Comments on: Rainbow Nation and Gay Asian Male Stereotypes

By: throwaway092

throwaway092 — Thu, 12 May 2011 07:14:21 +0000

@ annoyedatthevideo: The stereotype about Asian men being docile, small-packaged and effeminate isn’t just applied to homosexual Asian men. It’s also applied to straight/bi/other Asian men as well. The stereotypes American society applies to gay men are reflective of the greater racial stereotypes that are applied to entire racial/ethnic tracts: large, threatening black men; submissive, eager-to-please, asexual Asian men. All of it tends to have long historical roots that are, not surprisingly, a direct result of these groups’ interactions with white/caucasian culture.

By: 8Asians.com » Gay Interracial Relationships: On Being “Sticky Rice” and Loving Other Asian Men

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:49:11 +0000

[...] but with a gay twist. Being unable to get a green card, Asian men were simply seen as gold-diggers, with small dicks who are exclusively bottoms, and most importantly, who can’t be trusted. Fuck with us and we’ll take all your shit. [...]

By: David

David — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:56:28 +0000

everytime I watch that video I shake my head, that and the video of the trya banks show with that asian guy. Some people say I don’t fit the steriotype, just becuause I’m slim I must be a submissive or that I have small penis. Boy are they wrong when I jump into bed, lol! I use to date only white guy but now that I move to SF I’m all about asians. Its kinda funny how it all switch for me now I find this negative steriotype with white guys. But I know that no one person is the same, we all should treat each other with respect.

By: David

David — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:56:00 +0000

By: annoyedatthevideo

annoyedatthevideo — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:49:30 +0000

The blond in this video is such a diva. I would never want to talk to him at a bar anyway. The funny thing is that he says Asian men are fem but he hasn't looked himself at the mirror. Such an idiot he is.

On the other hand, I'm sick of all these stupidities people, including Asian men, say about Asian men. The ironic thing is that most of these things are said by people who are neither attractive nor intellectually respectable.

Interestingly, over the last few years I have optimistically seen that Americans are being more positive about the sexual image of the Asian man. I hope this video doesn't deteriorate the progress I have encountered so far. I can certainly say, however, that there are ridiculous stereotypes in this video. I grew up in Latin America and I can easily say that I was never objectified as an asexual Asian man, but interestingly, the stereotype worked oppositely in that people found me sexually "exotic" and masculine, associated me with martial arts and oriental aphrodisiacs. Obviously this is all garbage too, but since I was one of the very few Asians in the city, and I was precociously sexual, everyone thought that all Asian men were as horny as me. This is the complete opposite of what I hear in the video, which is a pathetic desexualized image of the Asian man. Given this, I would really need to inquire more about where did the asexual image of the Asian man arise in Anglosaxon culture.

Although I appreciate it as a thought provoking effort, I think it's too simplistic to be able to capture the actual situation of gay Asian American men. I am an equal opportunity dater and I do not feel the necessity to get involved in the politization of my sexual life. I embrace potato-chocolate-bean-curry queens and sticky rice as long as they see a human before a skin color.

By: annoyedatthevideo

annoyedatthevideo — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:49:30 +0000

The blond in this video is such a diva. I would never want to talk to him at a bar anyway. The funny thing is that he says Asian men are fem but he hasn't looked himself at the mirror. Such an idiot he is.

On the other hand, I'm sick of all these stupidities people, including Asian men, say about Asian men. The ironic thing is that most of these things are said by people who are neither attractive nor intellectually respectable.

Interestingly, over the last few years I have optimistically seen that Americans are being more positive about the sexual image of the Asian man. I hope this video doesn't deteriorate the progress I have encountered so far. I can certainly say, however, that there are ridiculous stereotypes in this video. I grew up in Latin America and I can easily say that I was never objectified as an asexual Asian man, but interestingly, the stereotype worked oppositely in that people found me sexually "exotic" and masculine, associated me with martial arts and will oriental aphrodisiacs. Obviously this is all garbage too, but since I was one of the very few Asians in the city, and I was precociously sexual, everyone thought that all Asian men were as horny as me. This is the complete opposite of what I hear in the video, which is a pathetic desexualized image of the Asian man. Given this, I would really need to inquire more about where did the asexual image of the Asian man arise in Anglosaxon culture.

Although I appreciate it as a thought provoking effort, I think it's too simplistic to be able to capture the actual situation of gay Asian American men. I am an equal opportunity dater and I feel the necessity to get involved in the politization of my sexual life. I embrace potato-chocolate-bean-curry queens and sticky rice as long as they see a human before a skin color.

By: TF

TF — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:56:38 +0000

I find that the video is pretty spot on on how we are perceived. I am a mixed Asian male and find that people make snap judgments about me all the time. I am 4th generation on all ethnicities, am 6' tall and to some people I don't look Asian enough and to others, I just look Asian. It has been a very frustrating thing for me throughout my gay adult life. i know that by my appearance alone, most in West Hollywood know everything there is to know about me in a glance. This used to upset me a lot before, but now I just see the humor in it all.
I have experienced racism from the Asian community in almost every city that I have visited. Most of my friends happen to be caucasian because that is the ethnic group I have the most in common with. I do believe that my preference to white males as partners is indeed because we have a lot in common and it is what I've been exposed to in my hometown. On a friend level, however, I don't pick and choose based on race. I do have very close Asian friends (most of which are female though), but I find that a lot of the times, Asian males are wary of me. Asian males (esp. the gaysians) tend to just gawk at me or give me awkward looks- perhaps it's because in shoes I am at least 6'1". My friends tend to believe that it is because of my height, or that I am competition, that I am intimidating, or that I don't have typical Asian features (I have large eyes, thin high bridged nose, square jaw and I don't have the smooth skin, am not skinny (I'm not fat either), I'm not femme...). On the other hand, non- Asians do have that stereo-type that I must have an accent, speak an Asian language, am submissive, have a tiny penis, eat Asian food etc when the truth of the matter is that my Asian grandparents only speak english, every partner that I have had was pleasantly surprised and I can barely use chopsticks. If a non-Asian actually does have the courage to talk to me, they are shocked at how similar my upbringing was to theirs and that we in fact do have a great deal in common- I'm as American as apple pie, just my wrapper is a little different. Funny story about my sister- she has over heard girls in small towns where she lives commenting on "why is that guy with that mexican? It's just sad...", my brother in law is caucasian and we aren't hispanic...we're not even filipino!
Luckily, we don't let small minded ignorant comments get us down, but we are fully aware of the perceptions people have of Asians. It is just something that we have accepted and find to be a futile battle to break the image. It's funny how our friends don't even see us as Asian, but, strangers can't get pass the fact that we are.
My brother on the other hand is the extreme side of pro-Asian. He dates exclusively Asian women and all of his friends are Asian except for the few white guys who think that they are Asian. Ironically he doesn't speak any east Asian language (in fact no one in my entire family does).
We are all comfortable in our own skin, but have evolved different preferences. It is unexplainable how in one family there can be such polar opposites since we were raised the exact same way. He does happen to have very classic Asian features and maybe he has this need to identify with a culture lost by so many generations in this country.
The blonde who was interviewed hit the nail on the head when he talked about snap judgements. It is sad that even in metro areas there is this underlying ignorance that prevents people from broadening their horizons. In my experience, African-Americans are even worse at perpetuating Asian stereotypes. To them, and again I speak from my experience, everything is all Chinese and Bruce Lee. They've even made up an Asian language mostly consisting of "ching and chong" when trying to communicate with me and for some reason I think they feel that will understand them better if they speak with a generic Asian accent. Hmmm. The funniest is when they are being serious and immediately start talking to me at a much slower pace- um I went to a private school thank you very much! My grammar and diction goes far beyond your public school ebonics.
Thank you for this post because it is a great topic that I could go on and on to discuss. Preference is preference and if you are comfortable with yourself, I don't think it is a bad thing. It is an uphill climb especially in the gay community but, what can you do.

By: Grace Chu

Grace Chu — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:39:35 +0000

Ernie – the court of public opinion should have no bearing on who you date. If we listened to the court of public opinion, you would be a doctor, I would be a doctor, and we’d be dating each other. That alone should frighten you.