Abstract
This thesis explores the complexities of the Asian fetish known as Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever is the phenomenon in which predominantly White straight men pursue predominantly East Asian women purely because of their race or their ethnicity. An extension of my personal experiences being an Asian women in America, the thesis does following: 1) historicize and theorizes how racial fetishes come into being and why it exists, 2) investigates how Asian cultural exports contribute to the already racialized Western media industry, and subsequently fuel the fetish for Asians, and 3) to make known, the real consequences and dangers of racial fetishization in the US in response to the population of people who believe Yellow Fever is a harmless preference.
Incorporating images, video clips, and written work, the thesis attempts to showcase the different ways Asian stereotypes are mediated and how these mediations lead to the exotification and fetishization of Asians. Using David Marriott and Homi Bhabha’s theoretical discussions on the fetish and stereotype, a racial fetish is defined as a perverse relation to difference and this definition is used to ground the exploration of Yellow Fever. Racial triangulation of Asians is explained to be a large contributor to why regardless of American citizenship, Asian Americans are seen as alien, therefore fueling notions of exoticness and mystique. Japanese Anime and its subcultures is used to showcase pre-existing issues of patriarchal beliefs, hyper-sexualization of girls, and infantilization of women in Japan and how its mass consumption in America results in misunderstanding of Japanese women while also fueling long-held narrative surrounding the Dragon Lady and Lotus Blossom tropes.
The thesis also addresses the popular argument used against those who criticize the fetish, “Asians have White Fever.” While emphasizing the importance of the fetishized subject’s autonomy, the thesis argues that regardless of whether the fetishized is okay with it or not, it does not change the serious and harmful implications of racial fetishization. “White Fever” is argued to be an inadequate counterargument due to the historical imbalance of power dynamics that favor Whiteness both in status and beauty. Cases of sexual and physical violence against Asian women is incorporated to argue that what may appear to be a “preference” for Asian women is in reality, something that can end up taking lives of Asian women.
Through the exploration of Yellow Fever, important issues about racial dynamics in the US, cultural consumption practices, and ideas surrounding power are simultaneously addressed. Though there is no one-size-fits-all solution given to the issue of Yellow Fever, the thesis raises important questions that are applicable regardless of the spectator’s background.