Asian fetish

An Asian fetish is a strong sexual or romantic preference for people of Asian descent or heritage. The term usually refers to women specifically of East or Southeast Asian descent,[1][2][3][4][5] though this may also include those of South Asian descent.[5][6]

The origins of sexually "fetishizing" the people of Asia are unclear. White male Dutch colonists fetishized Southeast Asian women in colonial Indonesia, on the basis of the darker skin and hair color of the local women.[7] Similar accounts were reported in other colonised territories such as British India where it was common for English men to have Indian mistresses against a backdrop where Indian women were sexualised through, what scholars describe as, a typical colonial gaze and viewed as seductive, sensual and exotic.[5] After World War 2, Japanese women gained prominence in American beauty pageants, at a time when large numbers of Japanese war brides were entering the United States.[8]

Targets of Asian fetish report a number of harms and psychological burdens as a result of being fetishized, such as anxiety and doubt about the motivations of those who display interest and difficulty asserting their individuality while being reduced to their race and gender.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

The derogatory term yellow fever (not be confused with the disease) is sometimes used to describe the fetishization of East Asians and Southeast Asian men/women by non-Asians, as well as having a preference for dating or marrying men/women of East Asian and Southeast Asian origin.[4] The usage of "yellow" stems from the color terminology for race that is sometimes applied to people of East Asian descent.

While this article and the underlying research largely focuses on heterosexual males with Asian fetish (and mostly White American heterosexual males), Asian fetish can also be homosexual, directed at Asian men, and be held by people of all races who are not Asian.[16]

  1. ^ "Fetishization of East and Southeast Asian Women". North Carolina Asian Americans Together. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  2. ^ Alolika (21 February 2014). "Playboy Petrarch: Racial Fetishism and K-pop". SeoulBeats. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ^ King, Ritchie (20 November 2013). "The uncomfortable racial preferences revealed by online dating". Quartz. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b Ren, Yuan (July 2014). "'Yellow fever' fetish: Why do so many white men want to date a Chinese woman?".
  5. ^ a b c S. Chou, Rosalind (5 January 2015). Asian American Sexual Politics: The Construction of Race, Gender, and Sexuality. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 65. ISBN 9781442209251.
  6. ^ Ashoka Bandarage (1998). "Women and capitalist development in Sri Lanka, 1977-87". Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 20 (2): 73–74. doi:10.1080/14672715.1988.10404449.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference colonial was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wave was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chang was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Ryu, Jenna. "The dangers of dating as an Asian American woman: 'Fetishization isn't appreciation'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference sMash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference LuChin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cai was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Jackson, Peter A (January 2000). "'That's what rice queens study!' white gay desire and representing Asian homosexualities". Journal of Australian Studies. 24 (65): 181–188. doi:10.1080/14443050009387602.