Asian Female, White Male

However, one could also weaponize the theory of hermeneutical injustice to accuse Asian/American women of lacking racial consciousness and agency when dating. In particular, the Asian Female White Male (AFWM) phenomenon garners much attention—and critique.

AFWM describes the phenomenon of Asian women exclusively or commonly dating white men. As if navigating a male gaze that exoticizes and fetishizes you is not enough, Asian women also face scrutiny for “betraying” their Asian identity and dating outside their race. When the award-winning Chinese-American novelist, Celeste Ng, married a white male, many insisted she hated Asian men and herself. In a Reddit thread on Jenn Fang, an Asian-American activist who married a Black man, one Redditor critiqu female privilege," claimed "she probably of White guys before she dated the black guy to be ‘edgy.’”

Another Redditor remarked: “Anything but an Asian man right?” In fact, most of the backlash Asian women face for their dating preferences comes from Asian men. When Asian women date outside their race, Asian men often assert something along the lines of “ you should be dating me, not these others.” Where does this sense of entitlement espoused by Asian men come from?

The answer: conventional stereotypes surrounding masculinity.

While Asian women often face hypersexualization, Asian men suffer from the opposite stereotype of being desexualized because of their