Originally Posted by SOPi_Jawbreaker
(Post 1363269)
Ok, I know I'm a little late to the thread, but I feel like maybe I can explain why the question was offensive. I find it unbelievable that so many female posters couldn't understand why someone could find the question offensive. I think that it may be the objectification of a man that some can't wrap their heads around...like how people can't wrap their heads around the idea of a man being sexually harrassed or raped by a woman ("Oh, he's a man, he probably enjoyed it. Oh, he should just man up and stop whining and complaining"). But objectification based on race is not that different from objectification based on gender. As women, it should be offensive to see anyone (man or woman, black or white) reduced to just the sum of their sex organs.
Since I think a lot of people are having issues understanding the objectification of men, let me explain it from a female perspective. Black men and Asian women are opposites sides of the same coin. Both have the stereotype of being hypersexualized. And people without first hand knowledge probably don't understand what the big deal it. They think we should be flattered that someone finds us attractive based on our race. And it's like "Gee, who wouldn't be flattered that some guy has lumped me and every other Asian female in the world together and thinks that we're all a bunch of submissive, porcelein-skinned sex dolls?"
By definition, a fetish is an OBJECT that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation. Now, that's fine and dandy when the object of your fetish is a shoe or a whip or an enema or an adult diaper or some other freaky stuff. But when you have a fetish about a race of people, suddenly we're talking about human beings here. When you fetishize a race of people, you're saying that they're objects...that one black man is interchangable for another...that one Asian girl is interchangable for another...that you're not into that person because of their charm, wit, personality, kindness, compassion, generosity, etc. It's to the point where I'm wary and suspicious of every Caucasian guy that approaches me or shows interest in me (I have encountered African-American and Latino guys with "yellow fever" but the vast majority of the time, it's Caucasian guys). At the back of my mind is always the question of is he interested because he thinks I'm cute, funny, sweet, cool, etc. or is he interested because he wants to "experience" a yellow girl and any yellow girl will do?
I know that some people may think that I'm over-reacting but until you've experienced this sort of thing on a persistent basis, I don't think you can really understand it. This whole idea of racial fetishism and eroticism really pisses me off, both as a minority and as a female. I hope I was able to shed more light on the topic. I wanted to go more in depth, but I'm going to be late for work....maybe later if the thread isn't shut down.
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