The Fetishization of Asian People and Culture
Ingrid Truong
Eurocentric beauty standards have been implanted in American society since before the country was even established. This standard has been the leading cause of the undesirability of non-white people, and specifically for this study, Asians. With the emergence of entertainment and media in the early 20th century, people have been viewing the Asian community with more recognition, but not respectfully. Harassment, violence, and racism are just some of the consequences Asian people in America face due to the constant fetishization of them or their culture by non-Asian people.
Eric Jeng [@ericj3ng] posted a video on Tik Tok of him interviewing fellow creator Mimi Shou [@meemshou]. He asks her “What’s it like dating white men as an Asian woman?” and she responds “It’s tricky because you’re always like ‘Am I an Experiment?’... I think the biggest question that always lurks in my head is like ‘Are you open minded enough that I can bring you home to my family in China?’... and be open to experiencing like a new culture.” Most of the comments under that video agreed with her answer and related to her. This video sparked my interest and curiosity to find out how and why Mimi's answers are so relatable and common among Asian American women.
Mission of the project
Fetishization is when the appreciation of the people and/or culture goes too far, to the point where it causes the people to feel as if their identity is being idealized, rather than respected and understood.
My mission for this project is to bring more awareness to why the normalization of the fetishization of Asian people and culture can be offensive and harmful to the Asian community.