Monday, June 14, 2010

Asian Fetish/ Asiaphilia/ Yellow Fever


Asian Fetish is a U.S. slang term which usually refers to an interest, attraction or preference for people, culture, or things of Asian origin by those of non-Asian descent. (Source: Wikipedia) The term Asiaphile and yellow fever is also used in the same context. According to slangsite.com, Yellow Fever is: "A term used by Asian women to describe European or other Western men who exclusively pursue Asian women. Frequently used as a warning to other Asian women. Example: I don't think he cares about you personally at all; it's just a case of yellow-fever."

Read an Asian American woman's view on Yellow Fever: Vicky Chang's article about Yellow Fever aka Asiaphilia in The Orange County Weekly.- An Asian woman's view on being an exotic object in western men's eyes.
Seems to be a popularly referenced article regarding Yellow Fever lately.

Read "Mr. Asiaphile"'s web page for his view on why white men "prefer to date Asian women" (his words)


In South East Asia, shall we say in Singapore thereabouts, we know a lot about girls who exclusively date white men as Sarong Party Girls. BUT we'll save that for another post.


And in Asia as well, there are many names for western male expats who stay on forever. Especially those who have married Asian women and think they've become Asian too.

Why do I mention this? Well, I have a dear old friend from my primary school days in Malaysia. She isn't from a rich family and she isn't highly educated- left school after form 5 and did a diploma in a local Malaysian college. I've always liked her though- she's honest and has a good heart. She has had her ups and downs in relationships, none of them worked out. She married an Australian expat (who runs a sports business) in Malaysia 5 years ago and had 2 kids with him in the same time frame. She is now an expat tai-tai who stays at home with a maid that does everything.

They came to Australia via Air Asia recently, with their Indonesian nanny in tow, so I met him for the first time. And my impression of him? He tried way too hard (bragged about dealing with this Tunku and that Tengku) and talked way too much. He tried to speak to my husband and I in a very exaggerated Malaysian slang (I think he used more "aiyo", "lah"s, "ar" and "kan?" than I ever would in a lifetime).
To my old friend who has never been overseas before, she thinks her man is wonderful because he accepts her culture so readily.
To me, I think it's a bit of an insult if a white man thinks he has to speak in pidgin English to carry on a conversation with me.


My friend is an attractive woman, despite her insecurities about her future, financial stability and her family. Her husband is a short, overweight and very loud. He has been in Malaysia for 10 years trying to make a go of his sports business. They live in a rented terrace house in a non-expat part of town. His friends are either locals or other expats in Malaysia who have married local women.

I feel disgusted after meeting him. (like I needed to shower) I feel sorry for her and her kids.
Am I a fussy bitch?

Addendum 1 (added 15/06/2010)

Definition of a "Rice Chaser": "Strictly speaking, a person who seeks romantic relations with Asians. Commonly speaking, a short or scrawny white male lacking self esteem and/or assertiveness who seeks power in interpersonal relationships by dating Asian females whom he perceives to be submissive and obedient. Also, a white male with a prurient but inaccurate fascination with what he perceives as exotic." (Source: urbandictionary.com)


11 comments:

Gabriel said...

loved this post, good one :) glad to see you are back at work. sorry to hear about the loss. hope you are keeping well!

Anonymous said...

I just ran across this and I found it very interesting. I am an Asian woman myself and I hate these terms. Can I say something, people are not fetish in the first place, and if someone views you as a fetish they are broken in the head.

I have met some of these men who had an Asian fetish, and they are creepy as hell. They only like you for the fact you are Asian and they believe in those damn stupid stereotypes, and they generalize all Asian people and they don't see you for the person you are.

There's big difference between having a fetish and preference to certain features. People who have preference usually see you as a human and don't expect you to act certain way.

yellow fever said...

OMG. This girl has amazing tits :O

Anonymous said...

I know a disgusting american guy who loves asian girls especially chinese and taiwanese since he can speak chinese.
Now he teaches chinese at arizona state university and chases many asian girls. Aww, girls do not know how he treats asian girls badly.
He takes advantages of being a white male. Asian guys talk about him as an asshole but asian girls do no know how asshole he is. Check out Arizona State University (miles)

Implosion said...

Gabe: xxx thanks babe

Anonymous #1:
As long as you are seen as a person who happens to be an Asian woman and not an Asian woman who happens to be a person, I think is where this line is drawn.

Anonymous #2:
Are you speaking from personal experience with this person?

Implosion said...

Anonymous #2:
I looked up the person you mentioned and all I see is an fugly old man who wears his nerdy shirt tucked into his nerdy jeans. LOL. Asian girls would go for THAT?

Anonymous said...

Glad you are posting this girl. Even though I have a white bf I can say that I have been approached by lots of creepy guys with asian fetishes. Its soo obvious when the first words the ask you are "where are you from?".....America! duh!

I have to set the record straight though, there are a lot of white guys that are really nice and definitely dont have yellow fever. Another thing that I have noticed is that for some reason asian guys have bad breath, at least the ones I know....I dont know why.

Anonymous said...

I think people are not as open to interracial relationships as they pretend to be, especially if it's a white guy with a non-white woman. Being a white American married to a Chinese (Taiwan) woman, I have had to face frequent judgement from both sides. With Asians it's the scrutiny of "why I married an Asian girl". With whites it's "why didn't I marry a white girl", the implication being that white guys only marry Asian girls if they can't get a white girl to marry them. I've lost count of how many white women have asked me if I met my wife on the internet (mail order bride). My wife used to get infuriated by comments like that (she is a highly-educated computer engineer, and was already a US citizen when I met her) but now she jokes about it. We have been married for 16 years, and I cherish my wife more every day. I would go through anything to be with her, but life would be a lot nicer if people could just accept that we are two people who fell in love. But if it's an interracial marriage you are always going to be dealing with close scrutiny and racial bias.

Anonymous said...

I've seen some of these Asian fetish weirdos on the internet and they are indeed disgusting! These guys really - REALLY - sincerely belief the absurd stereotypes about Asian women. I wonder how they go through life thinking like that.

Unknown said...

An asian fetish can be really harmful. If you meet a guy with one, I'd say stay away.

AnB said...

If a fellow from group A is to pick a gal from group B, he and she become a pair consisting of an A and B. Nothing to see here. To respect and honor, when appropriate, group A and group B would seem correct. But, if it were a pair of A's or B's, they should do the same! When all is good, all is good.