Gender, Race, and False Narratives

Notions of Race & Gender: What am I?

To the average person, race and gender identities do not have anything to do with each other, and probably never will. For these people, the idea of these two identities are not intertwined, but are just facts of life. These two identities operate on separate planes of existence, never mixing, like water and oil. They are either male or female, but they may not think of themselves as a “Black Female”, or an “Asian Male”. In other words, their sense of gender, is not defined by the color of their skin, and their sense of race, is not defined by their gender. When the rest of us think of Gender and Race however, our sense of self is defined both identities. We are not “Asian, or Black only”, but we are people whose day to day lives are defined by the treatment that being Asian as well as Male or female brings to our lives, or the treatment that being a Black male, or female brings. These notions sometimes exist occasional in unison, and other times in disarray — but when we think of self, we are unable to think of these two identities separately, for both define our existence in our daily lives — especially when we are faced with racial injustice.

Everyday in our lives our racial identities are faced with assaults on their being, and sometimes our gender identities are also faced with these assaults, and sometimes even both identities in the same instance. Whether you’re an Asian man or women, you may be walking down the street one day and here “Chink” shouted at you — that would be an assault on your racial identity. But let’s say you are an Asian woman who is walking down the street, when suddenly white men catcall you “Ni Hao”, or “Geisha”, or “10 Dolla Sucky Sucky” — while these denigrate your dignity as an Asian woman, the notion of race within these names is unquestionably present.

Some say that stereotypes are just that, stereotypes — innocent generalizations about groups of people, with no ill intention. These stereotypes might associate Asians as more feminine, intelligent, and passive; these are racial stereotypes. Some might associate Asian men as being sexless, and emasculated, while associating Asian women with being feminine, but are submissive, passive, subservient, and hypersexual. On the other hand, Black men are associated with “superior masculinity”, but lacking in intelligence, while Black women are associated with women lacking in femininity, brash, and demanding. It seems as if “colored minorities” have conveniently associated gender stereotypes, while such stereotypes for White men and women are suspiciously lacking. Isn’t it convenient that only People of Color have stereotypes about their gender, stereotypes about their race, while white men and women are able to live an existence free of stereotypes that take away from the professional, social, and personal lives? Stereotypes as you can see, are not just innocent generalizations about groups of people. To be aware of how Asians are perceived then, is to understand that as Asian men or women we do not have the privilege of viewing ourselves only thru singular notions of Gender and Race, but to view ourselves as amalgamations of both. We are Asians first and foremost; not only Men and Women.

Racial and Gender Notions in Interracial Relationships: How Asian Women Uphold White Supremacy and Patriarchy

It would be naive to assume that interracial relationships such as AFWM (Asian Female, White male) would not involve any notions of race and or gender stereotypes. Racial stereotypes play a critical role in the dynamics of gender in interracial relationships. While black men are perceived as hypermasculine, long-existing stereotypes of Asian women as submissive, subservient, and passive, portray Asian women as hypersexual beings that serve as critical components in heterosexual attraction.

As many researchers have discussed (e.g. Espiritu 2000), these stereotypes of hyperfeminine Asian women and desexed Asian men contribute to the maintenance of conventional orders of race and gender centered on the normalcy of whiteness and the dominance of men (White Supremacy). Therefore, AFWM relationships rely on the continued existence of Asian Male stereotypes in order for these relationships to occur. But what is White Supremacy?

White Supremacy is a system of order and a way of perceiving reality — whose purpose is to ensure that colored minorities are viewed as stereotypes in white reality. Racial stereotypes function to enforce white supremacy [3].

Therefore, by maintaining these conventional orders of race and gender, White Supremacy and the dominance of the white male patriarchy is upheld and the system of racial stereotypes is maintained for the benefit of white men.

Asian Feminists who often accuse Asian men of being “Hypermasculineazns” rely on the narrative that Asian men asserting their masculinity relies on an unhealthy notion of Masculinity. But what really is Hypermasculinity? For Asian men who live in Western Society, their notions of Masculinity do not come from any Asian Country. That is a fact. They grow up in Western Society, being told that they must be strong to emulate the typical “American Man”, that they must “Man Up” when doing, or that they must remove themselves of all feminine imagery and influence, etc.

There is nothing wrong with Asian men who seek to define and express their masculinity if they are aware of the white masculine standard within which they live in, and understand how this standard can be toxic to our sisters, but to accuse an already emasculated group of men as being “Hypermasculine” is frankly, ironic. AFWM relationships — which rely on conventional orders of race and gender that are centered on the normalcy of whiteness and dominance of men (White Masculinity) do more to uphold Hypermasculinity then Asian men ever will.

“Egalitarian White Men”

Egalitarian. Someone who is Egalitarian means that they believe all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Some believe that white men are much more egalitarian, especially over Asian men. Such a generalization is obviously, irrational.

As Mimi, a Korean American, states: Most Asian guys have this expectation that Asian women belong at home and they shouldn’t go out at night, whereas I think a white person feels that a woman has a more equal status with the man, and she can do whatever she wants. I know I’m judging all the white guys from this one white guy [I dated], but white guys are very chivalrous. Even though Jennifer acknowledges drawing on her experience with only one white man, she nonetheless uses him as confirmatory evidence of white and Asian men as opposites. Such over-generalization is common ● “I’ve never really dated a Caucasian before, but I hear that most of them don’t treat their women like a possession. Like they want communication instead of the woman always doing what the man wants.” [4]

But what Mimi ‘hears’ and believes about racialized masculinities is based on the widely circulating imagery perpetuated by Hollywood, shaping her expectations of white and Asian American men, rather than actual contact. In these examples, the attributes of one Asian man (their father) are generalized to all Asian men expanding a negative trait to the entire group. It is difficult to imagine a white heterosexual women referring to their father’s dominance as a reason they prefer to date or marry a man who is not white.

The second- and higher-generation young Asian Americans saw themselves as upwardly mobile and independent, and different from stereotypical Asians. They expressed a preference for white men who possess “egalitarian” traits, which they mentioned were often lacking in Asian American men. Interestingly, many Asian American women, including young second- and higher-generation women who described themselves as being egalitarian and independent, projected highly gendered images onto white men, describing them as being protective breadwinner figures or liberators. Thus, it seems that racial and gender hierarchies have greatly influenced Asian American–white couples [5] Many of the Asian American women I interviewed expressed a preference for white men over men of other ethnic and racial groups, including Asian American men. A 58-year-old first generation Korean woman believed that American husbands treat women better than Korean husbands do. Similarly, a 38-year-old first-generation Filipina American, who is a mother of two biracial children whom she referred to as “white,” talked about her childhood dream to marry a white man. [5] Victoria, a 24-year-old medical school student, was adamant that she would never date anyone other than a white man. She said, “I never dated an Asian guy. … I think that Asian guys are not courteous to women.” Grace, a 26-year-old engineer, also never dated Asian men. Grace described them as incapable of dealing with “independent women” like herself. “I am not attracted to Asian guys. … They are not gentlemen. … They are not affectionate. At least the ones I’ve met. I think my personality clashes with a lot of them. Because I think I’m too independent. I’m too outgoing. A lot of Asian guys like Asian women. Either they are dainty or they are pretty or they are. … submissive …” Second- or third-generation Asian American women portrayed white men as being egalitarian, tall, and capable of providing them with what they deserve.

Thus, Asian American women’s valuing whiteness and white manhood has promoted a mutual attraction between them and white men, bolstering existing racial stereotypes and gender hierarchies. We often hear on the news of new incidents of White violence perpetuated by violent white men, but White Supremacy and White male domination means that the ‘bad’ behavior of a few white males are not subjected to all white men. The internalized racism of Asian women, on the other hand encourages the over-generalization of ‘bad or undesired’ behavior of a few Asian men to the entire group.

Reality vs Construct

Asian women have quite a few degrading stereotypes, just like Asian men do. While Asian men are stereotyped in a very antagonistic way in a way that takes away from their being, Asian women are stereotyped in a way that serves a purpose in the hegemony of the US. Indirectly, the submissive stereotyping of Asian women serves as a way for white men to morally excuse themselves for the deaths and murder from which countries that have been meddled with by “democratic USA” that have been invaded by the “democratic” US military.

When you get home from another hard day on the planet, she comes into existence, removes your clothes, bathes you and walks naked on your back to relax you. . She’s fun you see, and so uncomplicated.” “She’s a handy victim of love or a symbol of the rape of third world nations, a real trooper.” Source [2]

Subservient images of Asian immigrant women have also complemented America’s paternalistic images of nation. That is, these women are welcomed in part because they celebrate America while condemning the patriarchal and non-democratic countries they left. Immigrant women are valued for having the courage to pursue freedom and to escape from their home country’s “patriarchal constraints” (Berlant 1997:195). The women, with few distinctions among them with regard to whether they are “immigrants,” “aliens,” “minorities,” “illegal,” or whatever, and who want to “escape” the constraints of their patriarchal families, are seen as suitable markers of model migrant citizens who will be devoted to America (Berlant 1997).

Such a gendered immigration discourse has long framed Asian female–white male sexual relationships, especially in the context of military brides who have entered the United States.[5]In the modern day, these narratives serve an even greater purpose: they instruct Asian women in Asian and western countries that their men/people are misogynist, patriarchal — and while these stereotypes are undoubtedly transferred and attached to Asian men in America, these women are merely exchanging one patriarchy for another , more powerful one.

Case Study A: Media Imagery of Hollywood vs Asia

The following two images compare the portrayal of Asian men and women in Asia, versus Asian women in the West.

Asian Male image in Asia = attractive, heroic, romantic, sexual, confident, honorable, etc.

Western image of white male

AFWM imagery is consistent in Hollywood, and serves to promote these relationships as acceptable in society, while also promoting White men as egalitarian, heroic, romantic, and saving Asian women from the “Evil”, “oppressive”, “ugly” Asian men. These narratives feed into the promotion of the white male as “Egalitarian”.

Case Study B: Asian Male, Asian Female stars in the East vs West

At first, glance, the table below appears to simply swap an Am love interest for a white male. That seems innocent enough, but what these pictures cannot capture is the underlying themes are very aggressive.

(Continued) Asian female in the East are often paired with Am I without antagonistic or emasculating views towards white male.

However, Asian females in the West are debased as hypersexualized (promiscuous) conquests who are “rescued” by white male from evil, oppressive, misogynistic, creepy and generally inferior Am.

(Continued)Furthermore, Western media occasionally uses these romances to whitewash its crimes. A plot summary is provided for the films below.

And finally, lets have on final comparison to summarize then gendered racism between hypersexualized Asian female, and Castrated Asian men.

Portrayal of Asian men in the East, versus those in the West. In the west, they fit a narrative: the unattractive, asexual Asian male.