Fetishized, sexualized and marginalized, Asian women are uniquely vulnerable to violence

And those factors came together this week in a dangerous and ultimately deadly way.

These perceptions are rooted in the history of the United States

Perceptions of Asian and Asian American women as submissive, hypersexual, and exotic go back centuries.

Rachel Kuo, a racial scholar and co-leader of the Asian-American feminist collective, points to legal and political measures throughout the country’s history that have shaped these harmful ideas.

U.S. imperialism has also played an important role in these attitudes, Kuo said.

All of these perceptions “have had the effect of excusing and tolerating violence by ignoring it, trivializing it, and normalizing it,” Kuo said.

They have affected Asian women financially

These stereotypes also fuel perceptions of “Asian women as cheap, disposable workers,” Kuo said. This has also made them financially vulnerable.

And many Asian American women work in service industries, such as beauty salons, hotels and restaurants.

The narrative is lost because we are seen as the ‘model minority’, where they believe we are all lawyers, doctors and engineers, but we dig a little deeper and many of the women in our community work in the forefront. sectors based, ”Choimorrow of the National Asian Pacific American Women Forum said.

Other advocates also drew attention to the work situations of the recent victims.

According to Esther Kao, organizer of Red Canary Song, an Asian and Asian American collective based on sex workers, Esther Kao, an organizer of Red Canary Song, is based on specialized risks in massage and sex workers.

He said these workers not only face stigma, but are also often migrants, meaning they run the risk of being deported if authorities investigate violence or crimes against them.

It is also important to note that not all massage companies provide sexual services, Kao said. Suggesting so much, as the suspect in the Atlanta area attacks did, is a “racist assumption,” he said.

“It is specifically related to the fetishization of Asian women,” Kao added.

They are shown in the violence seen today

Groups monitoring violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders say their data show that women are disproportionately affected.

Despite these findings, the degree to which Asian and Asian American women are specifically affected by hatred and violence often goes unnoticed, Choimorrow said.

“We become invisible when we talk about crimes against Asian Americans,” he said.

“It’s time for us to have a full conversation about our unique experiences and challenges, because of how society sees us specifically with this racialized gender lens.”

What is needed to address this issue is a systemic approach that recognizes the threats facing Asian and Asian American women, according to Choimorrow and others.

Because while Asian and Asian American women are being overlooked, the kind of violence seen in these recent attacks could happen again.