A great example of how humor can be used to reveal the absurdity of certain social patterns that we take-for-granted:
“I can’t explain it,” said Nakajima, dressed in a pleated miniskirt and pure white knee socks. “There’s just something about American men who are at least twice my age and nearly three times my body weight that totally drives me wild.”
Added Nakajima, “They’re so hot.”
…
“I like it when they dress up like middle managers,” said Nakajima, twirling her girlish pigtails with one alabaster finger.
…
Drawn by her curiosity, Nakajima has scheduled a vacation to St. Louis for early March.
More at The Onion.
For a very real example of the flip side of this fetish, see this post on sex tourism in Thailand.
Comments 9
Aphie — March 1, 2009
Both your links point to an unrelated Jezebel story.
Sagadarvulia — March 1, 2009
Knew a Japanese woman with a "westerner" fetish once. Her ideal partner was a tall male with blonde hair and blue eyes. She seemed to prefer especially Europeans and/or Scandinavians, and her fetish worked in many ways exactly the same way as Asian fetishism, only the other way around.
Oh, and come to think about it, if you've ever read Japanese beauty mags, you've most likely come across ads for eyelid surgery (that is, make the eyes appear "less Asian") as well.
The concept of nationalistic fetishism is by no means solely "western".
lilia — March 1, 2009
What? Japanese women are hot, I'm a girl and even I know that.
Rachel — March 1, 2009
Reminds me of that Weezer song... "Across the Sea."
Holly — March 1, 2009
That is freaking brilliant!
Keith — March 1, 2009
There are plenty of Japanese women who have a specific turn-on for "Western" guys. One of my good friends loves anyone or anything American, and another has told my friend (but not to me, probably out of fear of embarrassment) that she really wants to date a white guy. There was also a period a few years back when dating a non-Asian foreigner in Japan was super trendy and all the rich trend followers got themselves a foreign boyfriend, which they usually broke up with after they got bored or the language barrier got too big.
The onion article just kind of takes it to an extreme, as there probably aren't many 17 year olds who find old, fat businessmen sexy. It made me laugh, though.
Funny thing about the Weezer song, Rivers Cuomo (lead singer) is now married to a Japanese woman and spends a lot of time here in Japan.
MidSouth Mouth — March 12, 2009
I think that the emphasis in the satire is on the eroticized power imbalance *within* a gaijin country. The fad of Japanese girls and women *in Japan* is a different sociological phenom than gaijin men in America/Western Europe.
C L O S E R » Blog Archive » Closing the week — March 22, 2009
[...] wachten nog op Onze Man In Teheran. For fun Sociological Images » A DIFFERENT ASIAN FETISH “I can’t explain it,” said Nakajima, dressed in a pleated miniskirt and pure white knee [...]
Mastablubba — May 21, 2009
Hello Community
just watching this sexy Booty Shaking vid on youtube...
check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsoHCukkeUo
May you can share something similar.
happy watching
mastablubba