Resisting Society's Normative Constructions of Sexuality and Race
Image: Unsplash
On March 16th, a series of mass shootings at three separate massage parlours in Atlanta Georgia claimed the lives of eight people, six of whom were Asian American women. Following a year of explicit anti-Asian hate speech spewed by Donald Trump and others alike in response to COVID-19, the conversation around Sinophobia has reignited important questions about race, gender, and sexuality. Without an intersectional analysis to understand the ways in which the violence that resulted in the murders of the Asian American women in Atlanta, any effort to eradicate harm in our societies is bound to fail. In what follows, I redirect to articles that have contributed to the ongoing dialogue and consciousness-raising around the deep-seated nature of Anti-Asian racism.
Western society dehumanizes racialized women, especially Asian women, by marking them as docile and submissive. This normative construction of Asian women as hypersexual is rooted in a long history of domination and control. Speaking to Buzzfeed News, Melissa Borja, an Assistant Professor in Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies at the University of Michigan shares that ‘her husband was approached by a white man “who asked for advice for finding an Asian woman for a mating relationship.”’ She also discusses the harmful portrayal of Asian women by different media platforms and outlets, pointed to the violence embedded within societal institutions that normalize this ongoing trauma.
“Without an intersectional analysis to understand the ways in which the violence that resulted in the murders of the Asian American women in Atlanta, any effort to eradicate harm in our societies is bound to fail. ”
Others have pushed the conversation to the impact of American Imperialism in countries including, but not limited to, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines and Japan. The fetishization of war brides, the US military played an integral role in constructing stereotypes that transcended borders which further dehumanized Asian women. While the workers at the salons targeted in the mass shooting may not have explicitly identified as sex workers, they and many others face the continued stigma against sex workers. In this case, western normative constructions of race, gender and sexuality in relation to Asian women provoke and normalizes the violence they face daily.
The coverage over the last week has mostly centred on the US, and rightfully so. However, other Western countries, including Canada have a long history of anti-Asian racism, especially in regard to the exploitation of labour. About 15, 000 Chinese labourers were brought over from China to finish building The Canadian Pacific Railway. Soon after, Canada introduces a series of racist immigration laws including the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, which made it mandatory that every person of Chinese descent entering Canada pay $50. This head tax later increased to $100 and again to $500. In 1923 Canada bans all Chinese immigration via the Chinese Immigration Act. While we may be inclined to focus on gender, race and sexuality in the wake of growing Anti-Asian racism in the West, a critical anti-racist labour lens puts into perspective the further exploitation and marginalization of Asian American and Asian Canadian workers.
The conversations online have been an important part of learning, unlearning and relearning. However, what is the risks of continuing to centre whiteness in our efforts to “change” society? We don't need another round of merely "discovering" how racism permeates our social, political and personal spaces. We need an outright refusal of the systems that normalize violence against racialized women. An important online teach-in/panel discussion by Haymarket Books in the summer of 2020 included ways to de-centre whiteness and abolitionist movements to eradicate Anti-Asian racism. The event can be accessed here. Providing an important framework for pushing back against anti-Asian racism, community organizers across Canada and the US look at alternatives to the carceral system to address violence in our communities.
Additionally, Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network) has released #8CallsforJustice and are looking for support from community members and allies to join them in this call to action. The 8CallsforJustice are:
(1) Full Decriminalization of Sex Work: Remove all criminal laws specific to sex work and related activities (including sex workers, clients, and third parties);
(2) Sex Work is Work: Eliminate discrimination against sex workers. Elimination of immigration prohibitions on migrants who engage in sex work and related industries;
(3) Rights Not Rescue: An end to policing, racial and social profiling and the use of criminal or rescue models;
(4) Sex Work is Not Trafficking: Review existing anti-trafficking policies and programs that conflate sex work with human trafficking, and revise policies to remove assumptions that sex work is a form of trafficking or sexual exploitation;
(5) Fight Racism: Create education campaigns to dispel of the racism which lead to profiling and discrimination. Adopt an intersectional equity lens towards all law and policy making addressing inequality and structural oppression, including racism, xenophobia, whorephobia, sexism, and classism;
(6) No Cops at Workplaces: Stop using anti-trafficking initiatives to justify the intrusion of law enforcement in places where sex work happens, including indoor sex work businesses;
(7) Status for All: Full and permanent immigration status for all: Immediately ensure full immigration status for all migrant sex workers in Canada, without exception; and
(8) Access Without Fear: Guarantee access without fear to all municipal, provincial and federal services, rights and protection to migrant sex workers.Read more here.
And finally, a gentle reminder to reach out to friends and family who may be in need of support during this time.
Articles mentioned:
Blaming the Atlanta Shooting on ‘Temptation’ Glosses Over Its Racism: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgzndw/blaming-the-atlanta-shooting-on-temptation-glosses-over-its-racism
What The Georgia Shootings Reveal About Anti-Asian Racism In The U.S.: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2021/03/22/what-the-georgia-shootings-reveal-about-anti-asian-racism-in-the-u-s
Asian Women Are Hypersexualized, So Don’t Tell Me The Killings In Atlanta Aren’t About Race: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/asian-women-fetish-racist-atlanta-shootings
The history of fetishizing Asian women: https://www.vox.com/22338807/asian-fetish-racism-atlanta-shooting
For further learning and ways to support: https://www.ellecanada.com/culture/society/heres-how-you-can-support-the-asian-community-right-now
