January-july 2023
Asian women's manifesto
Decolonize me. I'm not your fetish.
I’m not from anime. I’m here not to cure your yellow fever.
My vagina is not tinier. I’m not your sexual fantasy.
I’m not waiting for a white prince. I’m not waiting for any prince at all.
I’m The Queen.
My eyes are beautiful.
My cheeks are beautiful.
My nose is beautiful.
My lips are beautiful.
My brows are beautiful.
My skin is beautiful.
My body is beautiful.
I cherish my Asian beauty.
I’m Asian. Not your fetish.
We/I could be different. With different cultures.
Interests.
Jobs.
Goals.
We’re diverse. Not one yellow fever
Decolonize yourself.
Decolonize beauty standards.
Decolonize Asian women's perception.
We are human beings. Not white supremacists' fetish.
Not your fetish.
Decolonize.
“Are you real?” This is the most common question I received on dating apps in Poland, Montenegro, and Serbia.
“Yeah, you know these Asian girl scammers…” they continue. A praised Polish director asked me if he could touch my eyes. “Is not racist,” - he argued then after.
I’ve been living in Eastern Europe for more than three years overall, and I experienced COVID-19 racism first, then found out about Yellow Fever and fetishization.
“You, Asians are good in a massage,” “Aren’t you, Asians, crazy in the bed?” - there is a whole generalization, misconception, and fetishization of an Asian woman’s body, behavior, and perception in the Western world.
"Yellow Fever" is the fetishization of East and Southeast Asian women.
Where is it rooted? The fetishization or inverted idea of geishas has contributed to the harmful stereotype of Asian women as submissive, obedient, and quiet.
US military activity in East and Southeast Asia, including the Philippine-American War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, led to soldiers patronizing local sex workers and fostering a narrative of Asian women "existing to serve white men."
Most searched porn on Pornhab in 2022 was hentai, Japanese, and Asian. The porn industry artificially damages the image of asian women by imposing on us unreal skills and features and portraying us as someone crazy in sex. And if it’s not crazy, then obedient and submissive.
Media, in general, has a long history of perpetuating stereotypes and exoticizing people of different races and ethnicity - asian women are either sexy killers with red lipstick or serve white people in a beauty salon. None of us are smiling in the photos, getting far from the stereotype of a friendly and smiley anime girl. Today, we’re showing the differences in Asian Women’s Manifesto. Today, I'm presenting my Manifesto.
*
The exhibition took place at the Philology Faculty of Lodz University. The Manifesto was printed in Queer ZIN 2023 of Lodz and feminist online media "Silne" in Poland.
“Yeah, you know these Asian girl scammers…” they continue. A praised Polish director asked me if he could touch my eyes. “Is not racist,” - he argued then after.
I’ve been living in Eastern Europe for more than three years overall, and I experienced COVID-19 racism first, then found out about Yellow Fever and fetishization.
“You, Asians are good in a massage,” “Aren’t you, Asians, crazy in the bed?” - there is a whole generalization, misconception, and fetishization of an Asian woman’s body, behavior, and perception in the Western world.
"Yellow Fever" is the fetishization of East and Southeast Asian women.
Where is it rooted? The fetishization or inverted idea of geishas has contributed to the harmful stereotype of Asian women as submissive, obedient, and quiet.
US military activity in East and Southeast Asia, including the Philippine-American War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, led to soldiers patronizing local sex workers and fostering a narrative of Asian women "existing to serve white men."
Most searched porn on Pornhab in 2022 was hentai, Japanese, and Asian. The porn industry artificially damages the image of asian women by imposing on us unreal skills and features and portraying us as someone crazy in sex. And if it’s not crazy, then obedient and submissive.
Media, in general, has a long history of perpetuating stereotypes and exoticizing people of different races and ethnicity - asian women are either sexy killers with red lipstick or serve white people in a beauty salon. None of us are smiling in the photos, getting far from the stereotype of a friendly and smiley anime girl. Today, we’re showing the differences in Asian Women’s Manifesto. Today, I'm presenting my Manifesto.
*
The exhibition took place at the Philology Faculty of Lodz University. The Manifesto was printed in Queer ZIN 2023 of Lodz and feminist online media "Silne" in Poland.
Photocredits: Amanda Kubiak
Queens:
Nur Aisyiah Az Zahra
Aikokul Ibraeva
Botagoz Balgarina
Dilnaz Tulemissova
Yingying Ni
Queens:
Nur Aisyiah Az Zahra
Aikokul Ibraeva
Botagoz Balgarina
Dilnaz Tulemissova
Yingying Ni
