May 2O21
Opinions
25
ASIAN OBJECTIFICATION IS DEADLIER THAN YOU THINK
Submissive stereotypes make Asian women more vulnerable to hate crimes Article by Amy Qiao Graphic by Henry Van Voorhis On March 16, a white male shot up three spa salons in Atlanta, murdering eight victims — six of whom were Asian women. The shooter’s reasoning for doing so? He needed to subdue his “sexual addiction.” The local sheriff’s office captain’s justification for the shooter’s actions? He was having a “bad day.” Preceding this unfortunate event was a spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans across the entire country. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism revealed in February that while hate crimes in 2020 decreased by 7% generally, anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 150%. While all Asians alike must suffer this hateful reality, Asian women are forced to bear the brunt of these hate crimes. In fact, out of all reported anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, 68% were attacks on women, while 29% were on men, according to NBC News. Although the shooter stated that his heinous crimes were not racially motivated, scholars are not ruling out the possibility due to Ameri c a’s long history of Asian objectification. It is imperative to point out that Asian preference is drastically different from having a “type” in a potential partner, since it is often linked to racial fixations and sexual abuse motives. “The objectification of Asian women has become a societal norm,” senior Samantha Nguyen said. “But the worst part about it is that we are stereotyped as ‘sexually submissive’ … so [men] feel that it’s okay to be rough and sexually abusive with us unlike other females. It’s dangerous for our bodies and mental well-being.” Nguyen has advocated for the protection of Asian women by competing in local and national speech and debate tournaments with her 2019 Program Oral Interpretation piece: “A Submissive Streak.”
Before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the United States passed a ban on the immigration of Asian women in 1875 because citizens feared that they were prostitutes and temptations for white men. According to Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociology professor at Biola University, American soldiers would often partake in the sex industry in Asian countries when at war; U.S. Military Camps even sanctioned parts of their bases for Asian sex workers. Thus, with the onset of US-led wars
in Asian countries, the infamous archetype of the submissive — yet exotic — Asian woman emerged. This trope is most notable in the famous Broadway show ‘Miss Saigon,’ which features a 17-year-old Vietnamese girl, Kim, falling in love with an American soldier during the Vietnam War. In the end, Kim commits suicide after finding out that she can never be with the American even after she raised their child by
herself. While on the surface it seems like the typical heartfelt story of two lovers who meet in rough circumstances, the romanticization of such a tragic suicide feeds into the overused stereotype that women are too weak to care for themselves and cannot control their emotions when dealing with men. Even further, it strengthens the prevalent “white savior” narrative as the story assumes whites are the sole saviors that can save weak Asians — a notion long enforced since colonization. Unfortunately, this media trope is all too familiar in Hollywood. Consider ‘Madame Butterfly,’ another movie where the heartbroken female Asian lead commits suicide after her white lover leaves her. Or even consider the “Dragon Lady” archetype, a hyper sexualized Asian woman who uses her promiscuity to manipulate men. Perpetuating the justification of Asian objectification through films, stories, America’s history and even conversations is a threat to all Asian women. The idea that Asian women are submissive and quiet makes them more vulnerable to vicious hate crimes like the ones America has unfortunately witnessed in the past few months. “There will always be media sexualizing all races, whether it be Asian or any others,” Nguyen said. “However we can teach our generation and the latter generations about respecting women of all races as human beings rather than objects.” If we truly want to dismantle Asian hate, we must consider the cultural factors that perpetuate and normalize such injustices. Nguyen recommends teaching more sociology classes about these seemingly ‘taboo’ topics, such as sexual assault and racism, in high school. Exposure to such topics at younger ages can help reconstruct how men should responsibly treat women. Instead of focusing on curing the short term consequences of anti-Asian apathy, we must focus on eliminating what breeds such hatred in the first place.
