Jenna Ligutom

CW: mention of explicit content, mentions of Atlanta incident, etc.

I was exposed to sexual content at an alarmingly early age. As the years progressed, I became desensitized and accustomed to all the demeaning and horrifically visceral titles of videos -- especially the ones featuring Asian women. 

Over the decades, the hypersexualized depictions of AAPI women have been normalized and in turn, minimized this problem as well. In light of the Atlanta shooting, 8 people, 6 among them being Asian women, were killed at the hands of a white man. His reason being that he wanted to eliminate a temptation caused by his sex addiction. But why target an Asian-run business? Years of deeply rooted racism can answer this. 

Even in the media, Asian women have been subjected to various forms of racial fetishization and sexism, perpetuated by age-old stereotypes. From Trang Pak and Sun Jin Dinh being statutorily raped in Mean Girls (2004) to the infamous “Me love you long time” quote from a Vietnamese prostitute soliciting herself to American military men in Full Metal Jacket (1987); The sad thing is, these media depictions are also intertwined with history itself. 

For example, the Page Act of 1875, the first restrictive federal immigration law in the US; in which Chinese women were prohibited from entering the United States for fear that they were immigrating for “immoral purposes”-- essentially generalizing a group of women, and having noticeably lasting effects. Yet another example is the years of military occupation in Southeast Asia has posited the idea that “Asian women are in need of saving; they’re fragile and docile, submissive, etc.” the effects imperialism had on Asia has tarnished the reputation of the colonized countries and citizens-- even abroad, as evidenced by the many stereotypes, crimes, abuse, among other offenses.

These preconceptions coupled with the recent surge in xenophobic, sinophobic, and overall anti-Asian rhetoric that has been pushed in light of COVID-19, have put the Asian American community into an even more difficult place. There are more and more things to worry about, and with Asian women already being fetishized, it has endangered us and left us more vulnerable. This history of anti-Asian racism is now causing the violence against the Asian American community we see today.

As an Asian woman, the Atlanta tragedy has opened my eyes to many things. The dangers my Asian sisters and I have faced in the past and even in the present, have been amplified. From the dehumanizing titles in sexually explicit content to the potential of being a target in a hate crime. It’s terrifying. To be reduced into nothing more than a stereotype that’s been motivated by years and years of varying conflicts is inhumane and unjust. 

To my fellow Asian girls, women, and beyond-- you are more than this sexualized picture fueled by white supremacy. You’re not a “spicy oriental, waifu, anime dream girl”, or whatever other nonsense that people make up. You are not a stereotype nor someone’s fetish. You are so much more.

Sources

https://chaohanoi.com/2020/07/09/vietnamese-women-treated-as-sex-objects-on-screen/?cn-reloaded=1 

https://www.vox.com/22338807/asian-fetish-racism-atlanta-shooting 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1993.00055.x