stereotypes and biases but in order to be educated, we need to be open-minded. I deep down hope that there would be no more prejudice and violence against a certain group of people in society solely based on their race and gender. We should learn from the atrocious events and practices that have taken place in the past, making sure that the issue has no place in our future.

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