Say what you will about your article but I have had “yellow fever” for 15 years. I'm extremely attracted to Asian women, especially Asian-American women, and have dated several. I do not believe it is a submissive attraction, as the Asian Americans I have dated have very strong personalities. I think they are just physically more attractive to me. I have heard the same from many of my peers. Regardless, I have found that Asian-American women do enjoy dating Caucasian men and I for one hope that doesn't change.
Maybe you can explain something to me. If an Asian man dates only Asian women, has he got an Asian fetish too? If a black man dates only white women, do you experience a feeling of disapproval? If a white woman dates only Latinos, is she guilty of having a shameful obsession? My guess is that the answer probably would be “no” to all three. Yet the rules seem to change if a white man dates only Asian women. In Hong Kong (a former colony), you'll find plenty of Asian women who date outside their race who aren't a fraction as hung-up on “colonialism” as you are. Or are they too deeply brainwashed to comprehend their own exploitation? What happened to judging people by equal standards? Oh, you get some unwanted sexual attention from a creep every now and then? How awful that must be. There ought to be a law. Preferences are not the same thing as fetishes, my dear. I hope you can manage to at least comprehend that. On the day I first met her, my wife (black, incidentally) asked ME for my phone number. Looks like I went and colonized another one!
H.H.
Via e-mail
I was really offended by Vickie Chang's bigoted article. She seems to think that by calling others a “bigot” and “racist” she will divert attention away from herself. This is a case of it takes one to know one. There's a lot of hate in there. Nowhere in the article is there any support for these stories. It's just gut feelings, and nasty ones at that.
Mike Dolan
Via e-mail
Racism is a two-way street and you clearly take that road every day. Asian, Black, White, Purple, whatever. Attraction is attraction and racism is racism. And you, lady, are a regular Nazi to say that no white person has a right to be attracted to an Asian woman.
Brian
Via e-mail
Being a second generation Japanese American homosexual male, it is refreshing to read an article that so accurately articulates the prejudice that is so ubiquitous in my everyday life. I've heard enough phonetically incorrect “konnichiwas” and “arigatos” to last a lifetime, thanks. No, I don't own a kimono and no, I wouldn't wear it for you if you bought it for me. “How do you say my name in Japanese?” Ralph. Now go away. Vickie Chang has managed to surface the seriousness of a situation that's often thought of as trivial or comical at best. If the OCWeekly continues to publish groundbreaking, controversial articles like this, I will continue to support them in anyway I possibly can. I've already encouraged several dozen of my friends to pick up a copy and read this article. Thank you for publishing this story.
Daniel Tomita
Long Beach
Congratulations at writing a bigoted article on the attraction many white men have for Asian women. As to the other crap in the article, what is your point? When men have too much to drink they act stupid? That's an insight? Here is another one: it's dark at night. Get a life.
Anonymous
Via e-mail
In Asian countries, white people are fetishes and Asians are discriminatory toward indigenous Asians. In Thailand, the lightest-skinned are the celebrities and the ruling political/economic class while the poorest are dark-skinned and rural. Dark-skinned Thais typically have substandard educations, poor living conditions and aren't allowed into some restaurants and hotels. Dark-skinned people from India are discriminated against even worse. While men may be interested in women who have certain attributes, it is always up to the woman to discriminate against whom she dates. Interesting article, please write a follow up or a series on this topic.
Peter Paulson
Via e-mail
What a childish, hateful parade of lesbianese men-bashing tripe! Not since Mein Kampf has there been such an unabashed outpouring of disgusting personal prejudices. Vickie Chang's hypocrisy is almost amusing: “But the coalescing of an ethnicity into a whole [. . .] is a real issue.” What about the coalescing of Caucasian men, Vickie? Vickie seems to think she's a mind reader, projecting her bizarre stereotypes onto everyone else. Her “Asian male stereotypes” were news to me, by the way. One of the heroes of my youth was Bruce Lee, who was definitely not “virginal and emasculated.” Playing the race card was once a novel way to command public attention. Sorry you missed the boat, Vickie. She understandably didn't have the nerve to publish her e-mail address like the other OC Weekly contributors. “Yellow Fever” = yellow journalism.
John B
Via e-mail
My wife is Korean and we've been together a decade, and I'm sure that I would fit the Asiaphile profile (as gross as it is to fit). I look in the mirror and see a middle-aged man (thinning hair and a paunch) who watches Miyazaki films with the kids, eats most meals with a pair of chopsticks, and knows more about Korean pop culture than any other white guy on my block. I lived in Korea and worked for a branch of an American company for three years. I met a number of women who were, in my estimation, much more independent than Western women. On a personal level, I hope there is more to our marriage than a simple, post-colonialist desire for a geisha, and I am glad that our children have indirect access to a 5,000-year-old culture. Thanks for the piece, more thoughtful than most on the subject.
Michael Bubb
Via e-mail
Vickie Chang's article was amazing. It hit the spot on so many of the issues that we as Asian Americans have been facing for a long time now. I hope she opened some eyes to how much racial stereotyping and prejudice there is toward all Asian Americans. I worship the ground she walks on. Thank you, Vickie!
