Yellow Fever.

別要我滿足你的幻想 [YELLOW FEVER].

HSUAN (HILARY) WAN, FASHION DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT, LCF, UAL.

語言是個雙面刃 , 它既能幫助我們學習 , 能 使人受傷 , 也能使人感到害怕。在清朝末年 時期 , 中國知識份子學習歐洲嘲笑弱小國家 的方式而自嘲中國為 “ 東亞病夫 ” 。而這病毒 式的形容詞也彷彿跟隨著亞洲人一起帶到 了國外。當某些白種男人形容自己的戀愛對 象時 會 說 ,“Oh, I got yellow fever ( 譯 : 喔 , 我 有黃種病。 ) 而我 , 則是從小就被告誡著 , 要 眼睛放亮 , 不要傻傻的被這些人騙了。但卻 沒被教導 , 何謂正常的愛情觀 , 單方面被動 的接受著面對帶有種族歧視的性別歧視。

為何一個疾病的詞彙會衍生成描述喜愛 亞洲女性的形容詞 ? 黃種病 , 英文原文為 Yellow Fever, 是一種急性病毒病。但是這個

醫療詞彙在現代社會中卻誕生出了另一層 含意。現常見用法為形容部分白種男人被 亞洲 ( 或亞裔 ) 女人所吸引。從一次鴉片戰爭 之後 , 歐美國家開啟了對於東瀛國家的文化 採 伐 。而 吸引他們的文化 之一 便 是日本 的藝 妓。在不同的主流媒體烘托下 , 白種男性創 造出了許多針對統一物化亞洲女性的作品。

而其中最有名的就數賈科莫 · 普契尼的 ” 蝴 蝶 夫 人 ” 。這部遠 近 馳 名的歌 劇主要 描 寫一個日本藝妓苦守自己對於一位美國 軍官的愛戀。而主角蝴蝶夫人的角色描述 是一個安靜 , 羞澀 , 忍讓的女人 , 放大了刻 板印象。這樣子的角色設定像是讓人像中 毒的病一樣 的沈 淪。就 此黃 種 病成 為了白

種男人描述自己對於亞洲女性的喜愛之 詞。我可以說我並不是個溫柔的人 , 甚至 與溫柔這個詞毫無關聯。即便如此 , 曾經 有一次的約會對象對我說出的第一句話 是 , “I have a soft spot for Asian girls like you. Always so soft.” ( 譯 : 像你這樣的亞洲 女性永遠是如此溫柔 , 使我內心柔軟。 )

如此這般的物化女性導致的是外來文化與 本土文化對於女性的不重視與不尊重。這個 刻板映像導致了大眾對與亞洲女性理解成 為了安靜 (quite), 羞澀 (shy), 忍讓 (tolerating), 神祕 (mysterious), 滿是異域風情 (exotic) 。反 省為何 “ 黃禍 ” 一詞竟從貶義變成了褒義。 在女子三從四德的傳統價值觀洗腦的環境 下 , 蝴蝶夫人癡傻的等待滿足了個別亞洲女 性的男尊女卑的另類幻想。因為自卑 , 導致她 們主動站在了比人更卑微的位置去尋找戀 情。而這 “ 禍 ” 使得她們更好找到她們的幻 想 對 象 。一段 健 康 的感 情是 必 須 要 建 立 在 關係平等的基礎上才能繼續再共同建造。

The definition of Yellow Fever: (n.) (a) A sexual obsession towards females of Asian descent. (b) An obsession towards Asian media and entertainment, primarily anime, hentai, manga, and other Japanese media. (c) A sudden urge to imitate anything from Asia. For instance, learning Japanese and eating sushi just for the sheer sake of trying to be “Asian”. (d) Thinking that one knows more about Japan than the Japanese themselves, despite never setting foot in that country or at lest reading about it.

Language is a double sided blade. It allows us to learn, yet at the same time

can both do harm and create fear.

Many Chinese intellectuals had traveled abroad to study in western countries by the end of the Qing dynasty. In order to blend in with their newly acquired “western friends”, they quickly learned the art of self mockery. By calling themselves “The Sick Man of Asia”, this “Internalised racism” seems to start a long lasting trend of “virus based” racial slurs against Asians, and especially Asian female. I am here to argue to the case of the term, “Yellow Fever”, commonly used in a conversation with Asian female (Urban Dictionary, 2003). That “Oh, I got a yellow fever.” is not a compliment to the person one’s dating, but a derogatory term that harms the person being described to.

I have been told at a very young age, that I should “clean your eye”, and “don’t be that Asian girl that let those white men fool you with their sugary language”. But what they forgot to teach me, is how a normal relationship should be like. So I accepted my future possible faith as either the one got fooled by the white man, or the one that got away. And unilaterally and passively accepted this gender discrimination with a hint of racial discrimination.

How did a name of a viral haemorrhagic disease became the terminology to confess emotions to East Asian women? After the First Opium war, Western countries began their cultural harvest in East Asian countries, and one of the first things that quickly caught their eyes is the Geisha Culture.

Under different mainstream influences, many white men have created works aimed at objectifying, sexualising, and exotify East Asian women. “Madame Butterfly” (Puccini, 1903), is one of the many examples of famous works based on discrimination. This world wide famous theatrical piece portrays a Japanese geisha bitterly waiting for an unrequited love with an US military officer. As for the main female lead, Madama Butterfly, often casted by caucasian female, is depicted as a quiet, shy, patience woman, further enlarging the problematic stereotype of East Asian Female. Yet this type of stock character swept through various forms of books, art, and theatre pieces like a virus. Since then, this problematic slur became the first way of how some white men confess their love to East Asian female.

This stereotype had caused the general to assume that East Asian females are quite, shy, tolerating, mysterious, and exotic. I can say

that I am not a gentle person, in fact, I am no way close to being gentle. Even though I had made it very clear on multiple occasions, I still had to faced comments such as on dates, “I have a soft spot for Asian girls like you. Always so soft.” Such depersonalisation of women shows the lack of respect for women both foreign culture and local culture.

As a East Asian woman, self-reflecting on why “Yellow Peril” or “Yellow Fever“ has changed its meaning, the traditional values and virtues of female are still holding against and brainwashing us should also be accountable. (Yu, 2018) Madame Butterfly’s waiting of love, the damsel in distress fantasy, to the tragic ending full-filled the alternative fantasies of some individuals. Feeling inferior to others, they took the initiative to stand in a submissive position in a relationship. A healthy relationship must be based on the equality of relationships in order to continue to build together.

Picture Citation:

Bowles, Thomas. Madama Butterfly (2016) Photography

Liu Wei. It Looks Like a Landscape (2004) Black and white Print

Bibliography:

HWANG, D. H., & PUCCINI, G. (1989). M. Butterfly. New York, N.Y., New American Library.

Puccini, G. (1903). Madama Butterfly. New York: Dover Publications. Urban Dictionary. (2003). Urban Dictionary: yellow fever. [online] Available at: https://www.urbandictionary. com/define.php?term=yellow%20 fever [Accessed 8 Sep. 2018].

Wang, Joey. (2017). An exchange student’s delusion and disillusionment with European civilization: instead of grievances, it is better to take the initiative to smash stereotypes. Crossing. [online] Available at: https://crossing. cw.com.tw/blogTopic.action?id=505&nid=8296 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2018].

Yang, J (2017). Chinese are characterised as “yellow people” and are the result of racial discrimination.. [online] 短史記 . Available at: http://view.news.qq.com/original/legacyintouch/ d585.html [Accessed 12 Aug. 2018].

Yu, Y (2018). The traditional concepts and ethics of Chinese women - 大紀元 . [online] 大紀元 www.epochtimes.com. Available at: http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/13/4/16/ n3847534.htm [Accessed 12 Aug. 2018].