A White Man's Fantasy
Asian women’s bodies are always contextualized into colonial, historical meanings. Preconceptions of our race as either overtly sexual or submissive places our bodies as objects. They erase our actual human experiences. The two tropes I explore in this photo series are binaries that demonize and idealize Asian women’s bodies into a fantasy that empowers the White man. The Lotus Blossom and the Dragon Lady reveal how Asian women are exoticized and reduced into Othering objects for a White man’s desire.
This project is personal for me. As an Asian woman, I’ve felt the struggle of what it means to be ‘beautiful’ in the world written by rules of white beauty standards. How do we fit into what is meant to be ‘beautiful’? As young girls, we have little reference to finding the beauty in ourselves through our race. I grew up looking up to an unattainable European standard. As I got older, I would frequently be amused by feeling like I ‘stood out’ because I looked ‘exotic’ - and that I was ‘pretty for an Asian’. This male gaze was the only representation I found myself feeling ‘beautiful’. As I grew up, it was a slow process of decolonizing this beauty standard.
My hope is that this series will bring light to how this Othering affects Asian women. Internal colonization is a real thing and A White Man's Fantasy is a story of decolonising this. The first step to realizing our worth is to decolonize what we've been told all our lives. My poetry is a reflection of my shame and guilt for ‘selling’ my body. These stereotypes are not only ways in which others look at us but also how we learn to look at ourselves. They are the only boxes that allow us to fit into society’s standards.
