Why don’t you watch the film – surely it will reveal why this woman was interested in this man, despite the filmmaker’s admitted bias.

It doesn’t take a majority to marginalize, objectify or otherwise oppress a group of people…it just takes a majority to be apathetic, make excuses or actively deny that it’s even happening.

It’s happened to too many of my friends.  Even worse, I’ve noticed which boyfriends of my daughters seem to go for this type (based on knowing previous girlfriends).  Does that guy really care for her, or does she just fit the type to him?

Anyone who thinks this isn’t about sexism and racism, think about how many Asian men you know with white women.  Shouldn’t the numbers of mixed-race couples be approximately the same?  But they aren’t, not by a long shot.  In my own experience, I’d say the ratio is at least 100:1.

In other words, it’s not always “He’s exotic looking.”  It can also be “He probably acts differently than most guys.”

I kid you not.  This is an actual statistic.

PS: sore loser ;-)

Edit: everyone except you was very careful to state that 1, this is a very real (and testable, should you be so inclined) phenomenon and 2, this probably applies to few ‘Asian’ (too general for me) women *in Asia*, not SF or elsewhere and shouldn’t be used to judge an entire nation. IOW, everyone here included context and situation. Denying it exists doesn’t get you anywhere though.

Over and out.

Sad spider. ::::-(

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-race-affects-whether-people-write-you-back/

These women were not prostitutes, and any amount of backtracking cannot hide your implication that women who seem attracted to white men in Asia are. 

There is absolutely no doubt that at that time in the Philippines whiteness was seen as an exotic and attractive ideal. That was the reason for the heightened amount of sexual attention I received. Just as my African-American mate gets heaps of sexualised attention in Sydney, which is pretty far from being monocultural.

The original comment by twianto was that when living in Asia it can seem as if the women are particularly interested in white men. 

Your response was that it only seems so because he was a sex tourist frequenting spots where it was a woman’s job to feign interest, and that your interaction was far more authentic because it was with neigbours and co-workers.

We were both arguing that it was about context and cultural norms of beauty. You’re trying to re-frame it as some sort of comment about a biological/racially determined prurient view of white men held by Asian women.

It was you who was ignoring cultural context (or situation as you call it) by claiming that the actions of Asian people in the US should be proof enough of the motives of Asian people in Asia.

So now we have an Asian woman who has to be an immigrant, chances are that her English may not be that great (re-the farm girl request).  And now we have an Asian immigrant who has no family or friends nearby, and does not speak the language.  A woman, the qualities in whom he desired, all had to do with subservience.  

Are you beginning to see a pattern of power disparity, that makes a scenario ripe for oppression?  Do you know how many Asian mail order brides have been horribly abused and even murdered by their American husbands?  Quite a few, I would go pull some stats for you but it would just really depress me more than I already am.

Look, I am not saying this guy is malicious, but I am saying that objectification all too often, is.

When I left school and travelled to Asia by myself as a fresh faced 17yo, my blond hair and blue eyes made me stand out, and in the Philippines especially the attention I got was bordering on insane.

No, despite what people assume about the Phils, I did not go to strip clubs or frequent bars populated by lonely foreigners. I lived with locals, rich and poor, in both urban and rural areas.

Back In Australia,  young Australianised Filipinas didn’t find me especially interesting, but their mothers sure did. As did recent arrivals.

Surely the obvious answer is that an exotic looking person that one usually only sees in glamourised US media is going to get attention and seen as some sort of ideal.

It certainly explains the attention my African-American mate gets when we go out in Sydney. Certainly there are some women who have fetishes (my bigoted aunty is one of them), but I can’t imagine that they all do. 

Funnily enough, when I relate my experiences about the Philippines, alleged left-wing tolerant people make all sorts of nasty assumptions about myself and the girls who showed interest. Kind of like you did.

Somebody could probably do a documentary on that as well.

Anyway, by the time I got to college these preferences began eroding rapidly.  It became apparent to me, once I’d actually had a real relationship or two, that I experienced the most powerful romantic and sexual attractions based entirely upon intellectual and emotional connections.  Since the mid-90s, I no longer have a “type” that can be expressed in racial or phenotypical terms.  My first wife was half-Mexican, my current wife is a freckled redhead.  And I’ve had rich and rewarding and passionate relationships with women ten years younger than me all the way up to twelve years older than me.  From 5’0″ up to 6’1″.  From 95 lbs to 185 lbs.  

Never mind her looks, nothing turns me on faster and more thoroughly than a woman who’s smarter than I am, who somehow finds me pretty hot too.

Phooey.