As your dutiful reporter of the asian masculinity-pedophilia complex, I must share with you one of the most disturbing things I've seen. English lessons, teaching subtextual phrases like "take anything you want," performed in spandex; may include random close-ups of sports bras. Doesn't any director in Japan just crack and say "Dammit guys! Just once let's do a piece without rape fantasy in it!" Thank god they never got their hands on Sesame Street. Their penchant for sesame and violating tentacles would have left Oscar lecherous and the Count breathless.
Just in time for the Oscars, we watched Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend. It is a real desert american comedy, and I loved the spot on commentary on underage beauty pageants. It tickled me to no end that people dress their girls up as whores, but when they actually act as such, some indefinite line is crossed, and they are suddenly morally conflicted. Moreover, it shows that the american ideal for beauty has girls dressing up, increasing age, whereas in Japan, they dress down, with sailor skirts and high-pitched childlike squeals.
Trying to understand why this difference exists, I think it comes down to values. Americans prize the confidant power of the femme fatale, and the Japanese prize the innocence of a lolita. I attribute American men as more self-confident, and asian men as one of two extremes: passive, or excessively male dominant. Often both. I read in the Economist recently a study that showed sexual satisfaction between couples is correlated to equal social status. It was no surprise then that Japan had one of the lowest ratings among developed nations.
The San Jose dating scene that I've seen has been indicative of cultural difference. Is it an accident that white guys and asian girls are far more common than the other way around? It would follow that if american women have the same tastes as american men (power, confidence, independence), but asian couples have a great divide what they value (master and submissive), the combination of aggressive american women and passive asian man would suffer.
Of course, when I say american, that encapsulates asian-americans, so the issue is hardly that simple. The latter is very diverse depending on which generation they are, how much cultural tradition they've absorbed, etc.
TJ writes:
As far as white-guy/asian-girl pairings, I always thought it had to do with social status, like it was more prestigious for an asian girl to land a white boyfriend. Also, when I started seeing this get popular, there's also that whole genre of porn that caters to the folks who have an Asian-girl fetish. And what with porn having somewhat of a mainstream acceptance (at least in CA), the popularity of a given genre reflects the mentality of the populace which it caters to, and I think it feeds back that value to those in the same populace who don't already have it.
I have to say, though… living in America, I don't normally see filipinos in positions of mainstream prominence. I've had some good filipino role models (mom and dad), but as far as what I see in mass culture it's all white, black, and increasingly hispanic. I know for myself, I will favor a white girl over an asian girl, as recent experience has taught me I simply tend to get along better with a white girl. Is it sad? Maybe, but that's just the way it is. Also, as far as numbers go, I'm more likely to meet a white girl outside of CA. There's only like a tiny handful of asians out here in Colorado Springs, and from what I've seen they're mostly korean females married to active or former military.
And finally… I ain't passive. 😉
-TJ
Ken writes:
Hey Lawrence,
Long time reader, first time commenter. Funny you should mention the passive asian male complex. I often think that it's a function of asian males being more respectful and dutiful because of their cultural upbringing. Because asian males aren't snide, crass, and basically aren't asshole, they don't get the respect from American culture.
Even now, asian females are rejecting the "typical" asian male. What the fuck? Where did everything go wrong here?
I don't see myself as passive. But I do see myself as respectful and considerate. And maybe that looks passive in other people's eyes. But what are you gonna do?
I hear that the worst demographic to be (in regards to dating) is the asian male demographic. The next worst is being an african american female.
Whatever. America is all missing out. Everyone can go fuck themselves.
Actually, I'd give the worst dating demographic award to Indian guys, who have it hard with white, asian, black, latin, AND indian girls. Funny story, one Indian guy I know bulked up to impress the white/asian girls, only to discover that more traditional Indian girls find muscles unattractively reminiscent of peasant labor. Go figure.
Great to see ya drop by! =D
Moje, super Beitrag zu diesem Gebiet. Im Aufbau meiner Selbstständigkeit bin ich auf der Suche nach neuem Input. Dank Menschen wie dir komme ich meinen Zielen immer ein Stück näher und näher.