a thread on Asian fetishization & its impact on media portrayal of Asian women; written out of frustration.

before i start, i need to bring attention to the fact southeast/east Asians are more privileged than dark-skinned/south Asians, & we must continue fighting for equality within the umbrella term of "Asian."

i would like to provide a possible explanation for why the media never writes about sierra's career when talking about her, & why they always trivialize her & luke's relationship as a "fling".

the term "yellow fever" is a racist, degrading phrase that is used by non-Asian people who have sexual preferences for Asian people, particularly non-Asian men towards Asian women. it stems from the heavily normalized act of objectifying Asian culture & femininity.

*it is also important to know that "yellow fever" also refers to the fetishization of Asian men. also, "yellow fever" is racist as a term bc it's obviously referring to the "yellow skin" of east Asians, when in reality, not all Asians are light-skinned.

Asian women are seen as exotic, dainty, tiny, something rare, etc. but rarely are they ever portrayed as equals or even just human. they're hypersexualized, & in the eyes of the male gaze, just sex objects. it's disgusting & not discussed & called out enough.

often times, people will use the excuse "i just know what i like" to defend their fetish for Asian women. but "having a type" is no longer valid when you start objectifying women based off of their race as well as gender stereotypes.

the fetishization of Asian women can be traced back to the era surrounding the opium war, where the western world was introduced to the region of Asia. patricia park writes in "the madame butterfly effect" how Asian customs of fashion & beauty were seen as exotic by the west.

park uses the Japanese geisha as an example—their decorative dress & elaborate makeup were twisted into a sex symbol for the male gaze. to this day, Asian women are still seen as submissive, timid, and/or objects by much of society, when it shouldn't be acceptable at all.

so how does this play into modern media? bc Asian women are still seen as weak counterparts to men, it's become difficult for people to separate them from that stereotype. white feminism continues to prevent Asian women, as well as many other woc, from having a seat at the table.

how often do you see news outlets write about feminism from the view of a non-white woman? you only ever see the media praising a white woman as the spearhead of the newest online feminist movement. the media will preach intersectionality while only magnifying white voices.

i'm going to get to the point. my theory is that the reason why sierra is only ever mentioned as a girlfriend or summer fling, rather than a successful artist, is bc of the underlying, dormant but effective objectification of Asian women in society.

look at this headline. the misogyny is blatant, but the racism isn't. using the word "reveals" when talking about a white man in relation to his Vietnamese gf not only objectifies her, but also shows that to the media, she is still just a counterpart, not her own individual.

sure, later in the article, dailymail refers to sierra as a singer-songwriter, but it's obvious that title is only used to prevent repetition of the word "girlfriend." nothing more is said about her. her career is stated like an afterthought, & it's not okay.

mind you, these two ss were from the SAME ARTICLE. can you spot the difference between how the media treats the white woman vs the Asian woman? →

+ now i'm not saying the crystal doesn't deserve to have her career mentioned. both women have perfectly fine, commendable jobs. it's the fact that the media sees sierra as an object first rather than a person. & she doesn't deserve that.

the normalization of Asian fetishization as well as the objectification of women is causing the media to constantly deny sierra the recognition she deserves as an extremely successful singer-songwriter. she's not an afterthought. she's a person, & deserves to be treated as such.

from a bigger picture pov, the objectification of Asian women—& the objectification of any other race—is halting the progress intersectional feminism NEEDS to make. it needs to stop, & we need to start calling it out when we see it.

so i ask of you to take away from this thread not only my explanation, but also the incentive to look for racist rhetoric in articles like the ones i referenced. teach yourself how to identify it, & call it out when you see people pushing woc down & degrading them.

this fanbase overlooks racism terrifyingly easily, & i'm sure many people who read this thread will go on to continue to invalidate poc experiences. we need to start calling out & educating people on their privilege.

sources used:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-give-up-on-trying-to-explain-why-the-fetishization-of-asian-women-is-bad_n_5a6a34e7e4b01fbbefaff9a2
https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/the-madame-butterfly-effect-asian-fetish-history-pop-culture

if you read this entire thread, thank you! i don't know if any of it made any sense but i'm just so angry w the way the media treats woc. if i worded anything offensively or inaccurately, pls lmk & i will address it!