“So, before moving to Korea, why did I not realize the potential in Asian men? Because for the first 21 years of my life, the United States had deceived me.”
With so much focus on how men fetishize Asian women, an article that my niece liked caught my eye because it focused on the attractiveness of Asian men. When Asian American men complain about how media stereotyping makes them perceived as unattractive, they are often dismissed as whining. What I like about this piece from Sarah Shaw is that she as a white woman complains about the same stereotypes. How did this revelation come about? She had to leave the the US.
Sarah mentions that she grew up in a homogeneous white town and never thought of Asian men as attractive. “It was a standard perception that Asian men just weren’t attractive,” she says. After moving to South Korea for a semester abroad and becoming free from American media stereotypes about Asian men, she was soon dating an ethnic Korean. Well, they say that travel is broadening! She mentions that any of her friends back in the states would ask things like “aren’t they all short” or worse “don’t they all have small penises?” She also mentions that she knows many Asian American women who buy into the Asian males are unattractive myth and will only date white guys.
Some of the things she talks about are subjects covered many times on this blog and others. I think we have all heard commentary on William Hung and PSY, as well as how Daniel Henney is attractive. Still, it’s a different perspective that you might want to check out.
(h/t: Kat)
