The History
This image of Asian women has driven them to create this ‘perfect image’ of themselves, further supporting the idea of beauty standards. In addition, this early societal disadvantage has also assisted in the creation of these standards, planting the idea of using their looks to get far in life due to the early hypersexualization that existed and continues to exist today (ex. prostitution/sex work). Fat phobia is also huge among Asians. It is also common for older adults to criticize Asian women for their size. In countries like Hong Kong, there's double zero sizes. Being skinny is the "ideal" normalized size of Asians.
"With Asian-American or Asian women, there is that stereotype of [being] small, timid, soft and all those things that allow men to oversexualize us and feel like they have access to speaking to us in a certain way. We’ve normalized that as something we have to just let roll off our shoulders."
Maurissa Tancharoen
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." co-creator and showrunner
The Page Act of 1875
Date effective: March 3 1875
Asian women are often seen as submissive/exotic. The Page Act of 1875 is an example of early sexualization of Asian women.
What is it?
It was the first restrictive immigration law in the US.
"[The act] prohibited the recruitment of laborers from 'China, Japan or any Oriental country' who were not brought to the United States of their own will or who were brought for 'lewd and immoral purposes.' It explicitly forbid 'the importation of women for the purposes of prostitution.'"
Rotondi, Jessica Pearce. “Before the Chinese Exclusion Act, This Anti-Immigrant Law Targeted Asian Women.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.history.com/news/chinese-immigration-page-act-women.
The Act was presented in a way that implies restriction of labour and prostitution, but in reality the United States had banned Chinese women from immigrating to the US country because they were seen as temptations for white men, people thought they were prostitutes and were carrying sexual diseases.
Read more on the Page Act here:
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Over time, asian women have become fetishized, which has further supported the marginalization of these women
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US military, while abroad, across history have been known to solicit sex work (often associated with sex trafficking)
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Includes the Philippine-American War, World War II and the Vietnam War
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Idea of asian women being "cute"
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There is now this endless cycle of asian women’s existing reputation & media pressures and asian women falling victim to these pressures and expectations
