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Feiyan Li
Soc3373
Essay Question Exam 2
On the basis of Chapter 31 on relationships between Asian American women and White
American men in the textbook by S. Coontz, discuss why it can be argued that traditional gender
roles are "racialized" in many relationships between Asian American women and White
American men. Also, discuss how the Asian American women interviewed by the author react to
boyfriends idealizing Asian culture and why these women feel this way. In addition, discuss what
White American men symbolize for Asian women discussed in this chapter.
In Chapter 31 of the textbook by S. Coontz, the author explains how the formation of

interracial relationships between Asian American women and white American men relies heavily

on racialized perceptions. The author also talks about the variety of cravings that Asian American

women have towards the different qualities of white dominant types of masculinity. Also in the

chapter, through interviews with several Asian American women, the author attempts to explain

how traditional gender roles frequently become "racialized" in the perspective of these

relationships. This racialized perspective is often motivated by desires for the advancement of

their social status, resistance to ethnic patriarchy, and an idealization of the perceived privileges

of white Americans.

One of the ways traditional roles are racialized is through Asian American women's

desire for white men for use as their pathway to achieving a higher social status as well as

emotional and financial security. For example, in this chapter, a Filipino female named Angelina

perceived that marrying her white American husband, named Thomas, as a form of investment.

When this “investment” finally pays off, it would be able to provide her with the financial

stability and type of materialistic and prosperous lifestyle that - with her limited understanding -

she generally associated white privilege and the so called, "American dream". Since Angelina

had grown up in poverty in the Philippines, her biggest compelling and overwhelming desire was

to gain the privileges of higher status that she has associated with marrying a middle aged, white,
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American man. In another similar example, a female named Linda chose her white American

husband named Jack, mainly for the improved economic opportunities and the security of her

social and material life he could provide. These contributions allowed her to escape the poverty

as a domestic worker. The racialization of traditional roles is also evident in how some women

see white men as a symbol of equality. This is a big difference compared to the cultural

patriarchy that is associated with Asian men. For example, another female in the chapter named

Grace, equipped herself with the beliefs of white masculinity in order to help her resist the

machismo beliefs and the male control by her father and to also avoid the powerless feminine

beliefs that were taught to her by her unhappy and resentful mother. Grace’s disapproving view

of how most Asian American women were submissive and petite, and Asian American men were

unwilling to accept independent types of women like herself reinforced the mainstream racial

stereotypes in her area while also believing that white masculinity is the touchstone of gender

equality.

This chapter also explores some of the motives for white men's attraction and lust for

Asian American women. Many Asian women in this chapter are seen as hyper-feminine,

sexualized objects which carries on the racial power dynamics within these types of

relationships. A woman in this chapter named Irene, felt pressured by her boyfriend to personify

the image of an exotic, foreign female that he associated with Asian females even though she

opposed being lessened to just a stereotypical female common to her race and wanted to be seen

more equally as a regular person. In this chapter, many of the females that were interviewed were

aware of this type of objectifying gaze that males would often have for them. This type of gaze

would sexualize them simply for being Asian. Some females in this position would use this to

their advantage to get what they want even though they did not like it. Many of them were
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conflicted between resisting these types of advances and tacitly accepting them, trying to make

the best of those situations. For many of the Filipina Americans like Angelina, their paths to

white American partners were mainly influenced by the U.S. military's presence in the

Philippines and patterns of bride importation was ingrained in unequal economic relations

between the Philippines and America.

Many Asian females use these circumstances to increase their chances of survival. They

would often escape extreme poverty and abuse by marrying American servicemen. This would

also reflect the lasting legacies of colonial hierarchies of race, gender, and nation. The chapter

says that Asian American women's desires for certain aspects of white masculinity such as status,

security, social equality or to fulfill racialized fantasies mostly come from culturally rooted

dialogues promising themselves self-realization and social advancement through intimate

relationships with the more privileged white men. By making themselves subordinate to men and

to white male control and by conforming to traditional feminine roles shaped by cultural

stereotypes, Asian American women continue to enhance their vulnerability while also enabling

those hierarchies in society that are about race and gender.

This chapter demonstrates how even within the private conditions and circumstances of

interracial relationships, traditional gender roles sometimes can become inseparable from their

racialized background under continuing systemic racial inequities. While these women's

motivations have come from their premeditated personal needs and resistances, rather than

giving in to being inherently submissive, their desires become entangled with larger forces that

are naturalizing white supremacist ideals. The author of this chapter effectively captures and

describes how many of the structural conditions of inequality can imprint themselves on the most

intimately personal of human domains and on the construction of selfhood.

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