"They're All So Beautiful", a documentary on race and dating

[Athias]

The sexual fetish for Asian [women] may technically be racist, but is it really a matter so concerning that it necessitates a documentary?

[Yagathai]

If you can't see how colossally racist [and sexist] that question is in and of itself, you've got a lot of work to do.

[Castel]

The sexual fetish for Asian [women] may technically be racist, but is it really a matter so concerning that it necessitates a documentary?

What do you care? Are you the one sinking the money into the documentary?

It's only technically racist because what else could it be? The video talks about why it's more than technically racist? Why do we need a video?? It's only technically racist!

Bravo.

[Athias]

What do you care?

I suppose I don't -- not really, anyway.

It's only technically racist because what else could it be? The video talks about why it's more than technically racist? Why do we need a video?? It's only technically racist!

Is the second part supposed to be a question or an exclamation? The discussion of why it's more than technically racist comprises mostly of presumptions and specious arguments. It's fine -- I'm not arguing that the documentary should be expelled in any matter, but what I've learned from watching all the episodes is that there are men who prefer Asian women for being Asian. I don't find anything wrong with this, even if those men are driven by stereotypes and false associations. I mean these women aren't being raped, as far as we know, nor are they being coerced or blackmailed in maintaining these relationships. Superficial as it may be, to each his own. Or is it the argument that there are "wrong" reasons to prefer someone, sexually?

[Eponine]

I mean these women aren't being raped, as far as we know, nor are they being coerced or blackmailed in maintaining these relationships. Superficial as it may be, to each his own. Or is it the argument that there are "wrong" reasons to prefer someone, sexually?

I'm sure it's a shortcoming of this discussion that it would be hard to conduct a valid study of how many Asian American women have been sexually harassed, sexually assaulted or raped by a person who fetishizes Asian women. Despite that, knowing now that it's a shared experience for Asian American women to have to deal with being fetishized, I doubt that having that fetishization turn into sexual harassment/assault is also an isolated experience unshared by others. Whether those personal experiences have any greater significance, I can't say.

What does concern me in this regard is the experience of Asian American women who are not culturally American. It seems like Asian women who speak out about this tend to be good English speakers with a good grasp of American culture. There are obvious reasons why this would be the case. Because of that, I used to have the really bad idea that these were the women that were mostly having this happen to them. I feel like the experiences of Asian women who aren't as able to communicate easily with native English speakers are overlooked or taken for granted.

[Galactus]

The sexual fetish for Asian [women] may technically be racist, but is it really a matter so concerning that it necessitates a documentary?

Dude, they literally make documentaries about everything.

[TerraPrime]

I feel like the experiences of Asian women who aren't as able to communicate easily with native English speakers are overlooked or taken for granted.

There is definitely an element of differences in cultural expectations at work, as well. Given the machismo culture and patriarchal structure of many Asian countries, it is probably less clear to many (though not all) women who were raised in those cultures to identify the problematic aspects of being sexually objectified or to be pursued for their perceived exotic allures. Mixed into that is the reality of economic power inequality between men from developed countries and women from developing countries. I think this is why men with Asian fetish tend to have more success with women/men who are not encultured in America. What most women, Asian or white or otherwise, in America might see as sexist, condescending, rude, and unacceptable, might be tolerated or even welcomed in some regard, by women from other cultures. In this way, the cultural stereotype of demure and accommodating Asian women propagates itself.