cmk76
08-08-2013, 01:14 PM
http://blog.chinalovematch.net/blog/article/Theyre-All-So-Beautiful
They're All So Beautiful
By Peter Vernezze
I just finished watching a web miniseries on Western men dating Asian women. Titled “They’re All So Beautiful,” the series was created by Debbie Lum, who directed the documentary film “Seeking Asian Female,” a film that has been discussed in blogs on this site.
The web series is a set of five segments each between 7-10 minutes long. Titled “What is Yellow Fever?” the first episode begins with a variety of Western men describing their attraction to Asia women. Some of these guys are sweet and appealing and some you would cross the street to avoid. All admit their attraction to women of Asian descent, although not a few feel the need to apologize for it. It soon becomes clear, however, that what’s at stake in this episode is not so much a definition of "yellow fever" (a term which I despise but which I feel compelled to use given the context) as an inquiry into whether it is a good or bad thing for Western men to be attracted to Asians.
Now the sane among us realize that attraction is really not something you can control, and that unless there is a demonstrable social harm such as is the case with pedophilia it makes no sense to criticize someone for who they are attracted to. But this is not enough to discourage a couple of (female) scholars from weighing in on the other side. Professor Elaine Kim declares that the attraction to women from Asia has to do with “the fascination of something that seems physiologically different, like bound feet and horizontal vaginas,” while Sheridan Prasso, author “The Asian Mystique,” compares the phenomenon to a leather fetish or shoe fetish.
To address the first point, if to be attracted to what is physiologically different is a pathological, you might as well condemn all heterosexuals as pathological, since by definition heterosexuals are attracted to someone who is physiologically different. Regarding the claim that being attracted to Asians is a fetish, there is no standard psychological interpretation of the term in which attraction to a particular race can be called a fetish. In fact, there is a rather fixed definition psychologically of what a fetish is: To get sexually aroused by a physical object like a shoe is a fetish; to be sexually aroused by one’s conception of beauty is, well, human nature.
To her credit, Lum does not take sides on this issue but merely presents the opposing points of view in order to open up a discussion, although I doubt any minds will be changed. If like me you think the attraction to Asian women is normal and natural, you will see the scholars as illogical ideologues, while if you happen to think there is something sick and twisted about the phenomenon, you will probably see the men as creepy. In any case, anyone engaged in cross cultural dating (which I guess would mean anyone on this website) should watch the series. I would be interested in your views and will be commenting on the other parts of the series in upcoming blog posts.
They're All So Beautiful
By Peter Vernezze
I just finished watching a web miniseries on Western men dating Asian women. Titled “They’re All So Beautiful,” the series was created by Debbie Lum, who directed the documentary film “Seeking Asian Female,” a film that has been discussed in blogs on this site.
The web series is a set of five segments each between 7-10 minutes long. Titled “What is Yellow Fever?” the first episode begins with a variety of Western men describing their attraction to Asia women. Some of these guys are sweet and appealing and some you would cross the street to avoid. All admit their attraction to women of Asian descent, although not a few feel the need to apologize for it. It soon becomes clear, however, that what’s at stake in this episode is not so much a definition of "yellow fever" (a term which I despise but which I feel compelled to use given the context) as an inquiry into whether it is a good or bad thing for Western men to be attracted to Asians.
Now the sane among us realize that attraction is really not something you can control, and that unless there is a demonstrable social harm such as is the case with pedophilia it makes no sense to criticize someone for who they are attracted to. But this is not enough to discourage a couple of (female) scholars from weighing in on the other side. Professor Elaine Kim declares that the attraction to women from Asia has to do with “the fascination of something that seems physiologically different, like bound feet and horizontal vaginas,” while Sheridan Prasso, author “The Asian Mystique,” compares the phenomenon to a leather fetish or shoe fetish.
To address the first point, if to be attracted to what is physiologically different is a pathological, you might as well condemn all heterosexuals as pathological, since by definition heterosexuals are attracted to someone who is physiologically different. Regarding the claim that being attracted to Asians is a fetish, there is no standard psychological interpretation of the term in which attraction to a particular race can be called a fetish. In fact, there is a rather fixed definition psychologically of what a fetish is: To get sexually aroused by a physical object like a shoe is a fetish; to be sexually aroused by one’s conception of beauty is, well, human nature.
To her credit, Lum does not take sides on this issue but merely presents the opposing points of view in order to open up a discussion, although I doubt any minds will be changed. If like me you think the attraction to Asian women is normal and natural, you will see the scholars as illogical ideologues, while if you happen to think there is something sick and twisted about the phenomenon, you will probably see the men as creepy. In any case, anyone engaged in cross cultural dating (which I guess would mean anyone on this website) should watch the series. I would be interested in your views and will be commenting on the other parts of the series in upcoming blog posts.