The problem I always have with articles like this, and this, is how they accept, and are many times built entirely around, the premise that there is a special, unparalleled longing in the West for Asian women. When talking about sexual attraction, for example, there is no other ethnic group for whom a special fixation is called a “fetish.” For everybody else, the person has “a thing” or is “into [insert ethnic group here].”
I think this distinction is telling. What the prominent use of the word “fetish” implies is that a specific attraction to Asian women constitutes not just a strange attraction, but a kind of perversion. After all, the term “fetish” applies to an object or nongenital body part that induces an erotic response. So the term reduces Asian women to inherently nonsexual entities. It is only the perversion of the “fetishist” that turns these women into valid targets of sexual attraction.
However, I think this Jezebel article about Kari Ferrell (the “hipster grifter”), oddly enough (for a purportedly feminist blog), plays into this line of thinking most gratuitously. Sadie, the author of the piece, first seeks out Asian-American women to corroborate the claim that white hipsters in NYC are “loathsome Asian fetishists.” This is supposed to give the argument credibility. And then she proceeds to outline the stereotype this “fetishism” is based on: the supposed meekness, submissiveness, and passivity of Asian women. And then she argues that the “hipster grifter” must have played into these stereotypes as part of her fraudulent methods.
Of course, what’s completely obvious from everything we know about Kari Ferrell is that she was none of these things. She was said to have been extremely brash and sexually aggressive, coming on to men with lines about blowjobs and throwing “hotdogs” down her “hallway.” Heaven forbid that some of them may have taken her up on it! Also, she was noted to have become extremely stalkerish—even scarily so—once she made headway in a small circle of friends. In other words, she was the exact opposite of the meek, submissive, passive Asian female stereotype. And even though much of the information contradicting this interpretation is present in the very same article, Sadie insists on pushing it, seemingly unable to see these contradictions at work.
I think this is becoming one of the last “acceptable” forms of ethnic discrimination in the U.S. I say this because virtually nobody speaks out against it, and it can be seen coming from some of the most unexpected sources, those who actively advocate for civil rights and social justice.
Momus wrote a really great piece on the subject recently. In it, he envisions an alternate present based on the 1950s beatnik period, when white people were particularly infatuated with “hip” black subculture. In this alternate reality, there is a black female “hipster grifter” ravaging the hipster community with various con games and frauds. Can we imagine an outfit like Jezebel publishing an article entitled “Did Beatnik Grifter Play on Loathsome Hipster Negro Fetish?”
And the answer is: of course not. Not only would they not have published such an article, but more importantly, it would never have even entered their minds to do so. That is what makes this form of racism so pernicious, because it seems sensible even to many of those who would consider themselves open and progressive, and somehow manages to pass in the culture as valid social criticism.
I officially call bullshit.
[i had more to say and tumblr deleted it]
I can hardly contain my agreement. I’ve read both of the articles so/slow links to, which review the same book, The East, The West, and Sex. The same writer at Jezebel, Sadie, that so/slow aptly discusses in his post wrote a kind of review-lite of the same book. (Long after hipster grifter wildfire died down) She makes many of the same points that so/slow does above, including the one he makes about race being a factor in asian fixation being tolerated. She provides a quote from a Chinese woman, who says, “You’d never hear someone say, ‘oh, I only date black women’ - but I’ve heard guys say that about Asian women!”
I’m not defending Sadie, but I think she provides an interesting example of the trendy, catchy pockets racism can hide in. In Sadie’s case, dramatic effect just got the best of her when she was writing that story about the hipster grifter. She created an angle people would respond to and be familiar with, even if it’s not quite true. So/slow’s dissection of the word “Asian fetish” is also spot on and further points out how these cultural discussions, while well-meaning, sometimes cater to harder-to-find prejudices which simply make conversation flow easier. (Asian fetish = easy to remember and rolls off the tounge, don’t it?)
-carrie
