On Asian Fetish and Yellow Fever

It’s better to start off this post with a definition before you go “WTF” on me or mistake it to be some STD or something. Heh.

Asian Fetish (I just recently found out) is an inclination of a Caucasian or white person to be attracted to Asians.

While, on the other hand, Yellow Fever is the opposite. It is used to describe Asians with dating preferences, which involve white people or Caucasians.

The reason why I wanted to talk about this is because of an article I just read, Love vs. Asian Fetish by Jenny Parker, who I think happens to be an Asian married to a Caucasian.

Her thoughts are mainly on primarily why she disagrees on the use of these terms to simply classify interracial couples and would recommend the use of the term “preference” instead.

However, if we look more closely at the topic, and I believe I’ve already mentioned this before, it’s not all about the skin colour nor the race. Individuals should start to see beyond that. Please. Each person is entitled to “preferences” but I hope I won’t hear you say, “I don’t want to date her cuz she’s Asian.” Ack. We all know what to call these sort of people.

There are a lot of different races living in the same city or country, sharing the same education and culture. Personalities may be different due to traditions, family upbringing and social environment BUT isn’t it true that that’s how people differ? Personality and character? It’s not due to the colour of the skin or the race. We all know that meeting another person of the same race can present a difference, which you will have to relate to. So, that’s basically the same situation. Uh, right?

I guess it’s a different matter if there’s a language barrier and the two of you live different countries. We can say that there’s a HUGE difference. However, it’s not that impossible to bridge me thinks.

Bottomline, whatever preference you may have in a person you would want to date, it’s better to stick with formulating a list of ideal qualities of that person rather than focusing on their race or colour. Somewhat like the 8 qualities of an ideal guy did last year. Some of my friends, like Aileen, Jayvee and Rico, made a list of their own.

Perhaps you can do the same, huh? I reckon that’ll be more constructive than labeling romances as Asian Fetishes or Yellow Fevers.

Recommended Reads:

Thoughts on Interracial Dating
Something New